McWhorter, Professor John — Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue

What is it about the words we speak that convey concepts, nuances, ideas and sometimes even start wars?  Where do they come from, what is their history and how do they shape our minds and ability to communicate?  These are just some of the questions we asked Professor John McWhorter, author of “Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue,” when we spoke with him from his home in New Jersey on December 1, 2008.

The book Professor McWhorter recommends is “Ziegfeld: The Man Who Invented Show Business,” by Ethan Morddenn.

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Fogg, Laura — Travelling Blind

The ways different creatures, especially people use their senses has for a long time attracted my curiosity. I have wondered about the dreams of blind people or deaf people.  From time to time I’d see an attentive woman walk past my office with a young person who carried a white cane with a red tip. Laura Fogg is this woman, the author of “Travelling Blind: Life Lessons From Unlikely Teachers,” and our guest here in the studios of Radio Curious. Laura Fogg has worked as an Orientation and Mobility Instructor for the blind in Mendocino County since 1971. In doing so, she has pioneered the use of the white cane with blind students who are very young or who have multiple impairments, traveling from student to student through the rather special backroads between their homes. Laura Fogg visited Radio Curious on December 1st, 2008 and talked about some of the life lessons she has learned.

The book Laura Fogg recommends is “My Year Of Meats” by Ruth Ozeki

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