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30.08.
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The Allusionist
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Allusionist 199: 199 ideas that I hadn't made into podcasts yet
Next episode is the 200th, therefore this is the 199th. I raid the 66-page
documents of ideas for episodes, that I have been keeping for nearly a
decade, and present to you 199 ideas that I have not yet made into podcasts
(except for this one).
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12.08.
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The Allusionist
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Allusionist 198: Queer Arab Glossary
Since 2019, Marwan Kaabour has been collecting Arabic slang words used by
and about queer people, first for the online community Takweer, and now the
newly published Queer Arab Glossary. "When researching for this book, I
discovered so much of the sociopolitical, cultural, linguistic, and
historical layers that make up the words," he says. He also discovered
quite a lot about frying, white beans and worms (metaphorical ones).
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12.08.
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The Allusionist
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Hey! You! Be in the 200th episode
The 200th episode of the Allusionist is coming up pretty soon, and I’d like us to have our annual quiz - listen to/play along with the previous ones here. But this time, I want to be able to play along too, so I would love for you to provide questions for the quiz.They can be multiple choice, or a format of your own devising; they just have to be about language in some form. And you can deliver them in either voice form or written, if you’d prefer for me to read it. Whichever way you do it, reme
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07.08.
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The Allusionist
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live tour of the UK!
The Allusionist is going on a live tour of the UK in August and September
2024! It’s an all new show of stuff that has not been on the podcast (and
may never be), about frenemies and strong font-based emotions and
unintentional swears. It is called Souvenirs, and will be feelgood and fun
to watch.All dates are on sale now, check theallusionist.org/events for
ticket links.
Preemptive answering of questions:
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30.06.
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The Allusionist
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Allusionist 197. Word Play 7: Word Sport
At the Scripps National Spelling Bee, behind the spectacle of kids vying to
be champion spellers, a whole lot of work goes on to make words into this
word sport.
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10.06.
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The Allusionist
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Allusionist 196. Word Play 6: Beeing
I went to the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee, to marvel at kids
spelling words I had mostly never even heard of. But when you’re at Bee
Week, the competitive spelling is merely the tip of the icebee.
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02.06.
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The Allusionist
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Pride playlist
Hello! Here’s a playlist of episodes of the show that are good to listen to for Pride month, but also at any time, because they are some of the most interesting and complex language matters that I’ve covered in the show:Many Ways At Once. The Scots language didn’t have much of an LGBTQ+ lexicon. So writer and performer Dr Harry Josephine Giles decided to create one.
Polari was a secret language that was used mostly by gay men in London. And now lives on in the
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28.05.
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The Allusionist
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Allusionist 195. Word Play 5: 100 Pages of Solvitude
Cain's Jawbone, a murder mystery cryptic puzzle novella in the form of 100
pages presented in the wrong order, has many millions of possible solutions
but only one that is correct. 86 years after it was published, writer,
comedian and crossword constructor John Finnemore solved it. And then,
craving another 100-page cryptic puzzle murder story, he wrote his own.
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13.05.
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The Allusionist
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Allusionist 194. Word Play part 4: Good Grids
Exciting things have been happening with crossword puzzles in the US: more
constructors, more outlets to get puzzles published, clues and answers that
would never have appeared even a few years ago, and puzzle packs raising a
whole lot of money for charities and humanitarian causes.
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23.04.
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The Allusionist
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Allusionist 193. Word Play 3: Lemon Demon
AJ Jacobs makes The Puzzler podcast, wrote The Puzzler book, and sometimes
turns his whole life into a puzzle. He comes bearing word games,
explanations of anagrams being used to precipitate wars and were key
evidence in trials, tips for writing with a quill, below-the-knee insults,
and tales of living constitutionally.