Last episode, I mentioned that in London, Ontario, in 2019 a 9-year-old named Lyla Wheeler had launched a petition to rename her street, currently called Plantation Road. This episode, Lyla, now aged nearly thirteen, and her mom Kristin Daley recount the reasons why Lyla campaigned for this name change, how the neighbours reacted, what happened when the wider world heard about it, and why the street's name is still Plantation Road. I hope you will not be deterred from campaigning for different, better words. Content note: the episode contains references to enslavement of Black people and a brief description of the Canadian residential school system. This is an instalment of the Telling Other Stories series, about renaming. Find out more about this episode and get extra information about the topics therein at theallusionist.org/supplantation, where there's also a transcript. Support the show at theallusionist.org/donate and as well as keeping this independent podcast going, you also get behind-the-scenes glimpses of the show, fortnightly livestreams, and the Allusioverse Discord community. Over the next few weeks, we're watching Great Pottery Throwdown together. The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at facebook.com/allusionistshow, instagram.com/allusionistshow, youtube.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/allusionistshow. The Allusionist is produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. Martin Austwick provides the original music. Hear Martin’s own songs via PaleBirdMusic.com.Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the past few years, numerous products and places with the word 'plantation' in their names have rebranded. As for the word 'plantation' itself, architect and writer Kennedy Whiters of unRedactTheFacts.com advocates for replacing it with a more truthful term. She also watches out for use of the grammatical passive voice, because "It hides who did what to whom." Content note: this episode contains discussions of anti-Black racism, violence and sexual violence. This is an instalment of the Telling Other Stories series, about renaming. Find out more about this episode and get extra information about the topics therein at theallusionist.org/actively-passive, where there's also a transcript. Support the show at theallusionist.org/donate and as well as keeping this independent podcast going, you also get behind-the-scenes glimpses of the show, fortnightly livestreams, special perks at live shows, and best of all the Allusioverse Discord community. Over the next few weeks, we're watching Great Pottery Throwdown together. The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at facebook.com/allusionistshow, instagram.com/allusionistshow, youtube.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/allusionistshow. The Allusionist is produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. Martin Austwick provides the original music. Hear Martin’s own songs via PaleBirdMusic.com.Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Erwin Schrödinger is one of the "fathers of quantum mechanics". He also sexually abused children. Trinity College Dublin recently denamed a lecture theatre that had been named after him - but his name is still on an equation that won the Nobel Prize for physics. And a cat. Writer and historian Subhadra Das recounts how and why you rename a university building, and retired physicist Martin Austwick considers that renaming an eponymous equation or theory might be more difficult than unscrewing a sign from a wall. This is an instalment of the Telling Other Stories series, about renaming. Content note: this episode contains references to  racism and eugenics, and to the sexual abuse of children. There is also a Category B swear. Find out more about this episode and get extra information about the topics therein at theallusionist.org/box, where there's also a transcript. Support the show at theallusionist.org/donate and as well as keeping this independent podcast going, you also get behind-the-scenes glimpses of the show, fortnightly livestreams, special perks at live shows, and best of all the Allusioverse Discord community. Over the next few weeks, we're watching Great Pottery Throwdown together. The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at facebook.com/allusionistshow, instagram.com/allusionistshow, youtube.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/allusionistshow, while it still stands. The Allusionist is produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. Martin Austwick provides the original music. Hear Martin’s own songs via palebirdmusic.com.Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s been a recurring theme on the show over the years, of filling gaps in language, removing stigma and bias, finding better ways to express ourselves and talk about our feelings and our bodies. Today Kalle Rocklinger, sex educator with RFSU, the National Association for Sexuality Education in Sweden, talks about how and why over the years, the RFSU has come up with and publicised new terms for body parts and sexual acts, and what they would still like to change. This is the first part of the Telling Other Stories series, about renaming things. Content note: this episode contains discussions of sex and the associated body parts. Towards the end, there’s discussion of consent which includes references to rape (there are no descriptions of acts or anybody’s experiences). I mention when we’re about to arrive at that part of the conversation, so anybody who needs to duck out during that section has some warning. Find out more about this episode and get extra information about the topics therein at theallusionist.org/debuts, where there's also a transcript. Join me for the Allusionist's 8th birthday celebration livestream! 14 January 2023, 10-11pm UK time at youtube.com/allusionistshow. There'll be dictionary readings, live Tranquillusionist, and chitchat and camaraderie. The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at facebook.com/allusionistshow, instagram.com/allusionistshow, youtube.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/allusionistshow, while it still stands. Support the show at theallusionist.org/donate and as well as keeping this independent podcast going, you also get behind-the-scenes glimpses of the show, fortnightly livestreams, special perks at live shows, and best of all the Allusioverse Discord community. Over the next few weeks, we're watching Great Pottery Throwdown together. The Allusionist is produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. Martin Austwick provided editorial help and the original music. Hear Martin’s own songs via palebirdmusic.com.Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do the hippocampus, homophones, Little Women, worrying and egg hacks have in common? They all star in the 2022 parade of Allusionist bonus bits! This year's guests provide some extra fascinating facts, thoughts and feelings: in order of reappearance, Jing Tsu, Morénike Giwa Onaiwu, Tim Clare, Stephanie Foo, Lewis Raven Wallace, Charlotte Lydia Riley, Hannah McGregor, Kristen Meinzer and Jolenta Greenberg. Content note: there's an allusion to bawdy talk, one category A swear, discussions of mental health, and a brief reference to parental violence.  Get extra information about the topics in this episode and find the transcript at theallusionist.org/bonus2022. This is the last Allusionist for 2022 but the show will be back mid-January 2023. The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at facebook.com/allusionistshow, instagram.com/allusionistshow, youtube.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/allusionistshow. Support the show at theallusionist.org/donate and as well as keeping this independent podcast going, you also get behind-the-scenes glimpses of the show, fortnightly livestreams, special perks at live shows, and best of all the Allusioverse Discord community. Tonight, we're watching The Muppet Christmas Carol together! The Allusionist is produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. Martin Austwick provided editorial help and the original music. Hear Martin’s own songs via palebirdmusic.com.Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“I don't think that anyone should come away from this conversation not wanting to use the name Fiona. I think this is a beautiful and rich history. It might not be quite the history that you imagined, but I think it's a beautiful history," says writer and performer Harry Josie Giles. She and PhD researcher Moll Heaton-Callaway investigate this complicated name with fascinating history. This is the second half of a pair of episodes about the name Fiona; listen to the first episode before this one! theallusionist.org/fiona1. Find out more about this episode and get extra information about the topics therein at theallusionist.org/fiona2, where there's also a transcript. Both Josie and I relied heavily on Sharon Krossa's research into the etymology of Fiona; read it at medievalscotland.org/problem/names/fiona.shtml. The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at facebook.com/allusionistshow, instagram.com/allusionistshow, youtube.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/allusionistshow, while it still stands. Support the show at theallusionist.org/donate and as well as keeping this independent podcast going, you also get behind-the-scenes glimpses of the show, fortnightly livestreams, special perks at live shows, and best of all the Allusioverse Discord community. The Allusionist is produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. Martin Austwick provided editorial help and the original music. Hear Martin’s own songs via palebirdmusic.com.Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A lot of people assume that Fiona is a very old Scottish name, but the first known Scottish Fiona is from the 1890s: Fiona Macleod, the enormously popular novelist of Scotland's Celtic Revival movement. But when she suddenly stopped writing in 1905... there turned out to be far more surprises about Fiona Macleod than the novelty of her name. Writer and performer Harry Josie Giles and PhD researcher Moll Callaway-Heaton consider the first Scottish Fiona. This is part one of a pair of episodes about the name Fiona; part two will explore the etymology of the name and similar ones in various languages, and examine the first appearance of Fiona in literature, which comes with its own cocktail of complication. Find out more about this episode and get extra information about the topics therein at theallusionist.org/fiona1, where there's also a transcript. The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at facebook.com/allusionistshow, instagram.com/allusionistshow, youtube.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/allusionistshow, while it still stands. Support the show at theallusionist.org/donate and as well as keeping this independent podcast going, you also get behind-the-scenes glimpses of the show, fortnightly livestreams, special perks at live shows, and best of all the Allusioverse Discord community. The Allusionist is produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. Thanks to Anne Pond from the National Maritime Museum in Cornwall for boat information, and to Martin Austwick for editorial help and the original music. Hear Martin’s own songs via palebirdmusic.com.Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When is a war not a war? When the British Empire called it an 'emergency' so they didn't have to abide by wartime rules or lose their insurance payouts. Artist and researcher Sim Chi Yin reflects on the Malayan Emergency, a 12-year conflict that doesn't get talked about much now by either side; and historian Charlotte Lydia Riley considers the various reasons why the British opted for the term 'emergency', and why they don't celebrate even when they supposedly won them. Find out more about this episode and get extra information about the topics therein at theallusionist.org/emergency, where there's also a transcript. The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at twitter.com/allusionistshow, facebook.com/allusionistshow and instagram.com/allusionistshow. The Allusionist is produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. The music is by Martin Austwick. Hear Martin’s own songs via palebirdmusic.com.Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Provoked by current events, we've got three political eponyms for turmoiled times. Get ready for explosives, presidential pigs, Supreme Court scrapping, and wronged rhinos. Content note: there is some description of torture about halfway through the episode. Find out more about this episode and get extra information about the topics therein at theallusionist.org/rhino, where there's also a transcript. The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at twitter.com/allusionistshow, facebook.com/allusionistshow and instagram.com/allusionistshow. The Allusionist is produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. The music is by Martin Austwick. Hear Martin’s own songs via palebirdmusic.com.Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Self-help is a multibillion dollar genre of books, and Kristen Meinzer and Jolenta Greenberg of By the Book podcast have lived by the advice of more than eighty of them. They discuss the ways these books use language to get into your brain, the negging and the euphemisms, what can actually be helpful, and why we should be more like dog. Content note: we discuss dieting and sizeism, and there are fleeting mentions of rape and abuse. There are also category A and B swears. Find out more about this episode and get extra information about the topics therein at theallusionist.org/self-help, where there's also a transcript. The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at twitter.com/allusionistshow, facebook.com/allusionistshow and instagram.com/allusionistshow. The Allusionist is produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. The music is by Martin Austwick. Hear Martin’s own songs via palebirdmusic.com.Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.