Podcast Episodes

All the Rage Bait

Episode 285

Oxford English Dictionary editor Fiona McPherson talks to Mike Vuolo about the terms that caught her attention in 2025.

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3 months, 2 weeks ago

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The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Episode 284

Author John Koenig talks about inventing words for those subtle emotions that hitherto had no name.

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3 months, 4 weeks ago

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6 7: Everything You Don't Know About the Word of the Year

Episode 283

Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield join Mike Pesca of The Gist to talk about the long, strange journey of 6 7, from rapper Skrilla to the basketball court, …

4 months ago

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Gobbledygook Explained

Episode 282

Gobbledygook sounds like one of those words that somebody just made up — so is it?

Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 282…

4 months, 2 weeks ago

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Gen Alpha Thinks You're Cringe

Episode 281

Our parents were cringe-inducing but we're just cringe.

Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 281: "Gen Alpha Thinks You're …

5 months, 1 week ago

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The Amazing Great

Episode 280

Good is no longer good enough. Everyone is awesome, superlative or just great.

Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 280: "T…

6 months ago

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It's Been a Minute

Episode 279

Returning as the primary hosts of Lexicon Valley, Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield speak to John McWhorter about understatement and hyperbole in Black Eng…

6 months, 3 weeks ago

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Ask Not ...?

Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield interview Richard Tofel on his book Sound the Trumpet: The Making of John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, revealing the s…

7 months ago

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Ask Not?

Episode 34

Richard Tofel, author of Sound the Trumpet: The Making of John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, reveals the startling authorship behind JFK’s most fam…

7 months ago

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The American Accent Came First

Episode 278

What did English sound like during the Revolutionary War? John has a number of fascinating observations about the way the language was spoken back th…

8 months, 4 weeks ago

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