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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

Listen to Gibbons Ruark read “Birdsong After a Sleepless Night”

Harry S. Truman once wrote that the President of the United States is a “glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway.”

And yet, it’s a job that people spend millions of dollars trying to get.

Alben Barkley certainly wanted the job. He was in Congress for 40 years, but Barkley never made it to the pinnacle of power. He got close - he was our country’s 35th Vice President, serving under Harry S. Truman.

Throughout American history, only 14 VPs have ever gone on to the presidency. The rest have been mostly forgotten.

And not many people would remember the name Alben Barkley, except for two things: his nickname, the “Veep,” and the remarkable circumstances of his death.

This is the third - and final - episode of our mini-series, Contenders: Portraits of Some of the most Groundbreaking and Unusual Presidential Candidates who Never Won the White House. 

#52: Contenders: The Veep

What happens when everyone in your family knows you're the black sheep?  The Mortified Podcast is a proud member of the Radiotopia from PRX. Listen @ getmortified.com/podcast

68 Paul: The Family Misfit

How was that for you?  In honor of our 69th episode, teenagers use numbers to rate, rank and relate to sex.  The Mortified Podcast is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.  Listen @ getmortified.com/podcast

69: Sex By Numbers

In the vast ocean of the internet, there are thousands of diaries that are locked by forgotten passwords and AOL email addresses; Ashley’s LiveJournal is one of them. 

The Heart

No Way Out

Our Back To School Series continues with the tale of a teenager who couldn't get a date to homecoming. The Mortified Podcast is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.  Listen @ getmortified.com/podcast

72 Back to School Series: Homecoming Ruined My Life

Buzz and Sheldon are brothers in their eighties who have been estranged for decades. Buzz visits Sheldon to see if there’s still a relationship left to salvage.

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Credits
Heavyweight is hosted and produced by Jonathan Goldstein.
This episode was also produced by Wendy Dorr, Chris Neary, and Kalila Holt.
Editing by Alex Blumberg and Peter Clowney.
Special thanks to Caitlin Kenney, Starlee Kine, and Rachel Ward.
The show was mixed by Haley Shaw.
Music in this episode by Christine Fellows, with additional music and ad music by Haley Shaw. Our theme song is by The Weakerthans courtesy of Epitaph Records.
A version of this story appeared on This American Life, and we had a lot of help from the folks there: Ira Glass, Julie Snyder, Jonathan Menjivar, Sean Cole, and Robyn Semian. A very special thanks to Emily Condon.

Heavyweight

#1 Buzz

In 1971, Studs Terkel interviewed a Chicago Police Officer for his book, 'Working.' Almost 50 years later, Radio Diaries interviewed that same officer. This is his story.

This story is part of the Radio Diaries series, "The Working Tapes."

Radio Diaries

Police Officer Renault Robinson

Eddie Jaffe, a New York Press agent legendary for quirky publicity stunts on behalf of his clients. Jaffe was a small, wiry man who loved to tell stories - if you listen to the raw tape of Studs’ interview with him, Studs barely gets a word in.
This story is part of the Radio Diaries series, "The Working Tapes."

Press Agent Eddie Jaffe

A private eye, a jockey, a hotel piano player....voices from The Working Tapes.

In the early 1970's, author Studs Terkel went around the country with a reel-to-reel tape recorder interviewing people about their jobs for his book, "Working."  It was a surprise bestseller. But until now, few of these interviews have ever been heard before. For decades, the reel-to-reel tapes were packed away in Terkel’s home office. Over the past year, Radio Diaries, along with Project&, combed through them to produce this series.

#57: The Working Tapes - Part 3

This election season, our country seems more politically divided than ever. The race has been so ugly that it's hard to even imagine a time when Republicans and Democrats could agree on anything at all.

In this podcast episode, we're going back more than 75 years, to another hard-fought election. In 1940, FDR squared off against Wendell Willkie. And during the campaign, the Republicans, the Democrats, and even the Communist Party managed to agree on one thing:

A song.

It was an unlikely hit. The song was a kind of folk opera, sung by a Black man, that ran 10 minutes. But whether you were on the left or the right, the song's populist message had something for everyone. It debuted on a national radio broadcast, on November 5, 1939. Producer Ben Shapiro brings us the story of "Ballad for Americans."

#58: The Song that Crossed Party Lines

Since 1938, a weekly African-American owned newspaper called The Evening Whirl has covered crime in St. Louis with a style all its own, using alliteration and rhyme, and often omitting the usual crime-reporting words like "accused" or "alleged." The paper has been widely criticized for its casual approach to fact-checking and sensational writing style. But the paper's owner, Anthony Sanders, who has been helping out with it since he was 18 years old, doesn't have any plans to change it. As the pages of The Whirl have said: “If that’s too much for you, pick up the Times and read the theatre reviews.” 

Criminal is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.

Congratulations to our fellow Radiotopia show The Heart, which just won first prize at the Third Coast International Audio Festival for their story "Mariya." You can listen here: http://www.theheartradio.org/solos/mariya

We have new T-shirt designs! And one of them *glows in the dark*. All of the designs were created by Julienne Alexander, who makes illustrations for each episode of Criminal. We've also restocked our sticker and magnet supply, so there is lots to check out in the Criminal shop: http://criminal-show.myshopify.com/

Episode 56: Don't Let Me See You In The Whirl

The story of William Cimillo, a New York City bus driver who snapped one day in 1947, left his regular route in the Bronx, and drove his municipal bus down to Florida.

#23: Busman's Holiday

For five years Davia’s father, Lenny Nelson, asked her to go to Rattlesden, England, to visit the Air Force base where he was stationed during WWII and to find an old photograph hanging in the town pub honoring his 8th Air Force squadron. It was still there, over 50 years later, he told her. Finally, one fine Sunday, Davia headed out in search of the pub and a piece of her father’s past—the piece he was proudest of.

Lenny died on Christmas Eve last year. In his honor, we share the journey with you.

Samuel Shelton Robinson helped produce this story with The Kitchen Sisters. He’s from London. It seemed only right.

Rattlesden

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.

The Allusionist

Allusionist 49: Bonus 2016

At 12:00 pm on January 20, 2017 Donald Trump will become the next president of the United States. In the past, U.S. presidential inaugurations have packed some serious star power. But finding artists willing to perform at this inauguration, proved harder than expected. Elton John, Celine Dion, Garth Brooks, Ice-T, and Kiss were among those reportedly invited. They all declined. Then there was British singer and X-factor winner Rebecca Ferguson. She said she would consider performing at the inauguration if she were allowed to sing the song Strange Fruit. 

There's a story behind the song Strange Fruit. And a story behind that story. It begins with three men in a jail cell in Marion, Indiana. It ends with two deaths, one life spared, and a photograph that has become the most iconic image of lynching in America.

#61: Strange Fruit (Updated)

One week into his Presidency, Donald Trump signed an executive order to begin building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Trump says it will be, "an impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful, southern border wall."

But campaign slogans are easy. Reality is harder.

In this episode, two stories about that border. And what happens when, instead of people crossing the border, the border crosses the people.

#62: The Border Wall (Updated)

Ninety years ago, Daisy Anderson and Alberta Martin were brand new brides. Both women got married in their early twenties, to men who were near 80. And as it happens, their husbands served on opposite sides of the Civil War.

#63: The Last Civil War Widows

The extraordinary stories of ordinary life.

First-person diaries, sound portraits, and hidden chapters of history from Peabody Award-winning producer Joe Richman and the Radio Diaries team. 

For more information, go to www.radiodiaries.org, and subscribe to the Radio Diaries Podcast: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/npr-radio-diaries-podcast/id207505466