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We look at the history of English’s conceptualization of time, and update Mark’s research on spatiotemporal metaphor. Also, words for arrows, the surprising origin of ‘toxic’, and a bit of Latin poetry! Blue Arrow cocktail Bow and Arrow cocktail Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

We spoke to Dr. Valerie Fridland about her new book, “Like, Literally, Dude!” and talked about the fascinating role that many ‘errors’ in English speech actually play in communication. We discuss the never-ending changes that English has gone through, the surprisingly sophisticated rules behind our use of ‘um’ and ‘uh’, and much more. Dr. Valerie Fridland’s website Like, Literally, Dude! Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

It’s Part 2 of our mega-episode on spelling! This time, we get into some of the notorious mismatches between English spelling and modern English pronunciation. Explaining them takes us all the way back to Phoenician — several times — but maybe, just maybe, some bits of this odd language will make more sense to you when we’re done! The XYZ Cocktail Our video on “Spelling” Christopher Upward & George Davidson, The History of English Spelling (2001) David Sacks, Letter Perfect (2003) Kevin Stroud, The History of the Alphabet (audiobook) NativLang “Thoth’s Pill - an Animated History of Writing” Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

We’re wading into the messy world of English spelling in this episode — the first of two, since we couldn’t fit all of the ‘quirks’ of the language into one episode. The history of orthography in English is all tangled up with the history of the alphabet, so in this part we trace some of the twists and turns that resulted in our modern script. The ABC Cocktail Our video on “Spelling” Christopher Upward & George Davidson, The History of English Spelling (2001) David Sacks, Letter Perfect (2003) Kevin Stroud, The History of the Alphabet (audiobook) NativLang “Thoth’s Pill - an Animated History of Writing” Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

In this bonus episode, we answer questions from viewers and listeners during a livestream on our YouTube channel, as part of #LingFest23. Apologies for the sound quality, which isn’t great. Also, sorry that we didn’t manage a regular episode in February, but we’ll definitely have one in March. LingComm23 LingFest @AllEndlessKnot@toot.community Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

Just a reminder that we’ll be doing a Q&A livestream on our YouTube channel as part of LingFest in connection to the LingComm23 Conference on Sunday, February 12, 2023 at 1:00pm Eastern. Please leave us your questions on this website, email us, or post on social media, or just show up on the day at the livestream. The livestream will be here, just click on Sunday afternoon to join in!

In this episode we talk to the authors of two new books on Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the Latin epic poem he wrote in 8 CE. Stephanie McCarter has published a new translation of the poem, and Gareth Williams has written a short interpretive introductory work on the epic to go with the Columbia Core Curriculum. We talked with both of them about the way Ovid fits into contemporary society, what considerations there are when teaching this epic, and the joys and difficulties of engaging with Ovid’s poetic brilliance. Content note for sexual violence and brief description of trauma. LingComm23 LingFest @AllEndlessKnot@toot.community Stephanie McCarter’s website Ovid’s Metamorphoses Gareth Williams faculty page On Ovid’s Metamorphoses “Landscape Near Rome during Storm” by Simon Denis Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

As we get ready to mark the new year, it seems a good time to talk about a classic cocktail made with sparkling wine: the Bellini. Our conversation takes us to Italy, in the 20th century, the 15th century, and the 1st century BCE, to Renaissance art and the Roman practice of patronage, and more. Happy New Year! “Rewriting the history of art patronage”, by Jaynie Anderson. Renaissance Studies. Vol. 10, No. 2, Women Patrons of Renaissance Art, 1300–1600 (JUNE 1996), pp. 129-138. “Isabella d'Este and Giovanni Bellini's 'Presepio'“, by J. M. Fletcher. The Burlington Magazine. Vol. 113, No. 825, Venetian Painting (Dec., 1971), pp. 703-713. Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

We welcome back Paul Anthony Jones, of Haggard Hawks fame, to ell us about his new book “Why Is This a Question?”. We talk about how his experience of social media has changed since we last interviewed him in 2016, what it was like researching a book covering such wide-ranging topics, the state of the publishing industry, and more. Haggard Hawks Our previous interview with Paul (episode 21) Citogenesis (the Wikipedia citation problem) coined in xkcd comic Ridley, R. T. “To Be Taken with a Pinch of Salt: The Destruction of Carthage.” Classical Philology, vol. 81, no. 2, 1986, pp. 140–46. Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

We talk about the origins of music, its connection (both etymological and scientific) with the mind, how language is used to describe and teach music, the Muses, and the Museum of Alexandria. Also featuring brief cameos from music YouTuber 12Tone. Monk’s Muse Cocktail 12Tone’s video “Why Do Notes Have Names?” Ghost Notes Podcast “Future” video Murdoch Mysteries episode “The Dominion of New South Mimico” Language: The Cultural Tool by Daniel Everett Erskine, Andrew. “Culture and Power in Ptolemaic Egypt: The Museum and Library of Alexandria.” Greece & Rome, vol. 42, no. 1, 1995, pp. 38–48. JSTOR. Hardie, Alex. “Etymologising the Muse.” Materiali e Discussioni per l’analisi Dei Testi Classici, no. 62, 2009, pp. 9–57. JSTOR. Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

We spoke with Tim Brooks of the Endangered Alphabets project about the cultural importance of scripts, the pressures on marginalized and isolated scripts, his beautiful wood carvings, and the various initiatives he and his group have been working on to support script revitalization and creation around the world. Website: Endangered Alphabets Inhabit Media Twitter: @endangeredalpha Instagram: @endangeredalphas Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

Commemorating the 6th anniversary of the death of Mark’s father, and the 75th anniversary of Indian independence, this episode connects widows and partition, and while also touching on the legacy of Alexander the Great, the origins of badminton and tennis, and obscure typesetting vocabulary. Merry Widow Cocktail Black Widow Cocktail Olson, Kelly. “Fringed Clothing in Roman Iconography and Written Sources.” Textiles in Ancient Mediterranean Iconography, edited by SUSANNA HARRIS et al., Oxbow Books, 2022, pp. 149–60. Olson, Kelly. "Insignia Lugentium: Female Mourning Garments in Roman Antiquity". American Journal of Ancient History (New Series 3-4, 2004-2005 [2007]): 3-4, 2004, pp. 89-130. Hagerman, Christopher A. “In the Footsteps of the 'Macedonian Conqueror": Alexander the Great and British India.” International Journal of the Classical Tradition, vol. 16, no. 3/4, 2009, pp. 344–92. Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

We have a very fun conversation with Dr. Natalie Swain about her work on classical reception and the polar regions — the Arctic and Antarctic — science fiction, and comics. And Natalie and Mark find lots of overlaps and connections between their interests! “Between the Sheets: Reading the Coverlet as Comics in Catullus 64.” Image [&] Narrative 22.2 (2021) Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics @mazonianfeline #ClassicsTwitterComics Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

We’re talking all about the future in this episode — and if we even have one (in English). This is a topic near and dear to Mark’s heart, and in part the subject of his dissertation! We get into the nitty gritty of grammatical tense, ways of thinking about the future, and a mystery cocktail. Our video on the Future Whisky Exchange article about Futurist cocktails Lavery, Gerard B. “Hoc Aeui Quodcumquest : Lucretius and Time.” Latomus, vol. 46, no. 4, 1987, pp. 720–29. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41534650 Berns, Gisela. “Time and Nature in Lucretius’ ‘De Rerum Natura.’” Hermes, vol. 104, no. 4, 1976, pp. 477–92. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4475983 Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

This episode we have a fascinating conversation with classicist, dramatug, and translator Emma Pauly about all things Dionysian, Greek tragedy, and their translation of Euripides’ Bacchae. We explore how Emma brings their experience with acting and directing to translating and analyzing Greek literature, and how our understanding of the past changes as we develop our understanding of gender and sexuality. Emma’s website Bacchae recording Emma’s translation of the seventh Homeric Hymn to Dionysus Twitter Instagram Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

It’s time for some Old Norse, sagas, and daring Viking explorers! In this episode we talk to author Grace Tierney about her newest book, Words the Vikings Gave Us. We had a ton of fun in this conversation, and we’re sure you will too! Grace Tierney’s blog, Wordfoolery Our video on Runes, and NativLang’s matching video Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

It’s April Fool’s Day, and time for the annual Podcast Switcheroo, where podcasters trade episodes to give their audience something a little different and introduce them to a new show. This year we’ve got an episode from “The Greatest Song Ever Sung (Poorly)”, all about the joys and embarrassments of singing karaoke. IN this episode hosts Adam Wainwright and Ed Cunard discuss questions like is a karaoke performance a cover song? What do musicians have to say about karaoke? What are the barriers to making music, and creativity in general? They also talk to punk and folk singer-songwriter Frank Turner about some of his most memorable karaoke experiences and about how he feels about cover songs, singalongs at concerts, and karaoke versions of his songs. After you’ve listened to this, why not add them to your subscriptions? Thanks to Moxy from “Your Brain on Facts” for organizing this event, and happy April Fool’s Day to everyone! Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! In this episode we talk about the saint’s history, then dig into the potato — its etymology, its history, and how it’s changed the world. With some tangents about batteries, famines, and travel in the Roman world. Old Potato Cocktail Irish Maid Cocktail Potato battery video Monster video Talking Turkey, episode 24 Season to Taste, episode 35 ORBIS Article about Irish Famine Relief by the Choctaw Nation Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

We’re talking about bread again! This time, about ancient Greek bread — its vocabulary, the many types of bread and how they were made, and the economic aspects of bread production. Josh shares his practical experiences of baking along with his research into the classical Greek world. Josh Nudell’s website Josh on Twitter: @jpnudell Tavola Mediterranea Our previous episode on bread, “Loaf” Thank you to Emma Pauly for editing and transcribing this episode. Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

We start off the new year with a three-part discussion of statistics, insurance, stocks, astrologers, coffee, and more. We also trace some of the vocabulary that has come to English from Arabic, along with important mathematical concepts. Podcast recommendation: Khameleon Classics Cocktail: The Revolver Average Part 1 Average Part 2 Average Part 3 Ep 31 CreateICG Ep 39 From Fossil Hunters to Mammoth Cheese Ep 32 Ariadne’s Clue video “How Do We Perceive a Poem?” Ripat, Pauline. “Expelling Misconceptions: Astrologers At Rome.” Classical Philology, vol. 106, no. 2, The University of Chicago Press, 2011, pp. 115–54, https://doi.org/10.1086/659835 Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS