Linguistically Aware

Linguistically Aware - Episode November 11, 2025


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The World in a Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism with James Geary



In this episode, Brooklyn sits down with James Geary - author of "The World in a Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism" to chat about the newly released second edition of this book. James tells us what aphorisms are, how he came to love them, and how this early form of language and literature persists in the digital age today of social media and AI chatbots!


James Geary is also the author of "Wit's End: What Wit Is, How It Works, and Why We Need It" (W.W. Norton), "I Is an Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor and How It Shapes the Way We See the World" (HarperCollins), and "Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists" (Bloomsbury). He is an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, the former deputy curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, and the former editor of the European edition of Time magazine.
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Linguistically AwareBy CJSW 90.9 FM