Marco Polo: history’s most famous travel writer?
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Who are the experts discussing Marco Polo in this episode?
Hello and welcome to You're Dead to Me, the Radio 4 comedy podcast that takes history seriously. My name is Greg Jenner. I'm a public historian, author and broadcaster. And today we are packing our trunk and boarding a ship to 13th century China to learn all about medieval traveller Marco Polo. And to help us on our way, we have two very special travelling companions. In History Corner, she's Distinguished Professor of Literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her research focuses on the intercultural relations of 12th and 13th century Asia and Europe, and in literature particularly. And luckily for us, she's the most recent translator of Marco Polo's book, as well as the author of Marco Polo and His World. It's Professor Sharon Kinoshita.
Welcome, Sharon.
Thanks, Greg. I'm delighted to be here.
We're delighted to have you here. And in Comedy Corner, she's a comedian, actor and writer. You might have seen her on loads of things on TV, including live at the Apollo QI, Pointless, having news for you. Maybe you've seen her stand-up tour, Reawakening, or heard her on Radio 4's News Quiz or The Now Show. And you will definitely remember her from our episode on Pirate Queen, Chung-I Sao. It's Rialina. Welcome back to the show, Ria. Thank you so much. It's great to be here. We're delighted to have you back. Now, Ria, you are, I think, officially the most educated, therefore most hyper-intelligent comedian we've ever had on. You have a PhD.
I do have a PhD, but I don't know that that makes me the most.
The most educated, perhaps. Okay.
All right. The only one that didn't have an ADHD enough to be able to finish three degrees.
But your PhD is in science.
It is. Very science. It's in herpes viruses, if we're going to be precise.
That is precise.
I know. And it was only one step from there to comedy, really.
How are you with history?
What's the scale? I mean, what's the scale of comfort level? Listen, I can nail the tutors and stewards because that's all we were ever taught at school. Okay. Tutors and stewards, tutors and stewards, you know, and then a healthy chunk of Victorian Britain. But I come to you for all of my 12th to 13th century Chinese knowledge because I don't, they skip that.
Yeah, yeah. We're not so good on the UK curriculum with the sort of medieval China.
With the rest of the world, which is ironic given that we used to own it.
So is Marco Polo a familiar name?
What was Marco Polo's early life like in Venice?
Very familiar name to me because I used to play it all the time at school.
Okay. Or in swimming. Talk us through the rules.
The rule is that you put on a blindfold and then everyone else that you're playing with has to avoid being tagged by you. But you get clues. And what you do is you say Marco and everyone has to say Polo when you say Marco so that you can get an idea of where they are.
So you're echolocating.
Yes.
Cartographically, is that how Marco Polo traveled the world, Sharon? By echolocating. Yes.
You know, I have to continue my research because I haven't been able to unearth the foundational document for the swimming pool game.
So, what do you know? This is the So What Do You Know, where I have a go at guessing what you, our lovely listener, might know about today's subject. And you've probably heard of the name Marco Polo. Much like Rie, you may have known he was a medieval famous traveller. You may even have played the famous swimming pool game. Marco! Polo! Polo! career.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Who are the experts discussing Marco Polo in this episode?
0:49–2:59
2
What was Marco Polo's early life like in Venice?
2:59–8:15
3
Did Marco Polo really travel to China?
8:15–14:42
4
What did Marco Polo observe about the Mongol Empire's administration?
14:42–21:23
5
How did Marco Polo describe diamond hunting in India?
21:23–24:42
6
What are Marco Polo sheep and why are they significant?
24:42–57:39
Speakers
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