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John McWhorter on the hidden logic of "lowkey." Plus, where did all those terms of venery come from? A flamboyance of flamingos? Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 299: "The...
· 27 min 52 sec
Play along with our new game and guess the correct chronological order of the following phrases: perfect crime, perfect fit, perfect storm and perfect stranger. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studi...
· 26 min 14 sec
"Perfect!" is everywhere. On the evolution and ubiquity of a flawless word. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 297: "A Perfect Episode." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Ed...
· 25 min 12 sec
Listener Steven wrote: "I’ve been hornswoggled! So, what exactly has happened to me and when did people start getting hornswoggled? Is it painful?" We have answers. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart S...
· 20 min 47 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.
