Uncommon Knowledge

Sarah Griffin talks to us about the fourteenth-century cosmologist Opicinus de Canistris, who attempted to reconcile medieval theology, cosmology, and cartography in a series of incredible diagrams.

D.Phil student in English, Kristen Grogan, joins the podcast to talk about the relationships between modernist writers, including T. S. Eliot, Gertrude Stein, Richard Wright, Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald

Emily Knight, DPhil in Art History, tells us about the morbidly fascinating world of Victorian death masks, and what they can tell us about society, science, celebrity, and attitudes towards death.

Dr Helen Slaney joins us to discuss Emma Hamilton's 'Attitudes' - the series of classical poses she developed in response to the ancient vases collected by her husband, William Hamilton, in Naples. Listen and find out how to do an eighteenth-century impression of Medea!

Dr. Courtney Traub, Teaching and Research Fellow at the Rothermere American Institute at Oxford, joined us this week to tell us about an off-beat, counter-cultural publication from the 1960s and 70s, the Whole Earth Catalog.

Myriam Frenkel speaks to us on words for speech in Old English the many ways we can say, tell, or speak something. We also talk about Old English poetry, alliteration, and where to look for etymologies on the internet.

In this episode, Danielle Bishop talks to us about how to dishonour your enemies in medieval Spain. We discuss blood-filled cucumbers, people hiding under other peoples' skirts, escaping prison, and ways to insult people.

This week, Rowan Nicholson joins us to discuss an argument between Pope Innocent IV and the Mongol Emperor Güyük Khan, micronations in the US and Australia, and the treatment of indigenous peoples by colonial international law.

This week, politics student Adam Ward joins us to talk about the politics of the Eurovision Song Contest. Why didn't Australia win last year? How likely is it that Australia will win this year? These questions and other, less Australia-focused ones are answered.

This week, Emily and Rachael talk about cannibalism in convict Australia, war trophies, a dog-headed Saint Christopher, and Alexander the Great's submarine.