• 32 minutes 18 seconds
    Here's to You Mrs. Malaprop

    What misspeaking might reveal about the way our mental dictionary is organized.

    Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 319: "Here's to You Mrs. Malaprop." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    10 November 2026, 9:54 pm
  • 32 minutes 48 seconds
    Mufasa, Simba, Fercho and Dylan

    One man's quest to dub Disney's "The Lion King" into the indigenous Quechuan language; an interview with filmmaker Augusto Zegarra, director of the documentary "Runa Simi."

    Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 318: "Mufasa, Simba, Fercho and Dylan." With Bob Garfield. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    3 November 2026, 10:13 pm
  • 24 minutes 5 seconds
    How to Kill a Language, Part II

    In Part II of our interview with author Sophia Smith Galer, "shared language erosion" — when members of an immigrant family can no longer communicate fluently with each other — and the true cost of letting a language die.

    Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 317: "How to Kill a Language, Part II." With Bob Garfield. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    27 October 2026, 9:09 pm
  • 59 minutes 16 seconds
    How to Kill a Language, Part I

    From Ukraine to Maori to Emilian, a conversation with author Sophia Smith Galer about language suppression, revitalization and death.

    Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 316: "How to Kill a Language, Part I." With Bob Garfield. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    21 October 2026, 6:42 pm
  • 22 minutes 6 seconds
    Bang for the Buck

    An investigation into the nuclear origins of "bang for the buck." Plus, we get buck-naked!

    Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 315: "Bang for the Buck." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    14 October 2026, 4:45 pm
  • 28 minutes 44 seconds
    The Language of Liars

    An interview with science-fiction author S.L. Huang, whose experience learning languages informed their most recent novella, ⁠⁠The Language of Liars⁠⁠.

    Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 314: "The Language of Liars." With Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    6 October 2026, 8:55 pm
  • 17 minutes 2 seconds
    No More Mr. Nice Guy

    Was Perry Como the original Mr. Nice Guy? And who again was Perry Como? Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield explain.

    Visit ⁠⁠Lexicon Valley⁠⁠. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 313: "No More Mr. Nice Guy." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    29 September 2026, 11:07 pm
  • 9 minutes 21 seconds
    Nice Guys Finish Last

    What does a cement mixer and a 1948 Cosmopolitan magazine article have to do with the phrase Nice Guys Finish Last? Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield explain.

    Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 312: "Nice Guys Finish Last." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    22 September 2026, 9:02 pm
  • 6 minutes 57 seconds
    Happily Ever Arter

    In a bonus segment for all listeners, John McWhorter talks about "arter," a word from Jim's dialect in Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

    Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 311: "Happily Ever Arter." With John McWhorter. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    15 September 2026, 10:22 pm
  • 18 minutes 27 seconds
    Grand Am

    John McWhorter on the truth behind "am" in Black English.

    Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 310: "Grand Am." With John McWhorter. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    8 September 2026, 8:27 pm
  • 22 minutes 7 seconds
    Haut Corn!

    John McWhorter asks: What did Black New Yorkers sound like in the 1800s? Find out in this first of a two-part episode.

    Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 309: "Haut Corn!" With John McWhorter. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1 September 2026, 9:29 pm
  • More Episodes? Get the App