Cutting Corners for a Royal Road
Everyone wants a faster way to learn a language. On indie web novels, patient writers, and the hard truth that there’s no royal road, no shortcut worth cutting corners for.
Season 2
Pouring over Poor Soil
Four days sick, a 3 a.m. wake-up unable to breathe, and a flash flood outside the window. When it rains, it pours, and Tayvin has the week to prove it.
Burning the Midnight Owl
The early bird gets the worm, but what does the night owl get? A look at the language of early risers, late-night workers, and the small hours in between.
It’s Ruff Getting Back on Your Feet
Children are wonderful. And tiny germ factories. Flat on his back with a nasty cold, Tayvin lines up the everyday expressions English uses for getting sick and clawing your way back to health.
Infinite Carrots on the Horizon
Achilles, a tortoise, and the strange mathematics of infinity set the stage for the carrot and the stick, and how a single cartoon quietly changed what the phrase means.
Story of My Life in More Than One Direction
Ripped pants, bad timing, and a recurring pattern that always seems to find you. Tayvin looks at ‘story of my life,’ and why a phrase for bad luck might be worth rewriting.
Lose Yourself
Guest host Emma takes the mic to chase one small, slippery word. You can lose your keys, lose a game, lose track of time, or lose yourself entirely. What connects them all?
Lord of the Ring
There’s a certificate on the wall naming Tayvin a lord, and a ring that carries far more weight. A story about status, humility, and what it means to lord it over someone.
Chopstick to Your Roots
Eating chips with chopsticks earned Tayvin an online accusation of cultural appropriation. A thoughtful, careful look at appropriation, assimilation, and the word he thinks fits better.
Apps for Everyone
A transformative concert leads somewhere unexpected: the tiny words English loves to clip. ‘Apps’ might mean the ones on your phone, or the ones you order before dinner.