This awards season, many winners will say, “I’m humbled by this honor.” Ann from Burlington, Vermont, wonders: Shouldn’t they feel honored rather than humbled? What’s so humbling about winning awards? Grant argues that...
Martha spotted a choice cartoon: A dog is sitting behind a gate under a sign that says Beware of Dog. The caption: “Can I read you my poems?” This is part of a complete episode.
A while back we talked about what English sounds like to those who don’t speak it. Martha shares an evocative excerpt from Richard Rodriguez’s memoir Hunger of Memory, where he describes the “high nasal notes of middle-class...
Martha shares a favorite poem, “The Bagel,” by David Ignatow. Who wouldn’t like to feel “strangely happy with myself”? This and other gems can be found in Billy Collins’ book Poetry 180. This is part of a complete...
In truck driver slang, a bedbugger is “a moving van that hauls furniture.” That’s one example of trucker lingo that Martha picked up during her appearance on The Ben Merens Show on Wisconsin Public Radio. This is part of a complete...
Paronomasia’s just another word for pun, and Martha can’t resist offering an example. This is part of a complete episode.