Helen Zaltzman

I don't know what you discovered,

Helen.

Tell me.

Please share.

Keeping the text as it is reflects my father's use of language at that time.

And there is nothing so egregious that his meaning isn't clear.

So Helen, answer me this.

Do I fix the mistakes for the sake of the reader? or preserve the work that my dad created?

[upbeat music] This is The Allusionist, in which I, Helen Zaltzman, rearrange deck chairs on sinking language.

Last episode was on the topic of phobias.

This one is all about a condition that doesn't have a phobia term, but has a lot in common with phobias: alexinomia, the aversion to saying people's names.

Your randomly selected word from the dictionary today is [paper rustling] tailors, noun, law, a writ for summoning substitute jurors when the original jury has become deficient in number.

Try using tailors in an email today.

[book thudding] This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman.

Editorial help and music were provided by Martin Austwick of palebirdmusic.com and the experimental podcast Neutrino Watch and the podcast we made together, Answer Me This.

Our ad partner is Multitude.

You guys love stories about fonts and typefaces.

So a couple months ago, I was having dinner with Helen Zaltzman and her husband and collaborator, Martin Austwick, and she told me about a story they developed for a live stage show about an epic feud over a typeface of all things, and I knew I had to get that story on the show.

We're talking about two people who set up an artisanal printing press, which was kind of unusual at the time.

Uh, they were very groundbreaking in their way, and it was also not really something that people did if they didn't already have money.

[violin plays] Two friends brought together and driven apart by type.

Yes, type, as in printed lettering.

I'm the narrator, Helen Zaltzman, and this is our orchestra and chorus, Martin Austwick.

Type means the design, the way that letters look, and the little bits of metal [glockenspiel plays] that print words in a book.

[upbeat music] This is The Allusionist, in which I, Helen Zaltzman, valiantly remove a spider from language's bathtub so language can go in and brush its teeth.

Today's episode is about phobias, and thus I must issue the following content warning.

We're not trying to stoke anyone's phobias, but we do discuss some common phobia inducers, including snakes, germs, and small holes, and there is a brief mention of tarantulas.

It's a portmanteau of mass and concentration.

Try using mascon in an email today.

This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman, on the unceded ancestral and traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.

The music is by Martin Austwick of palebirdmusic.com and the experimental podcast Neutrino Watch and the podcast we make together, Answer Me This.

Thanks to Amanda McLaughlin of Multitude.