Very Bad Words
Summary: As long as there’s been language, there have been forbidden words. What gives these words their power? Why are they considered “bad”? Producer and Host, Matt Fidler, reaches out to experts, linguists, and historians to explore these words and their cultural significance. From diving into specific bad words to exploring what language has the “worst curses”, Matt weaves personal stories and interviews to help shed light on the power of very bad words.
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Podcasts:
Matt tells a story about his foul-mouthed Irish friend and wonders what you would like to get out of the new season of Very Bad Words.
Matt is joined by Dan Savage, creator of "It Gets Better" and Savage Love to talk about the cultural impact and reclamation of the Fa-word. He also talks with Mark Morton, author of Dirty Words: The Story of Sex Talk, to discuss the origins of the actual word.
Contributing producer, Stephanie Billman, tells Matt the ridiculous story of the FBI’s hunt for “Dorothy”.
In this episode, Matt speaks to both the director of a camp specifically for children with Tourette Syndrome and the Tourette’s Hero, Jess Thom to dispel the idea that it’s just the “swearing disease”.
A friend tells a story about his childhood fascination with Tourette Syndrome.
Matt follows the story of the banning and unbanning of one of the most notorious books ever, James Joyce’s Ulysses. He speaks with Lisa Flannigan, Director of the 2017 Bloomsday Festival in New York City and James LaRue, the Director of the Office of Intellectual Freedom to help guide the way.
Matt chats to James LaRue about why the most commonly banned books are fairy tales.
Matt talks to kids, parents, and the ”psychologist of swearing”, Dr. Timothy Jay, to find out just how bad it is to swear around your kids.
We meet Matt's mom and talk about how she would swear around him growing up.
In this episode of Very Bad Words, Matt talks about A-holes with UC Berkeley Linguist and author of the book, Ascent of the A-Word, Geoffrey Nunberg.
Matt chats with Geoff Nunberg about the differences between British “arse” and American “a$$”.
In this episode of Very Bad Words, Evelyn Dean-Olmstead returns to help Matt explore how religion and mothers shape the way we swear. Guests: Anton Bonnici, Francois Gratton, Evelyn Dean-Olmstead #SacredAndProfane #profane #VeryBadWords
Matt talks to Evelyn Dean-Olmstead about one of the most offensive words spoken in Spanish.
Matt talks with a number of people about everyone’s favorite swear word, including author of the book The F-Word, Jesse Sheidlower and radio colleague Andy Mills.
With the help of her parents, executive producer Jill, tells a story about her using the “F-word” as a young child.