Very Bad Words

Very Bad Words

Download on the App Store

Very Bad Words episodes

  • 32: Minicast - Terms of Abuse
    On this minicast, Matt talks to one of our listeners about how terms of abuse are used to dehumanize certain segments of society.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    8 min
  • 31: Cock-a-doodle-do!

    There are many ways people refer to the human penis, but one word sticks out as the most vulgar. Join us as we learn about the other c-word, its complicated origins, and why it doesn’t mean the same thing to all people.

    With guests:

    Mark Morton, Emily Feuerherm, and Ben Westhoff




    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    25 min
  • 29: Swearing is Good Medicine
    In this episode, Matt tries to find out if a study saying that swearing has an "opiate" like effect on pain is valid. He calls in journalist Jeff Harder, doctoral Northwestern student, Jim Kloet and pain psychologist Dr. Samantha Rafie to help him figure it out. Plus, he first gets some help from Helen Zaltzmen of The Allusionist to explain a little more about the brain and pain.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    24 min
  • 27: B!#ch is Back
    Is the B-Word the “most stinging word that we use carelessly”? To explore this, the word’s history, and other questions regarding this common expletive, we talk to Shannon Dea, associate professor in philosophy and women’s studies at the University of Waterloo and BitchMedia co-founder, Andi Zeisler.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    28 min
  • 23: The Other F-Word
    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.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    26 min

About Very Bad Words

From the publisher's feed

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,…

More shows like Very Bad Words

Dateline NBC by NBC News

Dateline NBC

46,926 Listeners