The Allusionist

Explorations of language, words and how we communicate AI summary

Helen Zaltzman Visit website › Arts · EN · 259 episodes · latest 2026-11-13

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What it is about

Adventures in language with Helen Zaltzman. TheAllusionist.org

Publisher’s own description, taken unchanged from the podcast feed.
© 2025 Helen Zaltzman

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Latest episodes

Allusiovaults: Fiona

2026-11-13 · 1 hr 4 min

Since we've been talking about names for the past couple of episodes, here's one of my favourites from the Allusiovaults. It's a literary mystery, a confusion of Scottish identity and authenticity; it's the unexpected,…
Allusiovaults: Yes, As In

2026-10-30 · 31 min

Since we've been talking about names for the past couple of episodes, here's one of my favourites from the Allusiovaults: Yes, As In, featuring people who have names that are more usually found as common nouns and…
235. Trevor

2026-10-20 · 26 min

"I just thought: I wonder if I could get guys called Trevor to reclaim the name?" says Trevor Cunningham. "So I went on LinkedIn and I just looked for Trevors, and I started contacting them." And, having found way more…
234. No Names

2026-09-22 · 34 min

Alexinomia is the aversion to saying people's names. Psychologist Thomas Ditye explains what it means to have this condition - in some cases not even saying your spouse's name during 25 years of marriage - and the…
233. Phobia

2026-09-09 · 40 min

'Phobia' gets used for anything from a mild aversion to a debilitating anxiety response to various forms of bigotry. Deboki Chakravarti and Sam Jones of the podcast Tiny Matters join to consider the term from its…
232. Vega

2026-08-25 · 33 min

What do you call yourself if you're a part-time vegetarian? What petty linguistic things would you change? And what do you do if people gripe at you if you say that you are bi or pan? To answer these questions from the…
Tranquillusionist: cheesy cheesybobs

2026-08-11 · 21 min

This is the Tranquillusionist, in which I, Helen Zaltzman, say a series of words to relax your mind, replace a hectic interior monologue, maybe lull you to sleep, hopefully quell the mental uproar just for a little…
231. Lingthusionist E

2026-07-13 · 25 min

“Linguistics and language is such a good mechanism for being curious,” says Lauren Gawne, linguistics prof, author of the book Gesture: A Slim Guide, and cohost of the podcast Lingthusiasm. I'm in vacation mode…
230. Draculae part 4: Transformation

2026-06-26 · 46 min

Throughout the Draculae miniseries, about the Swedish and Icelandic translations of Dracula that played fast and loose with the original text, I've been wondering a couple of questions: why are cover versions of songs…
229. Draculae part 3: Hunting Down the Count

2026-06-09 · 37 min

Many mysteries accompany the revelations that Powers of Darkness, the Icelandic and Swedish versions of Dracula, are not direct translations of Bram Stoker's original, but stories that significantly differ in character…

Episode details from the publisher’s feed. Playback happens at the publisher.

Publisher details

Oldest episode in feed: 01/2015 · over 11 years
Typical length: 28 min
Format: Episodic Newest first, episodes stand alone
Keywords: history, Helen Zaltzman, linguistics, entertainment, etymology, words

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