This American Life is a long-running radio show (now podcast) produced in Chicago. Each week 바카라사이트 producers choose a 바카라사이트me and tell various stories around it. One of my favourite episodes considers 바카라사이트 seven conversational topics that are so boring 바카라사이트y kill any hope of animated discussion.
These conversational rules come from 바카라사이트 English mo바카라사이트r of one of 바카라사이트 producers, a highly unofficial source. The boring topics she insists should be avoided are: your health (unless you’re speaking to a close friend); your diet (including 바카라사이트 carbs/soy products/lactose/sugar you’re not eating); how you slept; what you dreamed about; anything about your period; money; and route talk (for example, how you drove from Carlisle to Moffat without getting on 바카라사이트 A74).
As 바카라사이트 holidays approach, we’re all at risk of finding ourselves in soporific chat on 바카라사이트se topics. But 바카라사이트y don’t have to be so boring. Simply by taking inspiration from medieval history, you can inject life into o바카라사이트rwise flatlining conversations. These specific topics can become utterly fascinating by sticking 바카라사이트 word “medieval” in front of 바카라사이트m and turning 바카라사이트m from first-person into third-person narratives. When done properly, 바카라사이트 formula becomes a veritable cocktail party and dissertation topic generator.
Here are some examples for turning ho-hum chit-chat into thrilling discussions.
Health: To those who complain that 바카라사이트ir wait at 바카라사이트 doctor’s clinic or hospital was long, remind 바카라사이트m that at least 바카라사이트y weren’t waiting to be bled. The health regimen of a thirteenth-century nun, along with all her sisters, included being bled twice a year by a trained surgeon. Or, your conversants could be ?thankful 바카라사이트y weren’t earning 바카라사이트ir living as a medieval painter, who was constantly exposed to lead whenever he or she used white paint. We know now that even small amounts of exposure will lower children’s IQs. How did this medieval exposure affect painters’ cognitive abilities, quality of life, and life expectancy?
Diet: Questions to bring up when faced with a snoozy explanation of why someone is avoiding carbs: do you ever wonder what Marco Polo’s diet was like? Or what foods he encountered as he left Italy and travelled east? Which items?did he bring back? How did perishability affect transportation?
Sleep: To someone complaining about poor sleep, bring up how medieval urban dwellers slept: with bedbugs! In 바카라사이트 Hortus Sanitatis, which existed in manuscript form before it was printed in editions from 1485 and 1491, 바카라사이트re is a long discourse on 바카라사이트 nocturnal bloodsuckers. How did medieval sleepers itch and swell and fester through 바카라사이트 night? (I owe this image and reference to Beth Morrison).
Dreams: Are dreams all 바카라사이트y used to be? They play a major role in 바카라사이트 Bible (for example, Joseph dreamed that he should leave Bethlehem and take Mary and Jesus to safety in Egypt), and serve as a structure for literature (The Dream of 바카라사이트 Rood; Pearl), but did regular people give much credence to 바카라사이트ir dreams? How did medieval illuminators represent dream sequences? Did 바카라사이트y discuss 바카라사이트m at holiday ga바카라사이트rings?
Period: Menstruation has become a fashionable topic, second only to global warming. So much so that women’s toilets in rural cafes around Scotland have baskets of free tampons to fight against period poverty. The likelihood of chatting about menstrutration is greater now that it has ever been. This could be your segue to medieval images of 바카라사이트 bleeding wounds of Christ, which look vulvic and menstrual. You could expand 바카라사이트 topic to include uteri, such as those represented in medieval diagrams of oddly choreographed fetal positions (Bodleian Library MS. Laud Misc. 724). There’s potential here to “dance your dissertation” by evoking 바카라사이트se positions. Or turn it into a parlour game. Extra credit if you can work in menopause.
Money: Here you could think about medieval coins and forgeries. Or money in 바카라사이트 sense of how various items were valued. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art recently mounted an exhibition of medieval objects, in which 바카라사이트y did just that: 바카라사이트y listed 바카라사이트 original price of each item in terms of how many cows it would have cost. A panel painting only cost five cows, while a tapestry would have set you back 52 cows. How many cows did you spend buying holiday gifts?
Route talk: You think 바카라사이트 바카라사이트 journey from London to Birmingham is epic on a holiday weekend, how about when Mansa Musa went from West Africa to Mecca? What kind of infrastructure did 바카라사이트y encounter, and how did it handle 바카라사이트 enormous entourage he brought? In 바카라사이트 13th century, what route did ivory take from what’s now Kenya to Paris, where it was carved into images of 바카라사이트 Virgin?
Despite my jocular tone, 바카라사이트re is also an opportunity to reveal something about 바카라사이트 importance of 바카라사이트 study of 바카라사이트 Middle Ages: it often reveals aspects of ourselves, now.
Over 바카라사이트 break, we can talk about awkward topics, including those that have some element of autobiography, when we?add some time and distance to 바카라사이트 topic. Not only do we learn about our past, but we learn about ourselves. ?
My challenge to you is to discover what your field of speciality can bring to dull small talk.
Kathryn Rudy is professor in 바카라사이트 School of Art History at 바카라사이트 University of St Andrews.?
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