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 on

Swimming in History, with Karen Carr

Feb 29th, 2024 59m 1s

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

An Ecological Chain

Jan 31st, 2024 1h 34m

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 for the unscheduled hiatus! Golden Chain Cock

A Brief History of Misogyny

Aug 31st, 2023 1h 21m

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

A Brief History of Misogyny

Jul 4th, 2023 1h 21m

The word “chauvinism” 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 history of misogyny in the western world, from

A Quiverful of Time Arrows

May 30th, 2023 1h 25m

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 cocktailBow and Arrow cocktailT

Like, Literally, Dude! with Valerie Fridland

Apr 25th, 2023 1h 25m

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

The XYZ's of Spelling

Apr 4th, 2023 1h 12m

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,

The ABC's of Spelling

Mar 28th, 2023 1h 12m

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 th

Ovid's Metamorphoses in the 21st Century

Feb 28th, 2023 1h 14m

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

Announcement: LingFest23 Q&A Livestream

Feb 9th, 2023 56s

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,

Ovid's Metamorphoses in the 21st Century

Jan 31st, 2023 1h 21m

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 introduc

The Bellini, Art, and Patronage

Dec 29th, 2022 1h 26m

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 Renaissanc

Haggard Hawks, back again!

Nov 29th, 2022 1h 10m

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

Music and Language

Oct 29th, 2022 1h 30m

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 12To

Endangered Alphabets, with Tim Brookes

Sep 13th, 2022 1h 2m

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 worki

Widows, Indian Independence, and Partition

Aug 10th, 2022 1h 22m

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

Polar Regions, Comics, and Classics, with Natalie Swain

Jul 12th, 2022 1h 1m

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 thei

Future in the Past

Jun 7th, 2022 1h 12m

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 th

Dionysus, Translation, & Queering Greek Drama, with Emma Pauly

May 3rd, 2022 1h 12m

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

Words the Vikings Gave Us, with Grace Tierney

Apr 12th, 2022 58m 37s

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 Tier

Karaoke April Fools!

Apr 1st, 2022 50m 20s

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

Potatoes for St. Patrick

Mar 15th, 2022 1h 18m

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

Baking Greek Bread, with Josh Nudell

Feb 22nd, 2022 1h 8m

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

Not Your Average Podcast

Jan 31st, 2022 1h 46m

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.Podcas