John Hodgman presents his home commonwealth to Janet Varney. It’s time to spotlight Massachusetts!

Keep your Boston accents to yourself (for now) because we’ll learn more about how its motto was born from was born from an incredibly aggressive guest book entry and the numerous songs that have fought status within Massachusetts.

Plus, John will chat with Kate Lorch. As an elementary school student she struck a major political victory: getting Massachusetts an official state muffin. 

Special thanks to Denise Falbo for supplying episode art this week!

Produced by Julian Burrell.

Senior Producer at MaxFun is Laura Swisher.

Find E Pluribus Motto on Instagram and TikTok.

And send us a voice memo, message or photo about an upcoming state to 

[email protected].