Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

Hi Susan, and welcome to the forum.

I missed the episode you referred to, but here's Grant's & Martha's take on "further" vs. "farther" as recorded back in 2010:

https://waywordradio.org/further-vs-farther/

So is Martha contradicting her earlier advice? Or did she just misspeak, as you suggest. You'd have to ask her. There's two things you should know ... first, not all sources agree on the distinction between the two, though "farther" is used more often when relating to physical distance. See these comments by Grammar Girl:

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/further-versus-farther

The second thing you should know is that Grant & Martha (and I believe the majority of forum members here) are descriptivists, so you shouldn't be surprised if what we advise now differs from what we said 5 years ago. We delight in the evolution of language, and that's what drives most of our discussion threads. It should be fun for you, as a new member, to take a look at the discussion archives. Enjoy.