In late 2014, China announced it was to ban puns. Helen Zaltzman wishes she could ban puns in her own family.

Warning: this episode features some hideous incidences of wordplay.

Visit http://theallusionist.org/puns to find out more about this episode. Tweet @allusionistshow, and convene at http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia.fm for PRX.

Allusionist 1: Ban The Pun

There are many synonyms for 'underwear'. There are many synonyms for the body parts you keep in your underwear. But there's only one word for 'bra'. 

Visit http://theallusionist.org to find out more about this episode. Tweet @allusionistshow, and convene at http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia.fm for PRX.

Allusionist 2: Bosom Holder

WARNING: this episode contains lots of swearing and words which some of you may find offensive. If, however, you love offensive words, you will enjoy this episode, which is all about how the C-word doesn't deserve to be the pariah of cusses.

Visit http://theallusionist.org/c-bomb to find out more about this episode. Tweet @allusionistshow, and convene at facebook.com/allusionistshow. Subscribe on iTunes at http://tinyurl.com/itunesAllusionist.

The Allusionist is a proud member of http://Radiotopia.fm for http://PRX.org.

Allusionist 4: Detonating the C-Bomb

On the eve of the 2015 General Election in the UK, take a jaunt through the etymology of election-related words. Find out why casting a vote should be more like basketball, and why polling is hairy.

There's more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/electionlexicon. Tweet @allusionistshow, and convene at facebook.com/allusionistshow. Also please air your thoughts about podcasts by filling in the Radiotopia survey at surveynerds.com/allusionist.

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia.fm for PRX.org.

Allusionist 10: Election Lexicon

What does brunch have to do with Lewis Carroll? Fall down the rabbit hole of brunch semantics with Dan Pashman of the Sporkful podcast http://sporkful.com.

There's more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/brunch. Tweet @allusionistshow, and convene at facebook.com/allusionistshow. 

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia.fm for PRX.org.

Allusionist 11: Brunchtime

The English language is a mess. And if you don't like it, what are you going to do about it - fix it? Good luck with that.

In the early 18th century, a movement of grammarians and authors wanted to set up an official authority to regulate English, like French had in the Academie Francaise. But is trying to fix a language a good move? Linguists Liv Walsh and Thomas Godard weigh up the evidence.

There is more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/fix-i. Say hello at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

The Allusionist is a proud member of http://Radiotopia.fm for http://PRX.org.

Allusionist 17: Fix part I

La la la, dum di di dum, a wop bop a loo bop a wop bom bom - why are songs riddled with non-words masquerading as words? Hrishikesh Hirway from Song Exploder and songwriter Tony Hazzard explain.

Read more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/vocables. Say hello at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow. Find Song Exploder at http://songexploder.net.

The Allusionist is a proud member of http://Radiotopia.fm for http://PRX.org. 

Radiotopia needs your support. Become a donor at http://on.prx.org/radiotopia-forever.

Allusionist 22: Vocables

There’s a language which is said to be the smallest language in the world. It has around 123 words, five vowels, nine consonants, and apparently you can become fluent in it with around 30 hours’ study. It was invented by linguist Sonja Lang in 2001, and it’s called Toki Pona. And fellow Radiotopian Nate DiMeo, from the Memory Palace, decided we should learn it together.

Find the Memory Palace at http://thememorypalace.us/. Read more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/tokipona and say hello at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow. 

The Allusionist is a proud member of http://Radiotopia.fm for http://PRX.org. 

Allusionist 25: Toki Pona

There's an ocean between Britain and the USA, but an even wider division between each country's use of a particular word: 'please'.

Linguists Lynne Murphy and Rachele De Felice explain how one nation's obsequiousness is another nation's obnoxiousness. 

There's more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/please. Please greet me at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia.fm from PRX.org. Radiotopia is having its first ever live show, featuring many of the shows performing new stories at the theatre at Ace Hotel, Los Angeles, 4th May 2016. It'll be excellent! Get your tickets at http://radiotopia.fm/ace.

Allusionist 33: Please

What is your beautiful brain up to as you comprehend language? Cognitive psychologist Jenni Rodd takes a peek.

Visit http://theallusionist.org/brain for more information about this topic.

Find me at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow. 

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia.fm from PRX.org.

Allusionist 44: This Is Your Brain On Language

If you love eponyms like Roman Mars loves eponyms, I'm afraid physician Isaac Siemens is here to deliver some bad news: medics are ditching them, in favour of terms that a) contain information about what the ailment actually is, and/or b) don't honour Nazi war criminals. Eponyms are controversial things. 

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, and Radiotopia needs you! This month is our fundraiser. To support independent audio, become a donor at http://radiotopia.fm (you can also get the fundraiser-exclusive Radiotopia challenge coin for your trouble).

Visit http://theallusionist.org/name-that-disease for more information about this episode.

Find me at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

The Allusionist

Allusionist 45: Eponyms II - Name That Disease

Why is gaslighting 'gaslighting'? What do bodily fluids have to do with personality traits? Why does 'cataract' mean a waterfall and an eye condition? And do doctors really say 'Stat!' or is that just in ER?

To round off 2016, here's the bonus edition of The Allusionist, featuring listeners' etymology requests and extra material from guests who've appeared on the show this year. For links and more information about the episode, visit http://theallusionist.org/bonus2016.

The show will return in early February. Meanwhile, catch up on the back catalogue at http://theallusionist.org, and stay in touch at http://facebook.com/allusionistshow and http://twitter.com/allusionistshow.

The Allusionist is a proud member of http://Radiotopia.fm from http://PRX.org.

Allusionist 49: Bonus 2016

Escape into the loving embrace of a romance novel - although don't think you'll be able to escape gender politics while you're in there. Bea and Leah Koch, proprietors of the romance-only bookstore The Ripped Bodice, consider the genre; and publisher Lisa Milton scrolls through the 109-year history of the imprint that epitomises romance novels, Mills & Boon.

For more information about this episode, visit http://theallusionist.org/covers-i.

Find me at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow. 

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia.fm from PRX.org.

Allusionist 50: Under The Covers part I

"Sometimes you want to make the dictionary sexy but it's just not a sexy thing," says Kory Stamper, lexicographer for the Merriam-Webster dictionaries. Sorry if this is disillusioning news for you. The dictionary is not a sexy thing, but as Kory explains, it is a fascinating, complicated, exacting thing. 

There's more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/authority.

Stay in touch at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia.fm for PRX.org. Join us for Radiotopia's live tour of west coast cities this May - http://radiotopia.fm/live.

Allusionist 54: The Authority

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” Hrishikesh Hirway of Song Exploder wants people to stop saying 'namaste' after a yoga session.

There's more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/namaste.

Stay in touch at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia.fm for PRX.org. Join us for Radiotopia's live tour of west coast cities this May - http://radiotopia.fm/live.

Allusionist 55: Namaste

By listener request, here is Martin Austwick's score for Allusionist 58: Eclipse. He learned to play Bonnie Tyler's 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' then pulled it apart to create the music for this episode, which you can hear in full at http://theallusionist.org/eclipse.

Find Martin's music at https://thesoundoftheladies.bandcamp.com/ and the rest of his work at http://martinaustwick.com.

For permission to use this music, please contact allusionistshow@gmail.com.

Allusionist 58: Eclipse Score

Translation, A Love Story:

Translator listens to The Allusionist. Translator hears about the podcast The Memory Palace. Translator listens to The Memory Palace. Translator immediately becomes smitten with The Memory Palace. Translator translates The Memory Palace from English to Brazilian Portuguese, and turns it into a book - O Palácio da Memória - which will be published in Brazil two weeks hence.

But, like any love story, it's not quite that simple.

Literary translator Caetano Galindo recounts the trials and treats of turning Nate DiMeo's English language audio into Brazilian Portuguese text.

Find out more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/translation, and hear The Memory Palace at http://thememorypalace.us.

The Allusionist is on a break during July. There'll be a new episode out on 4 August; meanwhile, stay in touch at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow. And come to see the live show at the London Podcast Festival in September.

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia.fm for PRX.org. Find all our podcasts at http://radiotopia.fm.

Allusionist 59: One To Another

They look like numbers. They sound like numbers. You kinda know they are numbers. But they're not actually numbers. Linguistic anthropologist Stephen Chrisomalis explains what's going on with indefinite hyperbolic numerals like 'zillion', 'squillion' and 'kajillion'.

For more about this episode, visit http://theallusionist.org/zillions.

Come to see the live show at the London Podcast Festival in September; tickets are on sale now at http://kingsplace.co.uk/radiotopia. 

Stay in touch at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.  

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a collective of the best podcasts on the interwaves. Find all our podcasts at http://radiotopia.fm.

Allusionist 60: Zillions

"It's sort of frozen body language; that's what handwriting analysis is about."

Since it caught on a couple of hundred years ago, graphology - analysing handwriting to deduce characteristics of the writer - has struggled to be taken seriously as a practice. But undoubtedly, there are things about ourselves that we can't help but reveal in our handwriting. 

For more about this episode, visit http://theallusionist.org/graphology.

Come to see the live show at the London Podcast Festival in September; tickets are on sale now at http://kingsplace.co.uk/radiotopia. 

Stay in touch at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.  

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a collective of the best podcasts on the interwaves. Find all our podcasts at http://radiotopia.fm, and be a pal and tell us your thoughts about our shows in the annual listener survey: http://surveynerds.com/allusionist.

Allusionist 61: In Your Hand

Crossword-solving is often a solitary activity - over breakfast; on the train; on the loo... But a few times a year, crossword puzzle enthusiasts gather in their hundreds to compete to be the fastest, most accurate crossword-solver. This episode comes to you from a church basement on the Upper East Side of New York City, wherein takes place America's second largest crossword puzzle tournament: Lollapuzzoola.

For more about this episode, visit http://theallusionist.org/lollapuzzoola.

Come to see the live show at the London Podcast Festival in September; tickets are on sale now at http://kingsplace.co.uk/radiotopia. 

Stay in touch at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.  

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a collective of the best podcasts on the interwaves. Find all our podcasts at http://radiotopia.fm, and be a pal and tell us your thoughts about our shows in the annual listener survey: http://surveynerds.com/allusionist.

Allusionist 62: In Crypt, Decrypt

"Accent is identity. It's a way of encoding and signaling - almost completely at an unconscious level for most people - who they feel like they are, who they want to be seen as, what group they feel like they belong to." The podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz investigates how accents have evolved in the UK and USA.

Hear Twenty Thousand Hertz at http://20k.org and find out more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/evolution-of-accents.

Stay in touch at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.  

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a collective of the best podcasts on the interwaves. Find all our podcasts at http://radiotopia.fm

Allusionist 63: Evolution Of Accents

You've encountered technobabble when Doc Brown is shouting about flux capacitors in Back To The Future, or when Isaac Asimov writes about positronic brains. Astrophysicist Katie Mack and NASA JPL technologist Manan Arya discuss how science fact relates to science fiction. 

This episode is a collaboration with Eric Molinsky of Imaginary Worlds; listen to his episode about technobabble, featuring ACTUAL HOLLYWOOD TECHNOBABBLERS, at http://imaginaryworldspodcast.org.

The show's online home is http://theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.  

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a collective of the best podcasts on the interwaves. Find all our podcasts at http://radiotopia.fm.

Allusionist 64: Technobabble

Roman Mars returns for our annual dose of eponyms - words that derive from people's names. This year: explosive revelations about the origins of the word 'guy'. Find out more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/guy. 

CONTENT NOTE: the episode contains a description of 17th century torture and execution. 

The show's online home is http://theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.  

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a collective of the best podcasts on the interwaves. Find all our podcasts at http://radiotopia.fm.

Allusionist 65. Eponyms III: Who's That Guy?

From Me To You’s Alison Hitchcock and Brian Greenley didn’t know each other well. But when Brian was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, Alison offered to write him letters. 100 letters later, their lives were changed.

One of the newest members of Radiotopia is Ear Hustle, a podcast made inside San Quentin by and about the men incarcerated there, in collaboration with Nigel Poor. In prison, a letter is a precious thing.

Find out more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/open-me-1. The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a collective of the best podcasts on the interwaves. It’s Radiotopia’s annual fundraiser: to keep our shows going, become a supporter (and get some excellent gifts!) at http://radiotopia.fm.

The show's online home is http://theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

Allusionist 66: Open Me part I

You're holding a letter. What's inside? A weather report from 5,000 miles away? Some devastating family history? A single word? A heartfelt dispatch from your past self that's about to change the course of your life?

Find out more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/open-me-2. 

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a collective of the best podcasts on the interwaves. It’s Radiotopia’s annual fundraiser: to keep our shows going, become a supporter (and get some excellent gifts!) at http://radiotopia.fm.

The show's online home is http://theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

Allusionist 67: Open Me part II

Small adventures in the English language, by Helen Zaltzman from @AnswerMeThis for @Radiotopia from PRX.

Visit http://theallusionist.org, and/or subscribe on iTunes http://tinyurl.com/iTunesAllusionist.

The Allusionist

Popular tracks