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Episode 1549

Navel-Gazing

In 1971, when a new public library opened in Troy, Michigan, famous authors and artists were invited to write letters to the city’s youngest readers, extolling the many benefits of libraries. One of the loveliest was from E.B. White, author of...

Go for a Scud

Hannah from Menominee, Wisconsin, says her father used to invite people to go for a drive with Let’s go for a scud. The verb to scud means “to move quickly,” or “to speed,” as in clouds scudding across the sky, and goes...

Episode 1541

Walkie Talkie

One of the most powerful words you’ll ever hear β€” and one of the most poignant β€” isn’t in dictionaries yet. But it probably will be one day. The word is endling, and it means “the last surviving member of a species.” The...

Episode 1635

Electric SoupΒ 

When an international team of scientists traveled to a research station in Antarctica for six months, the language they all shared was English. After six months together, their accents changed ever so slightly β€” a miniature version of how language...

Pirate Booty vs. Body Booty

Is the booty as in shake your booty related to a pirate’s booty? The booty that means “derriere” is an alteration of botty, which is itself an alteration of bottom. The booty that means “loot” or “plunder”...

Episode 1633

Gilded Age

In her sumptuous new memoir, Jamaican writer Safiya Sinclair describes her escape from a difficult childhood ruled by her tyrannical father. For Sinclair, poetry became a lifeline. Plus: that fizzy chocolate drink called an egg cream contains...

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