It can be disconcerting to learn at a podcast recording that the little voice you’ve had in your ear has a “corporeal existence.” That’s how Helen Zaltzman introduces herself at The London Podcast Festival. Accompanied by her husband, for music and banter, this is a recording for her show The Allusionist, which can be summed up as a funny woman talking about language. Lexicon might not sound like the most entertaining of topics, yet what often makes for the best comedy is a link to the every day, and what can be more every day than the words we use, yet give little thought to.
Helen’s covered everything from actorness and yule, stopping off at emolument, maskinonge and stramineous in between. Today’s subject is the policy in Finland to remove cursive handwriting from the curriculum, jumping straight from printing to keyboard and computer skills, and so this live show explores less the etymology of words and the forms in which those words are disseminated. It feels quite a treat. The episodes usually clock in at under 20 minutes, but this recording lasts for an hour, and includes snippets of interviews with a graphologist who believes her own writing to be strong and powerful.
Although a language pedant, this a far from pedantic podcast or performance. Linking together linguistics with historical roots and social context, she’s an expert entertainer as well as highly educated. Clever, witty and charming, Helen was sadly ‘rejected for her dream job as an etymologist at the Oxford English Dictionary’ – hence why she’s now a podcaster.
And, of course, she finishes by flicking through her dictionary to find a ‘Randomly Selected Word’ – a sound that has become strangely satisfying. She jokes that this is the first live recording, and depending on how well it goes, could be the only one. I’m sure that’s not true.
The Allusionist is a podcast about language and etymology by Helen Zaltzman for Radiotopia from PRX. New episodes arrive fortnightly on Wednesdays.
