The Phantom Tollbooth, the beloved children’s book by Norton Juster and illustrated by Jules Feiffer, turns 50 this year. There are two new 50th anniversary editions of the book. As Adam Gopnik notes in a New Yorker magazine article, the book is the...
Why do auctioneers talk so fast? Martha and Grant discuss the rapid-fire speech of auctioneers, and how it gets you to bid higher. Also, why so many books have ridiculously long titles, where you’d have sonker for dessert, and an appreciation of...
“If you’re writing out the names of numbers, what three numbers require six e’s and no other vowels?” Quiz Guy John Chaneski has the answer in his latest word puzzle. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Words of Numbers Quiz” You’re...

