The crossword craze — now and then — with Ben...

1195. This week, we talk to Dr. Maria Loconsole from the University of Padua about her research into the bouba-kiki effect, the near-universal tendency to associate round shapes with "bouba" sounds and spiky shapes with "kiki" sounds. We look at what her experiments with newly ha ...  Show more

1194. This week, we look at weather forecast terminology, including why "mostly sunny" and "partly cloudy" aren't the same thing, what "oktas" are, and how terms like "breezy," "scattered," and "likely" are officially standardized by the National Weather Service — even if your fa ...  Show more

Crosswords! Puzzles! Wordles! Magic? Ah yes, world-renowned Enigmatologist David Kwong drops in to chat about the intersection of sleight of hand and brain games, covering everything from Scrabble strategies to how to get away with a surprise party unsuspected. Also: crossword ...

To celebrate 2024, we’re taking a look backwards, and diving into the standout thinkers who have taken to the Intelligence Squared stage in the past 12 months. You might still be on the hunt for that perfect gift for the avid reader in your life, or perhaps you’re after some food ...  Show more

📥 ⁠Grab the FREE PDF⁠ with 20+ advanced expressions from this episode, complete with quizzes and example sentences , to learn today’s vocabulary 3x faster. Plus, get the script from today's story included! 🎓 ⁠⁠⁠⁠Join my weekly online group lessons⁠⁠⁠ Welcome to a series of shor ...  Show more

📥 ⁠⁠⁠⁠Grab this episode's FREE PDF⁠⁠⁠⁠ with 10 advanced expressions from this episode, complete with quizzes and example sentences, to learn today’s vocabulary 3x faster! 🎓 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join my weekly online group lessons⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ A children’s fairy tale gets a cheeky modern twist as Ch ...  Show more