In Lexicat part 1, we met the author Mary Robinette Kowal and her cat Elsie, and learned about how they communicate via a set of buttons programmed with words. In part 2, two talking dogs, Bastian and Parker - and their humans, Joelle Andres and Sascha Crasnow - join us too, and explain how they discovered some very unexpected things about what their animal companions are thinking and feeling thanks to the buttons, and how they changed the ways they communicate with other humans too. And animal behaviour expert Zazie Todd gives us some tips for interpreting cats’ and dogs’ body language.
Read moreFestivelusionists
'Tis the season for the festive Allusionists!
This year, I’ll also be reading A Christmas Carol over four sessions on YouTube; details are at theallusionist.org/events, and you can also hit ‘Notify me’ on each video at youtube.com/@AllusionistShow/streams.
Here’s your playlist of episodes from the back catalogue, which are all also available in your podcast app, of course:
Winterval
It’s a portmanteau that became shorthand for the War On Christmas™, with a side of ‘political correctness gone mad’. But this is very unfair to Winterval.
Xmas Man
That mythical beardy man who supposedly gives children presents at Christmas - what’s he all about, and why does he have so many different names? Also, why were Victorian Christmas cards so scary and meaty?
How the Dickens Stole Christmas
Charles Dickens wrote about the plight of the impoverished and destitute members of British society. So how come his name is a synonym for rosy-cheeked, full-stomached, fattened-goose, hearty merry “God bless us every one” Christmas? Plus: a trip to Dickensian London, recreated in an expo centre in California.
Dear Santa
Jim Glaub and Dylan Parker didn’t think too much of it when, every year, a few letters for Santa were delivered to their New York apartment addressed to Santa. But then one year, 400 letters arrived. And they decided they had to answer them.
It’s a very sweet story, but they’re still doing it and now have a non-profit — if you want to be a Santa for a kid in need, you can donate or get involved at miracleon22ndstreet.com
A Festive Hit for 2020
The usual canon of holly jolly Christmas songs didn’t really fit the mood of 2020. So Jenny Owen Youngs, Martin Austwick and I wrote one that does. And it’s a banger!
Allusionist 204. Lexicat, part 1
Elsie the cat has a set of 120 buttons programmed with words. She uses them to lie, swear, apologise, express grief and frustration and love to her human, the author Mary Robinette Kowal, who talks about what's involved in learning to communicate via language buttons with companion animals. And animal behaviour expert Zazie Todd explains how animals might be interacting with human language.
Read moreAllusionist 203. Flyting
In 15th and 16th century Scotland, in the highest courts of the land, you'd find esteemed poets hurling insults at each other. This was flyting, a sort of medieval equivalent of battle rap, and it was so popular at the time that the King himself wrote instructions for how to do it well. Writer and Scots language campaigner Ishbel McFarlane and historical linguist Joanna Kopaczyk explain the art of flyting, where an insult becomes slander, what's going on within the speech act of performative diss-trading, and what the legal consequences could be of being accused of witchcraft.
Read moreAllusionist 202: Singlish Singlish
There's so much more to say about Singlish after last episode that we're saying some more of it this episode. Poet and academic Gwee Li Sui, author of Spiaking Singlish: A Companion to how Singaporeans Communicate, describes the resistance he received in Singapore when he published Singlish translations of literary works - and why they are important and celebratory for Singlish. And Stacey Mei Yan Fong, baker and author of 50 Pies, 50 States, explains how the language that used to be embarrassing for her is now a huge comfort.
Read moreAllusionist 201: Singlish
"If you grow up being told that one of your first languages, Singlish, is actually a bad version of an already existing language, you kind of get this sense that “I'm just bad at language,” says Bibek Gurung, a former linguist who grew up in Singapore speaking Singlish with his family and friends, while schools and the government tried to quash it. "Language is a fundamental human skill. And to just have this sense that you're bad at this very fundamental skill really does a number to your self esteem and your abilities to communicate in general."
Read moreTranquillusionist: Ex-Constellations
This is the Tranquillusionist, in which I, Helen Zaltzman, give your brain a break by temporarily supplanting your interior monologue with words that don't make you feel feelings. Note: this is NOT a normal episode of the Allusionist, where you might learn something about language and your brain might be stimulated. The Tranquillusionist's purpose is to soothe your brain and for you to learn very little, except for something about Zeus's attitude to bad drivers.
Today: constellations that got demoted into ex-constellations. Featuring airborne pregnancy, cats of the skies, and one of the 18th century's most unpopular multi-hyphenates.
Read moreAllusionist 200: 200th episode celebratory quiz!
I can scarce believe that I've made 200 episodes of this show, but here we are! To celebrate, here is a quiz about language where all the questions were set by YOU, the beautiful brainy listeners.
Read moreAllusionist 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).
Read morelive 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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