In our Halloween episode we discuss the origins of the holiday, the etymology of Jack o'Lantern, the Canadian connections to trick-or-treating, and the great pumpkin scandal of 2016, and we read a Roman poem about witches scared off by a wooden fertility god.
Episode 19: Beef
We chat about the Norman French influence on Anglo-Saxon words for animals and meat, the powerful emotional and political aspects of the words we use for food, and then delve into Latin technical terms for farmyard animals, ending off with Virgil's pastoral poems, the Eclogues.
Our Patreon page -- and thank you to all our Patreon supporters!
Show Notes
Roman Colour Thesaurus – Caroline Lawrence (Roman Mysteries)
Episode 17: Loaf
We talk about words for bread and the close connection between "loaf" and lords, ladies, and dairy-maids, then turn to the history of baking bread and our adventures with sourdough, baking Pompeian bread, and brewing beer.
Our Patreon page -- and thank you to all our Patreon supporters!
Show Notes
Turkish language website
Stack Brewing
"Loaf" video
Re-creating the Pompeii loaf video
Our picture of bread from the ROM Pompeii exhibit.
A loaf of Pompeian bread from the British Museum
Our attempt to recreate Pompeian bread:
Episode 14: Cocktail
We chat about possible origins for the cocktail, and the crazy stories about the word's origin. We also tell the tale of our first cocktail party, that sparked our interest in them and led to the cocktail video series. Do you enjoy drinking or mixing cocktails? Where did your interest in them start? Do you have a favourite? Let us know in the comments, or tweet us: @alliterative or @avensarah.
Show Notes
The Cocktail video Part One & Part Two
And thank you to our Patreon supporters: Valerie Polichar, Lukas Hägele, Evermore Anon, Ian & Susan McMaster, Carlos Solis, and Chantal Sundaram.
Our other podcast: As We Like It
Pictures from our Cocktail Party over the years:
Episode 13: Album
The etymology of "album" leads to an in-depth conversation about the Latin words for "white", the many terms for "shining" in proto-Indo-European, and the connection between the Beatles and medieval German students. And we drink White Ladies.
Show Notes
The White Lady cocktail
Sappho poem 31
#TheDress
The Adidas jacket
And thank you to our Patreon supporters: Valerie Polichar, Lukas Hägele, Evermore Anon, Ian & Susan McMaster, Carlos Solis, and Chantal Sundaram.
Episode 11: Cuckold
We discuss the origin of the word ‘Cuckold’, its connection to Valentine’s Day, its modern meaning, and the development of the modern idea of romantic love. Sexual fetishes, horned animals, Chaucer, Jane Austen, and Ovid all make it into the conversation--while we sip some Valentine's Day themed cocktails.
Show Notes
Thank you to our Patreon supporters: Valerie Polichar, Lukas Hägele, Evermore Anon, and Ian & Susan McMaster
The Horny Cock Valentine's Day Card
"My Cuckoo Valentine" blog post
Claire McEachern, “Why Do Cuckolds Have Horns?” Huntington Library Quarterly 71. 4 (2008): 607-631.
The article about the capons with spurs grafted to their head is by A.W. Kozelka in the Journal of Heredity, 1929. UPDATE: The article has now been scanned in, here's the picture:
Episode 8: Yule
We discuss the etymology of Yule & the Germanic roots of Christmas traditions, along with Dr. Seuss & the Grinch, beer, & the unsavoury meaning of 'mistletoe'.
Show Notes
How the Grinch Stole Christmas in Latin
The Twelve Days of Christmas video
The Twelve Etymologies of Christmas song
The Twelve Days of Christmas (traditional lyrics)
Episode 7: The Story of Narrative
We chat about stories, myth, and cognition -- and some of the ways narrative shapes our understanding of the world around us. Includes more Doctor Who talk, and some Latin and Old English.
Show Notes
The Latin word novi, from nosco
"The Storytelling Animal" by Jonathan Gottschall
As We Like It: A podcast about film adaptations of Shakespeare
Episode 6: Paddle Your Own Canoe
We play the audio from "Paddle Your Own Canoe" and discuss metaphor, travel narratives, Greek & Roman epic, Star Trek, and Doctor Who.
Show Notes
Paddle Your Own Canoe blog post
Blog post on Spatial Metaphors for Time
Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica
Thomas Cole "The Voyage of Life"
Ernst Curtius, European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages
James Burke, Connections, "Death in the Morning"
Episode 2: A Detective Story
We discuss and play "A Detective Story" (6'40'' - 20'40''), touching on Sir Gawain, Sherlock Holmes, memory palaces, and other ways to remember things.
Show Notes
"A Detective Story" blogpost has more information and relevant links.
"Sir Gawain & the Green Knight" at The Toast by Mallory Ortberg, @Mallelis (I mixed up her name, sorry!)
The opening quotation in the video is from "A Scandal in Bohemia"
The text of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"
The cognitive science heptagram
The "Method of Loci" or Memory Palace
The "Sherlock" episode about the blackmailer: His Last Vow (3.3), loosely based on the Doyle story "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton"
Plato quoting Socrates in the Phaedrus, arguing that the invention of writing led to forgetfulness
Episode 1: Introduction to The Endless Knot
This episode explains the origin of The Endless Knot videos and introduces the podcast, and we play the audio for the Introduction video (from 9mins to 16 mins) and discuss it.