A woman in Lincoln, Nebraska, says her father, a Missouri cattleman, would answer the question How are you? by replying Couldn’t be better with less in all my life! This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Couldn’t Be Better With...
Books were rare treasures in the Middle Ages, painstakingly copied out by hand. So how to protect them from theft? Scribes sometimes added a curse to the first page of those books that was supposed to keep thieves away — and some were as vicious as...
Responding to our conversation about a word to denote the exact halfway point between deep depression and euphoria, a listener in Libreville, Gabon, suggests placid. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Halfway Between Depressed...
Jo Ann lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia, but grew up in England. She remembers that when her brother was mopey during family trips to visit their grandparents in Devon, their grandfather would tell him “Get that black dog off your back...
What’s the emotion halfway between clinical depression and euphoria? After our discussion of this question, listeners chimed in by email, phone, and social media with suggestions. They included complacent, balanced, placid, fine, content...
A shoestring budget is a spending plan that’s as thin and spindly as a shoestring. Not surprisingly, the term gained popularity during the Great Depression. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Shoestring Budget” We...

