The Allusionist

Latest Episodes:

45. Eponyms II: Name That Disease Oct 16, 2016

Show notes

If you love eponyms like Roman Mars loves eponyms, I’m afraid physician Isaac Siemens is here to deliver some bad news: medics are ditching them, in favour of terms that a) contain information about what the ailment actually is, and/or b) don’t honour Nazi war criminals. Eponyms are controversial things.

Visit http://theallusionist.org/name-that-disease for more information about this episode.

Find me at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

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44: This Is Your Brain On Language Oct 03, 2016

Show notes

What is your beautiful brain up to as you comprehend language? Cognitive psychologist Jenni Rodd takes a peek.

Visit http://theallusionist.org/brain for more information about this topic.

Find me at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

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43. The Key part II: Vestiges Sep 20, 2016

Show notes

If you don’t have a Rosetta Stone to hand, deciphering extinct languages can be a real puzzle, even though they didn’t intend to be. They didn’t intend to become extinct, either, but such is the life (and death) of languages.

NB: there is a CATEGORY B swear word towards the end of this episode. But it IS there for educational purposes only.

ALSO NB: After the episode was released, I was alerted that listener Ryan’s request was about a FAKE Mike Pence statement. I CAN NEVER TRUST YOU AGAIN, RYAN! The etymological content still stands.

There’s more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/vestiges. It is a companion to episode 42: The Key part I: Rosetta, which is at http://theallusionist.org/rosetta.

Find me at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

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42. The Key part I: Rosetta Sep 07, 2016

Show notes

Languages die. But if they’re lucky, a thousand-odd years later, someone unearths an artefact that brings them back to life.

Laura Welcher of the Rosetta Project shows us the Rosetta Disk, a slice of electroplated nickel three inches in diameter that bears text in 1500 languages for future linguists to decipher. Ilona Regulski of the British Museum describes how its namesake, the Rosetta Stone, unlocked hieroglyphics.

Find out more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/rosetta. Find me at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

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41. Getting Toasty Aug 21, 2016

Show notes

When you choose to spend the winter in Antarctica, you’ll be prepared for it to be cold. You know that nobody will be leaving or arriving until springtime. And you’re braced for months of darkness. But a few weeks after the last sunset, you might find you can’t even string a sentence together. And even if you can, that sentence may only make sense in Antarctica.

To explain why are Antarctica veteran Allison ‘Sandwich’ Barden, endocrinologist Tom Baranski, and astrophysicists Amy Lowitz and Christine Moran, reporting from the South Pole in the depths of winter.

Read more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/antarctica.

Find me at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

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40. Olympics Aug 04, 2016

Show notes

On your marks…
Get set…
GO!

It’s the Etymolympics, where the gymnastics should be gymnaked and the hurdles are a bloodbath. Find out more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/olympics.

Seek me out online at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow, and on stage at the London Podcast Festival – get tickets at http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/spoken-word/the-allusionist.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

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39. Generation What? Jul 13, 2016

Show notes

Which are you: Millennial, Generation X, Baby Boomer, Silent Generation, an impressively young-looking Arthurian Generation? Or are you an individual who refuses to be labelled? Demographer Neil Howe, author Miranda Sawyer and Megan Tan, the host of Millennial podcast, consider whether the generational names are useful or reductive. Or both.

Read more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/generation-what. Seek me out at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

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38. Small Talk Jun 25, 2016

Show notes

“How are you?”
“Oh, fine – and you?”
“Yeah, not bad. Nice day today, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it was a bit chilly this morning, but now the sun’s come out…” [Continue until the lift arrives, or until the end of time.]

Small talk is usually not conveying much vital information, nor is it especially interesting. But beneath that comfort blanket of tedium lies a valuable social function.

There’s more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/smalltalk. Chitchat with me at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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12 rerun: Pride Jun 13, 2016

Show notes

This week seems like a good one to listen again to last year’s episode Pride, about how the word came to be chosen for LGBTQ Pride. Activist and publisher Craig Schoonmaker tells the story.

There are full show notes and links to additional material at http://theallusionist.org/pride-rerun. Find me at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

37. Brand It May 29, 2016

Show notes

Got a company or a product or a website you need to name? Well, be wary of the potential pitfalls: trademark disputes; pronounceability; being mistaken for a dead body… Name developer Nancy Friedman explains how she helps companies find the right names, and why so many currently end in ‘-ify’. Plus: The Allusionist’s origin story, with Roman Mars.

Read Nancy’s excellent blog about naming and trends in the language of commerce at http://nancyfriedman.typepad.com.

There’s more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/brands. Greet me at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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