Something Rhymes with Purple

Susie Dent and Gyles Brandreth spent five years making one of the most charming vocabulary podcasts ever produced, and the 437-episode archive they left behind is a gift that keeps giving. Dent, who spent decades in Countdown's Dictionary Corner, and Brandreth, the writer and raconteur, had a chemistry that made word origins feel like dinner party conversation. She brought the deep lexicographic knowledge; he brought the stories, jokes, and occasional terrible puns. Each episode took a theme -- sleep, food, money, weather -- and explored the words and phrases connected to it. You'd learn that "deadline" originally referred to a line around Civil War prison camps that prisoners would be shot for crossing, or that "freelance" literally described medieval mercenary knights who hired out their lances. Dent would casually drop obscure but delightful words like "petrichor" (the smell of rain on dry earth) or "agastopia" (admiration of a particular part of someone's body), always with context and always with warmth. The show concluded in July 2024 after a proper farewell, earning a near-perfect 4.9-star rating from its dedicated listeners. Episodes typically ran 30 to 40 minutes. Even though no new episodes are coming, the back catalog is an absolute treasure for anyone who loves language -- just pick a topic that interests you and press play.