Adam wonders if brussel sprouts deserve their bad rap for tasting horrible and makes an interesting discovery in the process. Cristina looks into whether the song ‘12 Days Of Christmas’ is coded so persecuted Christians could pass down the tenets of their faith under the radar. Lastly, Darren brings us a roundup of recent additions to his book shelf: “The Ethics of Influence”, “The Science of Evil”, “The Quest for Cosmic Justice”, “What Algorithms Want” and “Is This Anything?”
Download direct: mp3 file
Brussel Sprouts
From Culinary Dud To Stud: How Dutch Plant Breeders Built Our Brussels Sprouts Boom – NPR
12 Days Of Christmas Christian Code?
The 12 Days of Christmas: The story behind the holiday’s most annoying carol
FACT CHECK: The Twelve Days of Christmas
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/12-facts-about-12-days-christmas-180967569/
The Twelve Days of Christmas (song)
The Partridge in the Pear Tree
Eddie Izzard 12 Days Of Christmas (4:40)
Books, Books, Books!
Great show…as always! I particularly liked Cristina’s report on “The 12 Days”; however (there’s always a ‘however’)…I think her pronunciation of a couple terms is a bit off. And I hasten to add that there’s no need for any follow-up corrections; this is just for future reference if you find yourself in a theological discussion (and I’m purposely avoiding linguist notation):
1) is typically pronounced though I’ve heard a couple British rabbis say , but never .
2) is typically pronounced with 4 syllables: rather than
But then, maybe it’s different in Canada. 🙂
And lastly, Darren. First off, I really like the idea of reviewing books that aren’t necessarily hot off the press. In fact, a lot of my reading involves discovering books from 5- 10- or 15 years ago. However (there’s that nasty word again), in your discussion of “Ethics” you keep talking about “nudges” but never define or explain the term. If this was an everyday term we use in casual discussion of ethics–if there is such a thing among friends–that would be OK, but this seems to be a very specialized academic usage and it would be nice to get some explication at the start.
So, I hope you take these comments in the spirit of friendly “nudges” from an American who may just not be getting the Canadian parlance. 🙂
Regards from sunny Phoenix.
Hi Jim! Thanks for the kind words. I gotta tell you…I listened to four different pronunciations of the word pentateuch and they were ALL slightly different. I finally went with a rabbi’s pronunciation which I obviously butchered lol. I speak 3 languages and admittedly sometimes my pronunciation of certain words is influenced by that. Pat often points out I often pronounce the word ‘AN’ like ‘UN’. You are right on beatitudes…four syllables! In Canada it’s, “beatitudes, eh?” (JK!) – Cristina
Ack…looks like the email system eliminated my careful use of bold face, italics and brackets for clarification of the terms. Here it is again, without any typographic tricks.
Great show…as always. I particularly liked Cristina’s report on “The 12 Days”; however (there’s always a ‘however’)…I think her pronunciation of a couple terms is a bit off. And I hasten to add that there’s no need for any follow-up corrections; this is just for future reference if you find yourself in a theological discussion (and I’m purposely avoiding linguist notation):
1) Pentateuch is typically pronounced “penta-took” though I’ve heard a couple British rabbis say “penta-chook,” but never “penta-chuck.”
2) Beatitudes is typically pronounced with 4 syllables: “bee-AT-i-toods” rather than “beet-i-toods.”
But then, maybe it’s different in Canada. 🙂
And lastly, Darren. First off, I really like the idea of reviewing books that aren’t necessarily hot off the press. In fact, a lot of my reading involves discovering books from 5- 10- or 15 years ago. However (there’s that nasty word again), in your discussion of “Ethics” you keep talking about “nudges” but never define or explain the term. If this was an everyday term we use in casual discussion of ethics–if there is such a thing among friends–that would be OK, but this seems to be a very specialized academic usage and it would be nice to get some explication at the start.
So, I hope you take these comments in the spirit of friendly “nudges” from an American who may just not be getting the Canadian parlance. 🙂