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

1185. Today, we look at why English spelling is secretly optimized for readers. Colin Gorrie, linguist and creator of the Dead Language Society newsletter, shared the real history of silent letters, why medieval scribes weren't bothered by inconsistent spelling, and how the print ...  Show more

1184. This week, we look at the history of lingua francas, from the original mix of Italian, French, Spanish, Arabic, and Turkish used during the Crusades to today's global English. Plus, we look at whether it's wrong to use "who" for animals, "that" instead of "who" for people, ...  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