Many listeners and readers of this site recently said their interests tend toward both politics and speeches. For oratory of the first quality, few can rival the longtime senator from Massachusetts. Though many in Washington argue with his politics, Ted Kennedy speeches show why he’s an acknowledged premiere speechmaker of our time. Following the difficult health [...]

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Download Episode 32 - New Word Memory Palace Into the narrow news gap between this year’s elections, wars, corruption and celebrity gossip, the media has shifted a momentary spotlight toward the latest in words. So, we find a flurry of coverage on new words, on favorite words, on odd words. These are key words they say [...]

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Download Episode 31 - Stories for Future Presidents Up against all the hazards already in the world, we now find ourselves blinded by that recurring snowstorm of story-telling known as the US presidential campaign. An avalanche of these talks is trying to push us to believe that each of the would-be American presidents is a hero - [...]

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Download Episode 30 - The UK's Favorite Word If you want to see into the hearts and minds of a people, your chance came recently with the British. Two thousand Brits each just weighed in with their favorite word in a poll conducted by a game maker. The 20 highest ranking favorites made their way into [...]

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Download Episode 29 - Naming Drugs: Lifestyle Superstars You can’t fight human nature. Heroes who save us get our thanks, respect and veneration. But the true stars in our lives are more likely to be those who bring us pleasure and enhance our lifestyles. Theirs become the names we look for and remember. Drug makers haven’t overlooked [...]

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Download Episode 28 - Naming Drugs: New Words In each of these pairs of drug names one is actual, one is fictional. Can you tell which is which? Fans of Stephen King, MadTV and Star Trek will have an advantage. The choices: Norvasc & Novril; Qualex & Seroquel; Klonopin & Retinax; and Tretonin & Diazepam. In [...]

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Download Episode 27 - Naming Drugs: The Superheroes Recognize characters in the following short scene? Paxil faced Crestor saying, “Xanax of Lipitor seeks the Neurontin.” Hearing this, Zoloft rose from Levitra, dropped his Lyrica and crossed the Cialis to heave an Effexor into Zocor. The Celebrex cheered, “All hail Voltaren”. Names like these suggest superheroes and other larger [...]

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