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A double dose of beautiful words, including the pleasant-sounding mellifluous — which happens to mean pleasant-sounding! Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 303: "The Etherea...
· 19 min 52 sec
Poetry Society of America members have chosen the most beautiful word in the English language. Any guesses? Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 302: "The Most Beautiful Word....
· 24 min 3 sec
Guess the chronological order of these early 20th-century words: paramilitary, paranormal and (drug-related) paraphernalia. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 301: "The Dati...
· 24 min 57 sec
In our age of AI, the word "parasocial" has gained new relevance. Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield trace its rise and discuss other "para" words like paragraph and parachute. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksm...
· 26 min 14 sec
About Lexicon Valley
A close examination of language — its power to inform and misinform, to elucidate and obfuscate. Founded in 2012, the erudite and irreverent audio show Lexicon Valley analyzes the words and phrases that dominate our discourse and make the headlines.
John McWhorter (host) teaches linguistics at Columbia University and writes a column for the New York Times. He earned a PhD in Linguistics from Stanford University and is the author of several books, including The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language, Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter and Word on the Street, about dialects and Black English.
Mike Vuolo (host) is the editor of Lexicon Valley and founder of Booksmart Studios. Born into a family of Italians and Jews, his childhood was filled with exaggerated hand gestures and hysterical worry, now channeled productively into audio. Vuolo has produced programs for Slate and WNYC. His crossword puzzles have appeared in outlets including The New York Times.
Bob Garfield (host) is an essayist, pundit, and inveterate caster, both broadly and podly. A former correspondent for NPR’s All Things Considered and longtime co-host of WNYC’s award-winning On the Media, Garfield is also the dashing and arthritic author of books including American Manifesto: Saving Democracy from Villains, Vandals and Ourselves.
Comments? Contact booksmartstudios@gmail.com.
