Episode 125: Accents, with Valerie Fridland

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Episode 124: The Alphabet, with Danny Bate

Aven McMaster May 19, 2026

We spoke with linguist, writer and podcaster Dr Danny Bate about his debut book, Why Q Needs U, a “linguistico-historical non-fiction book” that sets out to answer two big questions: Where did we get the letters of the alphabet from? And why does English use them so strangely? We had a delightful conversation about the book, his podcast, Indo-European, and cats!

Danny’s book “Why Q Needs U”

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Episode 123: Words Christmas Gave Us, with Grace Tierney

Aven McMaster December 17, 2024

Grace Tierney is back with another great book about the word origins, this time “Words Christmas Gave Us"! She regales us with festive stories and we talk about some of the fun traditions and treats of the winter holidays.

It’s been a long, unintended break since our last episode, but we’re happy to be back at it, in time to wish everyone very happy holidays!

Wordfoolery website

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Episode 122: Says Who, with Anne Curzan

Aven McMaster April 30, 2024

We spoke with Dr. Anne Curzan about her new book, “Says Who? A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares about Words”. We talk about language change, inner grammandos, the benefits of learning the rules of texting from one’s students, and of course, surprising connections!

Also, please check out the Defeat Depression fundraising event, and the Sudbury Walk/Run on May 25.

Anne Curzan’s website

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Episode 121: The Vesuvius Challenge, with Stephen Parsons

Aven McMaster March 31, 2024

Buried deep under volcanic ash lie hundreds of burnt scrolls containing texts from the first century. A new project is driving the work to try to read these chunks of carbon, to uncover new works and open new doors into the past. We spoke to one of the leaders of this project, Dr. Stephen Parsons, about the Vesuvius Challenge, the technical aspects of ‘virtual unrolling’, the possibilities of new classical texts, the development of new ways of doing scholarship, and more.

Also, please check out the Defeat Depression fundraising event, and the Sudbury Walk/Run on May 25.

The Vesuvius Challenge

Kaitlyn Hill’s books

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Dr. Carr’s academic website

Episode 120: Swimming in History, with Karen Carr

Aven McMaster February 29, 2024

We talked to Dr. Karen Carr about the global history of swimming — in myth, folktale, and history. Who swam, who didn’t, and how do the stories different cultures told reflect these patterns? We also talked a bit about Dr. Carr’s next book, all about silver, women, and textiles.

Dr. Carr’s history website and blog, Quatr.us

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Episode 118: A Crisis of Masculinity, with Melanie Racette-Campbell

Aven McMaster August 31, 2023

Book cover: broken Roman statue of a male torso against a green background. Text: The Crisis of Masculinity in the Age of Augustus, Melanie Racette-Cambell

We talk to Melanie Racette-Campbell about her new book, “The Crisis of Masculinity in the Age of Augustus”, and discuss why Roman elite men were particularly vulnerable to a societal transformation that changed their role in the state. What did it mean to be a good man in ancient Rome, and how and why did that change?

Melanie’s book is available here

Broken concrete/stone carved into the shape of a ship's prow, with a carving of the rod of Asclepius — Tiber Island, picture by Jenny Muslin

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Dr. Valerie Fridland’s website

Episode 115: Like, Literally, Dude! with Valerie Fridland

Aven McMaster April 25, 2023

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.

Like, Literally, Dude!

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@AllEndlessKnot@toot.community

Bonus: Livestream Q&A from LingFest23

Aven McMaster February 28, 2023

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

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@AllEndlessKnot@toot.community

Episode 113: Ovid's Metamorphoses in the 21st Century

Aven McMaster January 31, 2023

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

Stephanie McCarter’s website

Ovid’s Metamorphoses

Gareth Williams faculty page

On Ovid’s Metamorphoses

“Landscape Near Rome during Storm” by Simon Denis

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Our previous interview with Paul (episode 21)

Episode 111: Haggard Hawks, back again!

Aven McMaster November 29, 2022

Front cover of a book, dark blue with various symbols scattered across in gold. Text: Why is this a question?: Everything about the origins and oddities of language you never thought to ask. Paul Anthony Jones

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

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.

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“Between the Sheets: Reading the Coverlet as Comics in Catullus 64.” Image [&] Narrative 22.2 (2021)

Episode 107: Polar Regions, Comics, and Classics, with Natalie Swain

Aven McMaster July 12, 2022

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!

Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics

@mazonianfeline

#ClassicsTwitterComics

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Emma’s translation of the seventh Homeric Hymn to Dionysus

Episode 105: Dionysus, Translation, & Queering Greek Drama with Emma Pauly

Aven McMaster May 3, 2022

This episode we have a fascinating conversation with classicist, dramaturg, 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

Twitter

Instagram

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Episode 104: Words the Vikings Gave Us, with Grace Tierney

Aven McMaster April 12, 2022

Face of a smiling woman with brown hair and glasses, standing in front of the prow of a reconstructed viking ship

Green book cover with the title Wods the Vikings Gave Us

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

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Episode 102: Baking Greek Bread, with Josh Nudell

Aven McMaster February 22, 2022

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.

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Wonders of the World Podcast

Episode 100: Celebrating Connections

Aven McMaster December 9, 2021

Our hundredth episode! We’re celebrating reaching three digits — and more than 6 years — with a whole bunch of our podcasting friends! These are just some of the amazing creators who make the independent podcasting world so wonderful, and we’re very happy to be connected to them all. Please check out their shows at the links below. We also give you a brief “State of the Pod” update. Thank you to everyone who’s been with us so far, and here’s to the next century (of episodes)!

Thank you to Christine Couisineau for help editing and transcribing this episode.

The Kir Royale cocktail

Sandman Stories Presents

The Partial Historians

Accentricity Podcast

Lexitecture Podcast

The History of English

The Spouter Inn Podcast

Grammar Girl Podcast

Let’s Talk about Myths, Baby Podcast

Lingthusiasm Podcast

Footnoting History

The Vocal Fries Podcast

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Playlist of the songs Jeremy mentioned

Episode 99: Heavy Metal Music and Antiquity, with Jeremy Swist

Aven McMaster November 15, 2021

We talked to Jeremy Swist about his work on the reception of antiquity in heavy metal music. He discussed the ways the genre looks to the past for stories and imagery, and the many fantastic songs and albums that have been produced from this mix. We also talked about the problems with racism and white nationalism that can plague the intersection of the ancient world and metal music.

Pour Forth Surquidous track

@MetalClassicist

Heavy Metal and the Ancient World on Facebook

Jeremy’s blog

Metal-archives.com

Thank you to Emma Pauly for editing and transcribing this episode.

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Episode 97: Aegyptiaca Romana, with Bet Hucks

Aven McMaster September 28, 2021

We speak to Bet Hucks about Roman importation and love of Egyptian art and other cultural material, the importance of thinking about material remains in assemblages and considering the contexts in which they were displayed, and some innovative ways of bringing the physical experiences of the past to modern audiences. Oh, and also, crocodiles!

Bet’s Twitter: @RomanAegyptiaca

Bet on academia.edu

Thanks to Emma Pauly for editing and transcription of this episode.

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Wayne State University faculty page

Episode 95: Reckonings, with Stephen Chrisomalis

Aven McMaster August 17, 2021

It’s time for a reckoning! Or, to be more accurate, a number of reckonings. We talk to Dr. Stephen Chrisomalis, a linguistic anthropologist who specializes in the anthropology of mathematics and the interaction of language, cognition, and culture, about his new book Reckonings. It’s a fascinating discussion of how we write and represent numbers, and how that’s changed over the years. Why don’t we use Roman numerals any more? It’s more complicated than you might think…

Announcement: Mark will be running another session of his Speakeasy seminar course, The Origins of English: Learning to Think Like an Etymologist, which is open to anyone who’s interested. Registration is now open at Speakeasy.com for the session running on Sunday afternoons (Eastern time) from September 12th October 3rd.

Glossographia (blog)

Twitter: @schrisomalis

Reckonings webpage

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Episode 94: Catullus & Shibari, with Isobel Williams

Aven McMaster July 27, 2021

We talked to Isobel Williams about her fascinating and illuminating new translation of selected poems of Catullus, illustrated with her drawings of the Japanese art of rope binding, shibari. Our discussion ranges over the connections between the world of shibari and the emotional struggles depicted in Catullus’s poetry, the way translation and learning Latin can feel like being tied up in, and untangling, knots, and much more.

Content Note: fetish, sex, brief mention of sexual violence, discussion of enslavement and use of slavery as metaphor

Blog about drawing shibari (Japanese rope bondage): Boulevardisme

Straight blog about drawing: Drawing from an uncomfortable position

Website: Isobel Williams

Twitter: @otium_Catulle

Instagram: @isobelwilliams2525

From Isobel: “For the online book launch, I compiled a video (>20 minutes) of self and others reading in Latin and English from the book. It starts with Sappho in ancient Greek and ends with Shakespeare, to show the continuity Sappho -> Catullus -> Ovid -> Shakespeare (it contains no Ovid). The video is here 'Catullus: Shibari Carmina' - readings and performances - YouTube”

Page about the book

Link to the book for Canada and US: Catullus: Shibari Carmina | Independent Publishers Group

James Methven’s Precious Asses – highly recommended

Irish poet and mediaevalist Bernard O’Donoghue – Poet, Academic, Medievalist and Literary Critic

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