Episode 93: The Americano, the Negroni, America, and Rome

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Jacques Cartier Heritage Minute

Episode 92: Canuck, and Re-Thinking Canada's Story

Aven McMaster June 28, 2021

This episode is being released for Canada Day, but it’s not a celebration. This year, even more than most, we feel that this day needs to be one of reckoning with our past and trying to make a better present and future. So we talk about the history of the word Canuck and the various stories that Canadians tell themselves about their county, and we also discuss the role of Classics in the early history of the colonial project in Canada, as well as how to think about Classics today in relation to Indigenous issues. And then we finish with some quick etymologies of uniquely Canadian words and phrases. Content note: there is brief mention of residential schools and discussion of historical racism.

Le Canuck Cocktail

Minute Women podcast

Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles

Brill’s Companion to Classics in the Early Americas

Zachary Yuzwa on Twitter

Robinson-Huron Treaty lawsuit

“Only in Canada, You Say?” by Katherine Barber

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Episode 86: Who's on Your Calendar?

Aven McMaster December 26, 2020

Happy holidays! In this seasonal episode we discuss the origins of the modern Western calendar, the names of the months and days of the week, and the sources we have for Roman calendars and Germanic gods. Happy new year, and may it be better than the last!

Herbert-Brown, Geraldine. “Fasti: the Poet, the Prince, and the Plebs” in A Companion to Ovid, ed. Peter E. Knox, Wiley-Blackwell. 2013.

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“The asàrotos òikos mosaic as an elite status symbol” by Ehud Fathy

Episode 84: Linoleum: It's Not As Boring As You Think!

Aven McMaster October 11, 2020

In this episode we go from the origin of the world to the many uses of olive oil, with discussions of Roman mosaics, and trademark law along the way. This is the third of our episodes on Intellectual Property, following Episode 42: Bugging Out! on patents and Episode 57: Freebooting, Piracy, & Copyright on copyright. Also, it’s the start of Season 6, and we want to thank everyone who’s joined us over the last 5 years. It’s been a blast, and here’s to another half decade!

Ancient History Encyclopedia — the olive

Oxford Dictionaries blog post on “gasoline”

Hesiod, Theogony

First oil derrick — picture

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History of English Podcast

Episode 42: Bugging Out!

Aven McMaster September 13, 2017

We discuss the murky origins of the word 'Bug', some Latin & Greek words for insects, ancient notions of authorship, medieval guild secrets, and the history of patents. Also, sacred geese, burglar alarms, and a Latin mock-epic about a heroic gnat!

Show Notes

Song Exploder podcast Jóhann Jóhannsson

Grose’s slang dictionary

The Gnat and other Minor Poems of Virgil translated by David R. Slavitt

Episode 39: From Fossil Hunters to Mammoth Cheese

Aven McMaster July 19, 2017

We talk about the early history of paleontology and geology, the first fossil hunters, the Bone Wars, and the possible ties between fossils and Greek myth. Also, a bonus poem about a mammoth cheese!

Show Notes

"Fossil" video

"Canuck" video

The Recipes Project

“Ancient Fossil Discoveries and Interpretations”, Adrienne Mayor, The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life, Edited by Gordon Lindsay Campbell

Mayor, A. (2011), The First Fossil Hunters: Dinosaurs, Mammoths, and Myth in Greek and Roman Times (2nd revised edition of The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times (2000)), Princeton, Princeton University Press.

The Feast Podcast: A Victorian Dinosaur Dinner & Thomas Jefferson & the Mammoth Cheese of Cheshire

See the end of this blog post for the "Ode to a Mammoth Cheese" poem.

Words for Granted Podcast

Episode 29: Evolution, with Ray Belli

Aven McMaster February 27, 2017

How do words change their meanings? What are the mechanisms behind semantic change? And how do technological advances -- like the development of e-books -- affect language? We discuss these topics and more with Ray Belli, host of the Words for Granted podcast.

Show Notes

Evolution video

Evolution playlist

Episode 28: Coach, or The History (& Future?) of Education

Aven McMaster February 17, 2017

We trace the history of 'coach' back to its Hungarian roots, and explore its connections to the development of higher education in Europe. Then we run through a capsule history of the goals (stated and unstated!) of education from classical Athens to today, and discuss how the new world of online learning, including YouTube and podcasts, fits into the ideals and best practices of the future of education. Please let us know about all the things we over-simplified, left out, or got wrong in the process of covering almost 3000 years of western European schooling, and weigh in on where you see things heading now!

Show Notes

"Coach" video

CGP Grey's video “Digital Aristotle”

Veritasium's video “This Will Revolutionize Education”

Episode 25: Twelve Days

Aven McMaster December 6, 2016

We delve into the origins of the gifts in "The 12 Days of Christmas" carol, talk about Christmas as the season for games, read a little Latin poetry, and discuss the parallels between feisty women and old farts. And there's a bonus song!

James Burke Connections app kickstarter

Show Notes

You Are Not So Smart podcast, ep. 89

Idiom Savant Podcast

"Partridge in a Pear Tree" Cocktails:
http://www.fabhousewife.com/a-classy-christmas-cocktail/
https://blog.bedbathandbeyond.com/bbb-recipe/partridge-in-a-pear-tree-cocktail-recipe/

Ovid, Met. 8, Perdix passage

Horace, Ode 2.20, "Swan Song"

PNC Wealth Management Christmas Price Index

Mark Forsyth, A Christmas Cornucopia

Paul Anthony Jones, The Accidental Dictionary

The Endless Knot Merchandise

The LingSpace Merchandise

Twelve Days of Christmas song versions & sheet music

Episode 19: Beef

Aven McMaster August 2, 2016

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

Classy Little Podcast

Roman Colour Thesaurus – Caroline Lawrence (Roman Mysteries)

Merchandise

Beefeater cocktails

Episode 14: Cocktail

Aven McMaster April 7, 2016

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

Our other podcast: As We Like It

And thank you to our Patreon supporters: Valerie Polichar, Lukas Hägele, Evermore Anon, Ian & Susan McMaster, Carlos Solis, and Chantal Sundaram.

Let’s Drink About It podcast

Cocktail video playlist

Teapot cocktail shakers

Pictures from our Cocktail Party over the years:

Episode 13: Album

Aven McMaster March 3, 2016

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.

The White Lady cocktail
Sappho poem 31
#TheDress
The Adidas jacket

Show Notes

Album video

And thank you to our Patreon supporters: Valerie Polichar, Lukas Hägele, Evermore Anon, Ian & Susan McMaster, Carlos Solis, and Chantal Sundaram.

Episode 11: Cuckold

Aven McMaster February 7, 2016

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

The Horny Cock Valentine's Day Card

Thank you to our Patreon supporters: Valerie Polichar, Lukas Hägele, Evermore Anon, and Ian & Susan McMaster

The Smitten Shine

Love Cocktail

Our Cafepress store

The "Cuckold" video

The "Sublime" video

"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:

Horace Ode 3.6

Episode 8: Yule

Aven McMaster December 17, 2015

We discuss the etymology of Yule & the Germanic roots of Christmas traditions, along with Dr. Seuss & the Grinch, beer, & the unsavoury meaning of 'mistletoe'.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas in Latin

Show Notes

The Allusionist Podcast

As We Like It podcast

The Twelve Days of Christmas video

The Twelve Etymologies of Christmas song

The Twelve Days of Christmas (traditional lyrics)

The Twelve Etymologies of Christmas (instrumental)

The Twelve Etymologies of Christmas lyric sheet

Episode 7: The Story of Narrative

Aven McMaster November 9, 2015

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.

The Story of Narrative Video

Show Notes

Narrative Matters conference

The Latin word novi, from nosco

"The Storytelling Animal" by Jonathan Gottschall

Nerdcon Stories

Persephone cocktail

As We Like It: A podcast about film adaptations of Shakespeare

Episode 6: Paddle Your Own Canoe

Aven McMaster September 28, 2015

We play the audio from "Paddle Your Own Canoe" and discuss metaphor, travel narratives, Greek & Roman epic, Star Trek, and Doctor Who.

"Paddle Your Own Canoe" video

Show Notes

Paddle Your Own Canoe blog post

The Conference of the Birds

Metaphors We Live By

Thrilling Adventure Hour

Star Trek: TNG, "Darmok"

Blog post on Spatial Metaphors for Time

Ovid, Heroides

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"

Doctor Who, "Death of the Nimon"

Doctor Who, "The Underworld"

Mapping Metaphor

Episode 2: A Detective Story

Aven McMaster July 27, 2015

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.

"A Detective Story" video

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!)

Our cat, Ester

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

Sherlock Holmes adaptations

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

Memrise, and the course I made to supplement my Latin class

Episode 1: Introduction to The Endless Knot

Aven McMaster July 5, 2015

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.