Semiotics is the study of sign process, which is to say: it’s the science of the search for meaning.

And then, part of the underlying premise of semiotics — which just happens to be part of the underlying premise of The Colin McEnroe Show, itself — is that there’s meaning… everywhere.

Why do people smoke cigarettes even though everyone knows they’re terribly harmful? Why do women wear terribly uncomfortable high-heeled shoes? Could it simply be because those things are… interesting?

This hour: a crash course in the study of meaning-making, in the science of semiotics.

GUEST:

Marcel Danesi - The author of Of Cigarettes, High Heels, and Other Interesting Things: An Introduction to Semiotics

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Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired September 6, 2018.

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The Semiotics of Cigarettes, Sexy Shoes, and Some Other Stuff