Culture
As long as there’s been language, there have been forbidden words. What gives these words their power? Why are they considered “bad”? Producer and Host, Matt Fidler, reaches out to experts, linguists, and historians to explore these words and their cultural significance.
42: The N-Word
Guest Producer Stephanie Billman helps guide us through the feelings, emotions, and history of the most violent, loaded word in the English lexicon, The N-Word. With guests Dr. Neil Lester, Dr. David Pilgrim, Marcie Brown, Malik Crumpler, Dardalie Brooks and Ernie Mendoza See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
41: Constructed Curses in Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Nerf-herder? Frack? Farking Zarquon? Guest producers Forrest Phillips and Emily Block guide us through cursing in fictional Worlds. Special guests include Marc Okrand - creator of Star Trek’s Klingon language, David J. Peterson - creator of Game of Thrones Dothraki language, and host of the Imaginary Worlds podcast, Eric Molinsky.
40: Minicast - Conversational Klingon
Matt talks to Marc Okrand about cursing in Klingon. The fictional Star Trek language that has become nearly as popular as the franchise itself. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
39: Euphemisms
Certain topics in our society aren’t considered proper to talk about. To make it easier to talk about such sensitive subjects, we have invented terms that dance around the issues, instead of facing them directly. Join me and guests, Steven Pinker, Phyllis Sommer and Kate Burridge as we dig into euphemisms.
38: Minicast - The "D" Word
In this week's minicast, Matt reflects on a death that is close to him and how we use or don't use words about "dead". We talk a little with Rabbi Physllis Sommer to help explain. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
37: The Poo List
Are you allowed to play swear words in scrabble? And if you really can, why aren’t they listed in the official scrabble player’s dictionary? Competitive scrabble players Stephan Fatsis and Brian Richgrubber tell us how it happened and why this is important in the competitive scrabble world.
