Don’t you just love a good throwback? Emily and Kyle certainly do—and, in this episode, so do botanists, doctors, pseudoscientists, and more! Join our hosts in taking some inspiration from the past and exploring the word atavism.

Time is running out! And then running in again, but weirder! Kyle and Emily are joined by producer Seth, who helps them sort reality from fiction from nonsense, and discovers the time-bending truths of the word uchronia.

Kyle and Emily stumble into an old Shakespearean dilemma this Chump season when Seth introduces them to E-Prime. To be or not to be? That is a question, but the bigger question is just semantics.

This week, Kyle and Emily take a slippery step into the world of verglas. A sleek French borrowing with roots in poetry, peril, and absolutely eating it on the pavement. What does it have to do with medieval “Verses of Death”, physics, and the word vitriol? You may want to tread carefully.

Kyle and Emily allow their cups to spilleth over in this cheery, beery, and all around festive dive into the word ‘jorum’. From Hebrew scripture to Arabic pottery to Jesus himself, these biblical vessels are full to the brim with etymological curiosity.

Emily and Kyle enjoy a bit of a break in the weather, and bring you on a journey of a lovesick couple, gods both vengeful and kindhearted, seafaring birds, and the word halcyon.

As dusk falls, Kyle and Emily set out a blanket and do some stargazing, trying to catch a glimpse of that rare and captivating phenomenon: the gegenschein.

Kyle and Emily welcome back the creator of the League of the Lexicon Joshua Blackburn, whose latest work is not a game, but a gorgeously illustrated compendium for the incurably curious, The Language-Lover’s Lexipedia.

Kyle and Emily go back and forth this week with palindromist Barry Duncan, whose masterfully mirrored sentences are more than just clever tricks of language.

This week’s word gets Emily and Kyle one step closer to enlightenment. Well, linguistic enlightenment, if not spiritual. Settle in for a crash course in eastern Buddhism, a ponderous paradox or two, and the history of the word koan.