In 2014, I had the idea of doing a show that was called Word Detective. And then my friend Roman Miles, who makes 99% invisible, had just founded Radiotopia. He came to stay with me in London in the summer of 2014 and I said, I've had an idea for a show. It's a bit like your show,. But for language, instead of architecture and design. And he was like, OK. So they dug around for the financing, because she wouldn't have been able to do, answer me this, plus the illusionist, plus handle extra time of a day job.
The brilliant and dazzling Helen Zaltzman, host of The Allusionist podcast and person who technically for a living researches the origins of language and thus is an etymologist, visits Alie's apartment to chat about various word origins, gender in language, the Bible a.k.a. The Oxford English Dictionary, origins of the filthiest slang, emoji decoding, mediocrity, step parents, babies wearing glasses, Greek kimonos, the romance of languages and the fundamental truth that language is always changing whether you want it to or not. Also tomatoes, pliable boobs, avocados, and fish trails.
The Allusionist Podcast, HelenZaltzman.com
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Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris
Theme song by Nick Thorburn
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