The Allusionist

Helen Zaltzman

Adventures in language with Helen Zaltzman. TheAllusionist.org

#53 in the Top 100 arts Weekly chart

...more

15 Listeners

1 Comment

All episodes

Best episodes

Top 10 The Allusionist Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Allusionist episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Allusionist for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Allusionist episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

152. Asperger

The Allusionist

04/03/22 • 35 min

Hans Asperger would have been merely "a footnote in the history of autism", so why did he get to be the eponym in Asperger's syndrome? Because along with the usual problems medical eponyms pose, and his work not really earning him the honour, he collaborated with Nazis and sent children to a hospital where they would be experimented on and even killed.

Activist, writer and academic Morénike Giwa Onaiwu discusses the stigma around terms like Asperger’s syndrome and autism, and historian Edith Sheffer talks about Hans Asperger and child psychiatry in Nazi Vienna.

Content notes: Nazis, eugenics, ableism, child abuse, murder.

There are two versions of this episode. The content is the same, but this version contains background music; if you would prefer one with no music, you can get it right next to where you obtained this one.

Find out more information about the topics in this episode at theallusionist.org/asperger, plus a transcript and the full dictionary entry for the randomly selected word.

Sign up to be a patron at patreon.com/allusionist and not only are you supporting independent podcast, you get fortnightly patron-exclusive video livestreams and a Discord community full of language chat, craft pics and word game camaraderie!

The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at twitter.com/allusionistshow, facebook.com/allusionistshow and instagram.com/allusionistshow.

The music is by Martin Austwick. Hear Martin’s own songs via palebirdmusic.com.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

4 Listeners

155. The Tiffany Problem

The Allusionist

05/27/22 • 16 min

The name Tiffany has been around for some 800 years. But you can't name a character in a historical novel 'Tiffany', because people don't believe the name is old. Science fiction and fantasy author Jo Walton coined the term "The Tiffany Problem" to express the disparity between historical facts and the common perception of the past.

Find out more information about the topics in this episode at theallusionist.org/tiffany, plus a transcript and the full dictionary entry for the randomly selected word.

Sign up to be a patron at patreon.com/allusionist and not only are you supporting an independent podcast, you get patron-exclusive video livestreams and a Discord community full of language chat, craft pics and word game camaraderie.

The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at twitter.com/allusionistshow, facebook.com/allusionistshow and instagram.com/allusionistshow.

The Allusionist is produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. The music is composed and sung by Martin Austwick. Hear Martin’s own songs via palebirdmusic.com.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

4 Listeners

151. The Bee's Knees

The Allusionist

03/18/22 • 27 min

Bad hats, cat's pyjamas, banting, goops, creatures, and playing possum - what WERE people going on about during the Golden Age of detective fiction? Caroline Crampton of Shedunnit podcast and I get sleuthing into the slang of the mystery novels of the 1920s and 1930s.

Find out more information about the topics in this episode at theallusionist.org/beesknees, plus a transcript and the full dictionary entry for the randomly selected word. Versions of this episode were originally released by Caroline Crampton's Shedunnit podcast and the Shedunnit Book Club. Find both at shedunnitshow.com.

The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at twitter.com/allusionistshow, facebook.com/allusionistshow and instagram.com/allusionistshow.

The music is by Martin Austwick. Hear Martin’s own songs via palebirdmusic.com.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

4 Listeners

182. Siblings of Chaos

The Allusionist

09/24/23 • 31 min

Lexicographer, author and Dictionary Corner resident Susie Dent has been studying words to make us feel happy. She brings etymologies concerning cows, gas, guts and fat, of bellies and breathing and bonanzas. And some that came from the high seas and aren't made up!

Find out more about this episode and the topics therein, and obtain the transcript, at theallusionist.org/siblings-of-chaos.

Become a member of the Allusioverse at theallusionist.org/donate and as well as keeping this independent podcast going, you get regular livestreams and watchalong parties - AND to hang out with your fellow Allusionauts in our delightful Discord community.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

3 Listeners

1 Comment

149. Complex PTSD

The Allusionist

02/19/22 • 24 min

Complex PTSD is different to PTSD, but there's not that much understanding of it as its own condition - which was not much help to Stephanie Foo when she was diagnosed with it in 2018. We talk about facing trauma rather than burying it, self-care and self-soothing, endurance being an underrated word, and why people can quit sniping about triggers. Stephanie’s new book is What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma.

Content note: Stephanie refers fleetingly to the parental violence and abandonment she experienced, and we also mention sexual violence; but, we don’t discuss any of these things in detail. It’s a more general conversation about psychology and trauma, rather than stories of traumatisation. There are also a couple of swears.

Find out more information about the topics in this episde at theallusionist.org/cptsd, plus a transcript and the full dictionary entry for the randomly selected word.

The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at twitter.com/allusionistshow, facebook.com/allusionistshow and instagram.com/allusionistshow.

The music is by Martin Austwick. Hear Martin’s own songs via palebirdmusic.com.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

3 Listeners

188. Lipread

The Allusionist

01/28/24 • 38 min

Lipreading has been in the news this month, thanks to gossip-stoking mouth movements at the Golden Globes that the amateur lipreaders of The Internet rushed to interpret. But lipreading tutor Helen Barrow describes how reading lips really works - the confusable consonants, the importance of context and body language - and gossip maven Lainey Lui explains why these regularly occurring lipreading gossip stories are unworthy of a second or even first glance.

Get the transcript of this episode, and find links to the guests and more information about the topics therein, at theallusionist.org/lipread.

Content note: this episode contains three Category B swears.

This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. The music is by Martin Austwick of palebirdmusic.com.

Become a member of the Allusioverse at theallusionist.org/donate and as well as keeping this independent podcast going, you get regular livestreams, insight into the making of this show, and watchalong parties (lately, weekly gatherings to watch Great Pottery Throwdown) - AND to hang out with your fellow Allusionauts in our delightful Discord community, where I am posting all my best/worst portmanteaus and portmantNOs.

The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch via facebook.com/allusionistshow, instagram.com/allusionistshow, youtube.com/allusionistshow etc.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2 Listeners

1 Comment

150. The Egg's Warning

The Allusionist

03/05/22 • 28 min

"Warning: read and keep," says the piece of paper inside Kinder Surprise Eggs, in 34 languages; yet most people do neither thing. But sociologist Keith Kahn-Harris did read and keep it, and study what the egg is trying to tell us: about Kinder Egg toy safety, yes, but also about multilingualism, about an object that says 'yes!' but the warning says 'no!', about the signs of human idiosyncracy that show themselves even in a mandatory corporate message.

Find out more information about the topics in this episode at theallusionist.org/kinderegg, plus a transcript and the full dictionary entry for the randomly selected word.

The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at twitter.com/allusionistshow, facebook.com/allusionistshow and instagram.com/allusionistshow.

The music is by Martin Austwick, made with Kinder Eggs. Hear Martin’s own songs via palebirdmusic.com.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2 Listeners

181. Cairns

The Allusionist

09/13/23 • 32 min

There's an abiding myth that the landmark dictionaries are the work of one man, in a dusty paper-filled garrett tirelessly working away singlehandedly. But really it took a village: behind every Big Daddy of Lexicography was usually a team of women, keeping the garrett clean, organising the piles of papers, reading through all the citations, doing research, writing definitions, editing, subediting...essentially being lexicographers, without the credit or the pay. Academic Lindsay Rose Russell, author of Women and Dictionary-Making, talks about the roles of women in lexicography: enabling male lexicographers to get the job done, but also making their own dictionaries, and challenging the very paradigms of dictionaries.

Find out more about this episode and the topics therein, and obtain the transcript, at theallusionist.org/cairns.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2 Listeners

141. Food Quiz

The Allusionist

09/10/21 • 27 min

Quiz time! Samin Nosrat and Hrishikesh Hirway of Home Cooking podcast join to deliver questions about food etymology, as well as what are the two words that make a dance track, and whether 'za' is an acceptable abbreviation for 'pizza'.

Play along and keep track of your score using the interactive scoresheet at theallusionist.org/foodquiz.

For the rest of September 2021, you can stream the London Podfest performance of the new Allusionist live show, full of eponyms, music and planets. Link is at theallusionist.org/events.

Sign up to be a patron at patreon.com/allusionist and as well as supporting the show, you get behind the scenes glimpses, and discounted tickets for the Allusionist live show.

The music is by Martin Austwick. Hear Martin’s own songs at palebirdmusic.com or search for Pale Bird on Bandcamp and Spotify, and he’s @martinaustwick on Twitter and Instagram.

The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at twitter.com/allusionistshow, facebook.com/allusionistshow and instagram.com/allusionistshow. Let me know what you scored in the quiz!

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

1 Listener

93. Gossip

The Allusionist

02/09/19 • 18 min

‘Idle’, ‘trivial’, ‘scurrilous’: the word ‘gossip’ is often accompanied by uncomplimentary adjectives. But don’t dismiss it; from childbirth to Hollywood to political analysis to whisper networks, gossip may be more useful and serious than you realise. Lainey Lui, founder of laineygossip.com, and Buzzfeed News’ senior culture writer (and doctor of celebrity gossip) Anne Helen Petersen explain why.

Find out more about this episode at theallusionist.org/gossip.

NB there are a few swears in this episode.

The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at twitter.com/allusionistshow and facebook.com/allusionistshow.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

1 Listener

Show more best episodes