Catherine Called Birdy

NOTE: Due to a technical mishap, there are some issues with Jamie's audio quality in this episode. We apologize and promise the issue will be fixed in our next episode.

This week we're traveling back to the Middle Ages with Catherine Called Birdy! Join us as we talk about medieval birthing practices, book ownership, citrus, farts, why "butt trumpet" should become a widely used phrase, and more!

Sources:

Butt trumpet marginalia in the Rothschild Canticles, c. 1300, MS 404, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, https://www.flickr.com/photos/beinecke_library/4382703456/in/set-72157623494993704
https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-is-a-butt-tuba-and-why-is-it-in-medieval-art-michelle-brown
"Foreign Names and Flatulence: Dodging Censorship in the Book Trade," Untold Lives blog 26 September 2016, https://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2016/09/foreign-names-and-flatulence-dodging-censorship-in-the-book-trade.html
Hunter Oatman-Stanford, "Naughty Nuns, Flatulent Monks, and Other Surprises of Sacred Medieval Manuscripts," Collectors Weekly 24 July 2014, https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/naughty-nuns-flatulent-monks-and-other-surprises-of-sacred-medieval-manuscripts/
Jody Enders, "The Farce of the Fart" in "The Farce of the Fart" and Other Ribaldries (University of Pennsylvania Press), https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt3fhctm.9
Anatoly Liberman, "Gone with the Wind: More Thoughts on Medieval Farting," Scandinavian Studies 68, no.1 (1996): 98-104. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40919835

Variety, "Lena Dunhamand the Cast of of 'Catherine Called Birdy' at TIFF 2022| Variety Studio" https://youtu.be/kJTzy63FA-4?si=9u4oC42ZsBvelUSx
People, "Catherine Called Birdy } People + Entertainment Weekly TIFF Studio 2022," https://youtu.be/6RDVfofW6NM?si=ZGPxIH7z4ZBNcZwZ
The Hollywood Reporter, "Bella Ramsey Praises Lena Dunham's Writing in Catherine Called Birdy," https://youtu.be/7JClNeIU7kI?si=YWXRkVbWyD781YjW
RT: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/catherine_called_birdy
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/catherine-called-birdy-bella-ramsey-interview-first-look-exclusive
Variety, https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/catherine-called-birdy-review-lena-dunham-1235366493/
https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/catherine-called-birdy-review-lena-dunham-b2172806.html
Lindsey Bahr, https://apnews.com/article/film-reviews-entertainment-mel-brooks-8b9cb0885592f58b34353cf2c39591bb

Tacuinum Sanitatis: Medieval Horticulture and Health - Scientific Figure on ResearchGate. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Tropical-fruits-Vienna-2644-A-lemon-Citrus-limon-folio-19r-B-pomegranate_fig6_267278636 [accessed 20 Aug 2025]
"The history of Citrus in the Low Countries during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age, available at https://books.openedition.org/pcjb/2197
Wouter van der Meer"
Tudor History Q and A blog: https://queryblog.tudorhistory.org/2010/04/question-from-jacob-oranges-in-tudor.html?m=0

Susan Cavanaugh, "A Study of Books Privately Owned in England: 1300-1450," available at https://www.proquest.com/openview/cdf761684489fc60d4b2b93e0df09b04/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y

Isis Davis-Marks, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-study-shows-medieval-women-used-birthing-belts-180977207/
Andrew Curry, https://www.science.org/content/article/medieval-birthing-girdle-contains-delivery-fluid-milk-and-honey
https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2025/01/permission-to-practise-medicine.html
Karen Smith Adams, "From 'The Help of Grave and Modest Women' to 'The Care of Men of Sense': The Transition from Female Midwifery to Male Obstetrics in Early Modern England" MA Thesis, Portland State University (1988). https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4802&context=open_access_etds
Becky Lawton, "Call the Medieval Midwife," https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2018/03/call-the-medieval-midwife.html