PRX - Pieces for Tagging: History
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Enthusiastic book recommendations! Martha's savoring the biography of Alexander von Humboldt, the 19th-century explorer, polymath, and naturalist w...
- Added: Dec 06, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
Some TV commercials launch catchphrases that stick around long after the original ads. The exclamation Good stuff, Maynard! is still a compliment a...
- Added: Nov 29, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
Asthenosphere, a geologist's term for the molten layer beneath the earth's crust, sparks a journey that stretches all the way from ancient Greece t...
- Added: Nov 22, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
A documentary film called My Beautiful Stutter" follows youngsters at a summer camp specifically for stutterers. It's a place for finding acceptanc...
- Added: Nov 16, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 19
Amid court-ordered busing in the 1970s, a middle-school teacher tried to distract her nervous students on the first day of class with this strange ...
- Added: Nov 08, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
We use the term Milky Way for that glowing arc across the sky. But how people picture it varies from culture to culture. In Sweden, that starry ban...
- Added: Nov 01, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
In the 15th century, the word respair meant "to have hope again." Although this word fell out of use, it's among dozens collected in a new book of...
- Added: Oct 25, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
The words tough, through, and dough all end in O-U-G-H. So why don't they rhyme? A lively new book addresses the many quirks of English by explaini...
- Added: Oct 18, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 17
What happens in a classroom of refugee and immigrant youngsters learning English? Their fresh approach to language can result in remarkable poetry ...
- Added: Oct 11, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
This week on "A Way with Words": When there's no evening meal planned at home, what do you call that scramble to cobble together your own dinner? S...
- Added: Oct 04, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 17
An ornithologist says there's a growing movement to change the name of a pink-footed bird currently called the flesh-footed shearwater. The movemen...
- Added: Sep 27, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
There was a time when William Shakespeare was just another little 7-year-old in school. Classes in his day were demanding -- and all in Latin. A ne...
- Added: Sep 13, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
A librarian opens a book and finds a mysterious invitation scribbled on the back of a business card. Another discovers a child's letter to the Toot...
- Added: Sep 07, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 16
Youngsters want to know: What's the difference between barely and nearly, and what's so clean about a whistle, anyway? Plus, adults recount some mi...
Bought by Red River Radio Network (E. Texas/Louisiana/Arkansas/Mississippi), KMXT, KUAT, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, KTSW 89.9 and more
- Added: Sep 04, 2021
- Length: 23:35
- Purchases: 7
The adjective canine refers to dogs, and feline refers to cats. But how does English address other groups of animals? Plus, cabin fever has been ar...
- Added: Aug 30, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
Cat hair may be something you brush off, but cat hair is also a slang term that means "money." In the same way, cat beer isn't alcoholic -- some pe...
- Added: Aug 24, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 17
You know that Yogi Berra quote about how Nobody ever comes here; it's too crowded? Actually, the first person to use this was actress Suzanne Ridge...
- Added: Aug 17, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 17
Have you ever googled your own name and found someone else who goes by the very same moniker? There's a word for that: googleganger. Plus, the lang...
Bought by WPCA-LP, WRFA-LP, KNVC Carson City Community Radio, Tri States Public Radio, and RadioFreePalmer
- Added: Aug 09, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 5
Throwing cheese and shaky cheese are two very different things. In baseball, hard cheese refers to a powerful fastball, and probably comes from a s...
- Added: Aug 03, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 19
One secret to writing well is . . . there is no secret! There's no substitute for simply sitting down day after day to practice the craft and learn...
- Added: Jul 26, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
Old. Elderly. Senior. Why are we so uncomfortable when we talk about reaching a certain point in life? An 82-year-old seeks a more positive term to...
- Added: Jul 19, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
She sells seashells by the seashore. Who is the she in this tongue twister? Some claim it's the young Mary Aning, who went on to become a famous 19...
Bought by KUAT, KTXK, KTSW 89.9, WYAP, KNVC Carson City Community Radio and more
- Added: Jul 12, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 17
People who hunt treasure with metal detectors have a lingo all their own. Canslaw means the shreds of aluminum cans left after a lawnmower ran over...
- Added: Jul 05, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 17
A hundred years ago, suffragists lobbied to win women the right to vote. Linguistically speaking, though, suffrage isn't about "suffering." It's fr...
- Added: Jun 28, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
Imagine telling someone how to get to your home, but without using the name of your street, or any other street within 10 miles. Could you do it? W...
- Added: Jun 22, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 17
