The Surprising History of Eels

Dr. Lynn Price Robbins and Isaac S. Loftus are joined by John Wyatt Greenlee to dive into the surprising history of one slippery creature—the eel. Once a delicacy, currency, contraband, and even a spiritual symbol, this elusive fish finally gets its moment in the spotlight. You’ll never look at eels the same way again. Please support this podcast by checking out our patreon: www.patreon.com/primarysourcemedia CHAPTERS: 0:00 - Introductions 1:49 - What is a cartographic historian? 4:15 - How did maps lead you to eels? 12:30 - Eels are everywhere! 13:49 - What is an eel? 21:35 - The mystery of eel reproduction 27:46 - Factors of eels becoming critically endangered 30:41 - The effect of eels being yucky 35:02 - Eels as a currency 47:16 - Fast food jellied eels 48:59 - Eels in identity: eels in family crests and cultural heritage 51:43 - From dissertation to publication 54:30 - An eel story 58:02 - Where do we go to see the eels?!?! 1:09:15 - Where you can find John EPISODE LINKS: John Wyatt Greenlee - https://www.jwgreenlee.net/ Surprised Eel Mapping - https://surprisedeelmaps.com/ Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/greenleejw.bsky.social Eels - https://www.britannica.com/animal/eel Sargasso Sea - https://www.britannica.com/place/Sargasso-Sea Jellied Eels - https://youtu.be/sl0uZTzBTP8?si=yteJ2PFM-vLith9y Aristotle and eels - https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/27172/20200904/why-aristotle-freud-many-others-fascinated-european-eels.htm Hildegard of Bingen - https://www.historytoday.com/archive/natural-histories/sexual-eeling Henry Mayhew - https://theausteritykitchen.com/2009/10/09/from-costermonger-eel-pie-html/ Anglo-Dutch Wars - https://www.britannica.com/event/Anglo-Dutch-Wars Rachel Carson, Under the Sea Wind - https://archive.org/details/underseawind00rach;https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/under-the-sea-wind-rachel-carson/1100214057 Ely, England - https://www.visitely.org.uk/ Ely’s Eel Day - https://www.visitcambridge.org/event/elys-eel-day/ PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: 2c4hpod.com Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2-complicated-4-history/id1664183536 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3svQpZfxhVQnYJMESpp842?si=514780ada34d4aab Full episodes playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX2x56DEw1y7EYWxfufgfSR951RrdsXet&si=TuDcpAjaeQx-vjkH SOCIAL: - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/2c4hPodcast - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/2c4h_podcast To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices