95. Privign

This week, our hosts chat about families of all kinds--biological and marital, real and mythical, loving and… strained, as they explore the history of the word privign.

Kyle reveals some little-known Latin words that came before modern words like “stepson” and “stepdaughter.” He talks about how these step- words became common, and what a “stepmom” or “stepdad” might have once meant. But to show us the history of privign, he treats Emily to a bit of theatre!

They look at something called a masque, which is something between a musical and a pantomime. Their theater trip takes Kyle and Emily through some classic Greek mythology, some drama between playwrights, and a surprising connection between Hercules and the Milky Way.