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The Allusionist

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A PODCAST ABOUT LANGUAGE
BY HELEN ZALTZMAN

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The Allusionist

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Allusionist 218. Banned Books transcript

October 8, 2025 The Allusionist
A boggle grid spelling out the words 'banned books'

SAM HELMICK: Censorship is a hammer looking for a nail, my friends. And someday, you will be that nail too, unless we all decide that we're going to unite against book bans today.

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In transcript Tags arts, society, culture, words, language, Iris Mogul, Sam Helmick, books, literature, law, novels, fiction, banned books, book bans, Banned Books Week, libraries, librarians, library, teachers, schools, Forrest Spaulding, ALA, American Library Association, Iowa, World War One, First World War, USA, free speech, liberty, censorship, intellectual freedom, First Amendment, oppression, Judy Blume, Stephen King, Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Louise Erdrich, Forever, Deenie, Where’s Waldo, Where’s Wally, Tipper Gore, Satanic Panic, Mein Kampf, chilling effect, German, Babel Proclamation, bans, sauerkraut, renaming, rubella, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Friday Night Lights, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, history, queer, trans, LGBTQIIA+, gender, sexuality, race, BIPOC, politics, offence, social justice, explicit lyrics, parental guidance, Library Bill of Rights, quintain

Allusionist 203. Flyting transcript

November 9, 2024 The Allusionist

ISHBEL McFARLANE: “You crap so much that you sunk a ship you were on.” 
HZ: I’m gonna use that. 

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In transcript Tags society, culture, words, language, arts, history, Ishbel McFarlane, Joanna Kopaczyk, Scots, Scotland, Scottish, flyting, fleetan, poets, poetry, medieval, court, royal, monarchs, kings, James IV, James VI, writers, entertainment, combat, performance, insults, slurs, swears, obscenity, comedy, literature, printing press, legal, law, witches, witchcraft, trials, lawsuits, roast, vulgarity, abuse, scat, makars, historical pragmatics, rhyme, alliteration, taboos, offensive, offence, owls, contests, competitions, politeness, impoliteness, profanity, speech acts, communication, rude, slander, music hall, Virgil, Aeneid, grampus, shit, shite, fuck

Allusionist 129 Sorry transcript

January 31, 2021 The Allusionist
A129 sorry logo.jpeg

MARJORIE INGALL: We dislike "for any hurt caused", "for anyone who was offended", because the "any" implies maybe it was no one. And it's clear that if you're apologising, someone was offended. It's not in any sort of airy-fairy situation. That's another way, again, it's all about distancing yourself from what you did.
HZ: Yeah, and removing agency.
MARJORIE INGALL: Yes.
SUSAN McCARTHY: If your castle is surrounded by people shouting with pitchforks and torches, and you're up on the battlements shouting, "Sorry if I caused any offence," you know you caused offence.

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In episodes Tags words, language, linguistics, education, comedy, entertainment, society & culture, arts, literature, etymology, lexicon, vocabulary, Laura Beaudin, Laura Lakhian, Marjorie Ingall, Susan McCarthy, SorryWatch, apology, fauxpology, contrition, public apologies, sorry, regret, remorse, reparations, offence, responsibility, emotions, corporate, corporations, government, state, relationships, speech acts, semiotics, celebrities, Justin Trudeau, agency, vulnerability, passive voice, verbs, nouns, adjectives, conditionals, misdirection, mitigation, noria
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Allusionist 221. Scribe
Allusionist 221. Scribe
Allusionist 220. Disobedience
Allusionist 220. Disobedience
Allusionist 219. Making Trouble
Allusionist 219. Making Trouble
Allusionist 218. Banned Books
Allusionist 218. Banned Books
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Allusionist 217. Bread and Roses, and Coffee
Allusionist 216. Four Letter Words: Terisk
Allusionist 216. Four Letter Words: Terisk
Allusionist 215. Two-Letter Words
Allusionist 215. Two-Letter Words
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Allusionist 214. Four Letter Words: Bane Bain Bath
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Souvenirs on BBC Radio 4
Allusionist 213. Four Letter Words: Dino
Allusionist 213. Four Letter Words: Dino
Allusionist 212. Four Letter Words: Park
Allusionist 212. Four Letter Words: Park
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Allusionist 211. Four Letter Words: -gate
Allusionist 210. Four Letter Words: 4x4x4 Quiz
Allusionist 210. Four Letter Words: 4x4x4 Quiz
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The Allusionist by Helen Zaltzman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.