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