Word Matters: The New Merriam-Webster Podcast for the Word Nerd in Us All

Many people know Merriam-Webster as the go to resource for dictionaries, thesaurus, and other wordly matters, but over the summer they released a new podcast, Word Matters. If you’ve ever stayed up late arguing with someone over the usage of a word or simply talking about great texts and their ability to spin a tale using words and words alone, then Word Matters is the podcast for you. There are, of course, some people out there who have never had that experience. They could be wondering what could a show about words have to do with me. 

Everything. 

We all use language to communicate, and some of us use the English language to deliver our ideas, feelings, and experiences. But the English language isn’t all that consistent or easy to understand on good days. This show helps people understand, not just words, but their usage, history, and impact on our lives. The hosts don’t talk about words like editors or scholars, but like people who are trying to make sense of something that doesn’t really make any sense. 

In collaboration with New England Public Media, Merriam-Webster brings together a group of its editors to talk about one of the things they all love. Words. Even though these people are word professionals, they make their conversations accessible and fun. It truly feels like sitting in on a group of friends just being silly, yet informative, with and about words. Emily Brewster, Peter Sokolowski, Ammon Shea, and Neil Serven come together to unlock the secrets behind language and words. 

It is promoted as a show for readers, writers, and anyone who ever loved English class, but I think it reaches more audiences. Yes, readers will love hearing the editors throw common Shakespeare word origins under the bus. Writers will find episodes about semantics and sentences more than helpful for their craft and understanding the power of controlling language. But people outside those worlds and worlds of academia will find this podcast to be a refreshing dig into words without feeling too high-brow or confusing.

“When your job consists of writing and editing dictionaries, you quickly become aware that the language isn’t remotely static; it’s a constantly shifting thing beholden to strange logic or no logic at all,” states Brewster in the show’s press release. Their first episode delves into the word that has caused so many arguments over the years: irregardless. Even as I type it, my spell checker does not believe that it is real. In the episode the editors talk about the controversy over the word and whether or not it is a real word or just some form of mashed together letters. 

The show doesn’t just disprove or explain words either. There are episodes that take listeners questions, arms listeners with the perfect words to insult, and even how to get a word in the dictionary. Word Matters gives listeners the tools of the trade and helps them see what words and language truly are: a mad and ever-changing thing that is a whole lot of fun once you see its inner workings.