To listen

Here are some podcasts especially suited for word nerds.

Audio File playlist April 2015

from the beginning: allusionist

Find every episode of the Allusionist at http://theallusionist.org.

The Allusionist is a proud member of @radiotopia from PRX, a collective of the best podcasts around. http://radiotopia.fm

The Allusionist

podcasts

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

Remember when 'viral' used to only mean something bad, IE something that would make you ill or destroy your computer?

How things have changed. Tom Phillips from Buzzfeed UK explains the language they choose to make content go viral.

Visit http://theallusionist.org/viral to find out more about this episode. Tweet @allusionistshow, and convene at facebook.com/allusionistshow.

The Allusionist is a proud member of http://Radiotopia.fm for http://PRX.org.

Allusionist 3: Going Viral

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

Every week since September 1989, a radio station in Finland has broadcast a weekly news bulletin...in Latin.

WHY?

Let's find out!

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

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

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

Allusionist 5: Latin Lives!

Recently, English has made inroads in post-Soviet Russian, much to the consternation of many there.  In neighboring Estonia, everyone's so busy learning English that they have forgotten that they are right next to Mother Russia.  Then there's Sol Steinmetz, a man of many tongues. He speaks Hungarian, Yiddish, and Spanish. But he feels most comfortable speaking English.
There are, of course, global rivals to English but Esperanto is most assuredly not one of them. Now there's a new Esperanto for the text messaging generation.  Someone in our newsroom said it should be called Textperanto. Alas, no: its name is NOL.


9: English and Textperanto go global

The stories behind slang, political and otherwise. The dated term "jingoism" denotes a kind of belligerent nationalism. But the word's roots lie in an old English drinking-house song that was popular during wartime. Speaking of fightin' words, the expression "out the side of your neck" came up in a feud between Kanye West and Wiz Khalifa--and let's just say the phrase is hardly complimentary.  Finally, a German publishing company has declared that the top slang term among that country's youth is a name for someone who's completely absorbed in his cell phone. That word is...Smombie! And if you're guessing that Smombie comes from "zombie," you're right. Plus, thaw vs. unthaw, dinner vs. supper, groundhog vs. whistle pig, riddles galore, speed bumps and sleeping policemen, pirooting around, and kick into touch. http://waywordradio.org

Whistle Pig (Full Episode)

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

'Continent', as in a land mass, is much more complicated semantically than the bodily function control sense of 'continent'. 

Plus: more 'please', and how 'thank you' is not necessarily an expression of gratitude.  

TL;DR: trust nothing.

There's more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/continental. Visit 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 34 Continental

We crack open the trivia-filled world of EGGS! Which end of the egg comes out of a chicken first? Chris fluffs it up with the science and how-to behind perfect scrambled eggs. (And we have a micro interview with a very special guest who has very strong opinions on this particular dish.) And of course, how can we do an episode on eggs without sharing another weird animal reproduction story? This time: the mating horror of the anglerfish. Dana has prepped an egg salad of a quiz for us while Colin serves up a protein-filled egg word quiz. And what exactly are Faberge Eggs, and what makes them so insanely expensive?

ALSO: US hiking facts, Tanked

GJB #186: Eggsellent

"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.