FlexiLingo
821 A History of the Kiss (with Katie Barclay) | Wonderland Books! (with Amy Joyce and Gayle Weiswasser)
The kiss! What could be more romantic? And yet, as historian Katie Barclay discovered when writing her book The Kiss: A History of Passion and Power, she found non-romantic kisses to be even more fascinating. In this episode, Jacke kicks things off with a look at some famous kisses from Shakespeare and Byron, some news about his Netflix algorithm and Christopher Nolan's Odyssey, the exciting new promotion of free domestic and international shipping being offered by the History of Literature Press, and the curious response to Homer's use of what's been translated as the "wine-dark" (or "wine-faced") sea. PLUS...
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B2 · Upper-intermediate
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- 85% of the words are B1 or easier.
- 169 words a minute: natural, fairly fast speech.
- 287 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.
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Is this episode right for you?
B2 · Upper-intermediate
Comfortable if you already follow TV news
- 85% of the words are B1 or easier.
- 169 words a minute: natural, fairly fast speech.
- 287 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.
Transcript
The opening of the episode. The whole transcript is in the player.
harder words (B2+)
The History of Literature podcast is a member of the Podglomerate Network and Lit Hub Radio. Hello, we begin today with a quote. If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle fine is this. My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.
That's Romeo, of course, talking to Juliet at the ball. After some witty banter, extending the metaphor, Romeo says, thus from my lips, by yours my sin is purged. He kisses her, and she responds, then have my lips the sin that they have took. And Romeo says, sin from thy lips, oh trespass sweetly urged, give me my sin again. And Juliet says, you kiss by the book.
You kiss by the book. And we might say he kisses in the book, in the play, on the page. They kiss. It's exciting because we love Shakespeare and we love these characters and we want them to kiss. It's exciting whenever we encounter a romantic kiss in photographs, in film, in song lyrics, on the stage, or yes, in our beloved literature.
That was the opening. The rest of the episode (88 min) is in the player: every word clickable, with translation, saved words and flashcards.
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