The Endless Knot Podcast
1) Episode 50: Translating the Odyssey, with Emily Wilson
We interview Emily Wilson, whose new translation of the Odyssey for Norton was published in November to great acclaim and critical praise. She tells us about some of her choices, and we discuss the ve...Show More
2) Episode 123: Words Christmas Gave Us, with Grace Tierney
Grace Tierney is back with another great book about the word origins, this time âWords Christmas Gave Us"! She regales us with festive stories and we talk about some of the fun traditions and treats o...Show More
3) Episode 122: Says Who, with Anne Curzan
We spoke with Dr. Anne Curzan about her new book, âSays Who? A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares about Wordsâ. We talk about language change, inner grammandos, the benefits of learning...Show More
4) Episode 121: The Vesuvius Challenge, with Stephen Parsons
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 ...Show More
5) Episode 120: Swimming in History, with Karen Carr
We talked to Dr. Karen Carr about the global history of swimming â in myth, folktale, and history. Who swam, who didnât, and how do the stories different cultures told reflect these patterns? We also ...Show More
6) Episode 119: An Ecological Chain
We discuss the language and history of the ecological sciences, all the way back to the ancient Greeks, and the development of the food chain and food web models of ecological systems. And apologies f...Show More
7) Episode 118: A Crisis of Masculinity, with Melanie Racette-Campbell
We talk to Melanie Racette-Campbell about her new book, âThe Crisis of Masculinity in the Age of Augustusâ, and discuss why Roman elite men were particularly vulnerable to a societal transformation th...Show More
AUDIO REMOVED: The podcast creator has removed the audio for this episode.8) Episode 117: A Brief History of Misogyny
The word âchauvinismâ is an unlikely eponym, but it turns out that the story behind it has all sorts of interesting connections. And our discussion of those connections also leads us into the long his...Show More
9) Episode 116: A Quiverful of Time Arrows
We look at the history of Englishâs conceptualization of time, and update Markâs research on spatiotemporal metaphor. Also, words for arrows, the surprising origin of âtoxicâ, and a bit of Latin poetr...Show More
10) Episode 115: Like, Literally, Dude! with Valerie Fridland
We spoke to Dr. Valerie Fridland about her new book, âLike, Literally, Dude!â and talked about the fascinating role that many âerrorsâ in English speech actually play in communication. We discuss the...Show More