Fear and Fascination: Secrets of the Italian Bus System (A Vocabulary-Boosting Story)

After around 20 episodes, season 2 of the Vocabbett podcast is coming to a close!

I’d gladly continue it forever, but I was recently accepted to UCSD’s college counseling program. Since they operate on a quarterly system, I’m able to start my first class in March!

I honestly don’t know exactly how the college counseling certificate will play into the future of Vocabbett, but as I discuss in the podcast, I do want to turn Vocabbett into a profitable, sustainable business, and while I’m having a blast with what I’m currently doing, it’s not exactly self-sustaining.

In episode 76, I dive into various ways I could grow Vocabbett moving forward. You can listen below or on your favorite podcast player.

And if you have any ideas or thoughts about all this, please, let me know! Seriously, just shoot me an email at contact@vocabbett.com.

If you’ve seen The Durrells in Corfu, you’ll undoubtedly remember the slightly dotty daughter in the series, Margo.

When I finished the show (a slightly heartbreaking moment – I hope they release a new season in the future!), I was exceptionally curious about what happened next for the family. Though the show offers a fictionalized account of the Durrells’ lives, the characters were based on real people. To think of them in the clutches of World War II…

For episode 75 of the Vocabbett podcast, I share more about the remarkable life of Margo Durrell.

You can listen below or on your favorite podcast player!

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Episode Correction: Thanks to a listener for pointing out that I was in error on the publication date of "Whatever Happened to Margo." It was originally published in 1995, and she didn't pass away until 2007 -- therefore, it was very much NOT a posthumous publication! 

Referenced In This Episode:

https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/933123/The-Durrells-ITV-Margo-Durrell-Gerald-Durrell-Daisy-Waterstone-Keeley-Hawes

We've all heard of Cleopatra, but how many people know she had a little sister -- and a pretty remarkable one at that?

Arsinoe IV was about ten years younger than Cleopatra, but my guess is that, had their ages been reversed, we'd all know Arsinoe and it would be, "Cleopatra who?"

At around 12 years old, she was commanding an army and outwitting Julius Caesar!

Listen to episode 74 of the Vocabbett podcast to learn all about her. And as promised, here is the link to the episode of "Drunk History" about her for those who want to watch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ab4rYDR0yY&t

I said it in the podcast, but I'll say it again here: there is a lot of profanity in this video!

It's hilarious if you don't mind that sort of thing, but there are about 1,000 swear words in 10 minutes and some PG-13-level vulgarity. Consider yourself warned!

When most of us think of suffragettes (a.k.a. women who fought for the right to vote), we think of Susan B. Anthony or Emmeline Pankhurst.

We should, however, also be thinking about the extraordinary Nazek al-Abid!

In the latest installment in our “forgotten women” mini-series, we explore the story of this remarkable woman. Exiled countless times for voicing (and acting upon) her beliefs, she never stopped fighting.

Get the whole story in episode 72 of the Vocabbett podcast!

(By the way, because her name is transliterated from Arabic, it’s sometimes spelled “Naziq” or “Nazik.” None are incorrect; I just went with what was on the Syrian stamp!)

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Read More:

‘Forgotten Princesses’ article I reference throughout the episode: https://www.rejectedprincesses.com/princesses/naziq-al-abid

“18th century heiress turned pirate” may sound like the tagline of a cheesy romance novel, but remarkably, it’s a fairly accurate description of the indomitable Anne Bonny.

A few episodes into our “Forgotten Women” mini-series -- where I sneakily boost your vocabulary by telling you about some people you probably didn’t learn about in school -- we’re shedding light on one of the most famous female pirates from the so-called “Golden Age” of piracy.

It’s a story you won’t want to miss! You can listen for free on your favorite podcast player, or tune in over at Vocabbett. 

Referenced in this episode:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/if-theres-a-man-among-ye-the-tale-of-pirate-queens-anne-bonny-and-mary-read-45576461/

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/40580/40580-h/40580-h.htm#page-171

If you’re an Anglophile (lover of the English) like me, you’ve probably heard of Boudica, the warrior queen who took on the Romans.

But did you know that there’s *another* British warrior queen with an equally fascinating tale?

Around the 8th century, Viking raiders were taking over regions of England left and right. Alfred the Great dreamed of not only fighting them off, but uniting England under one king. Sadly, he died before seeing his dream come true.

Alfred’s daughter, Aethelflaed, leaped onto my radar in The Last Kingdom (available on Netflix, though very violent, so don’t watch unless you have a parent’s permission).

I loved her storyline (from season 2) so much, I couldn’t help but Google what happened to her later! Obviously not everything from the show is true, but later in life, she went on to do extraordinary things.

Aethelflaed took on the Vikings, negotiating with them when possible and fighting them when it wasn’t. She was a shrewd tactician, and knew exactly which roads and river passages to attack to make the battle as swift as possible. It got to the point where her enemies (the freaking Vikings) would surrender without a fight!

Learn more about this amazing woman in episode 71 of the Vocabbett podcast!

Quoted & Referenced in This Episode:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-44069889

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-44429911

“Mary had a little lamb…”

Be honest. Did you go, “little lamb” again after you read that?

Those five words are so catchy, they were the first words Thomas Edison ever recorded in the phonograph (making them the first words ever recorded on a machine). Not only that, but they were also some of the first words Alexander Graham Bell spoke into the telephone!

It’s astonishing to me that a mere century (or so) after her death, Sarah Josepha Hale — the creator of this nursery rhyme — has faded into obscurity. It would be one thing if her accomplishments had also faded, but we’re still hugely impacted by her legacy.

And I’m not just talking about ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb.’ In fact, if you’d asked Sarah to list what she was most proud of, “Mary had a little lamb” probably wouldn’t even make the first page!

The only reason I know about this woman is that I’m lucky to be (very) loosely related to her. But it got me thinking, how many other stories of remarkable women have been forgotten?

In episode 70 of the Vocabbett podcast, I share the (very abbreviated) story of Sarah Josepha Hale in a new “Forgotten Women” mini-series. I’m still boosting your vocabulary throughout; I’m just finding new, fun stories to incorporate while doing it! : )

You can listen to the podcast for free on your favorite player, and I’ve included a sneak peek of the members’-only podcast accompaniment below. Become a Vocabbett member to watch the whole video if you haven’t already!

I don’t remember the first time I heard the word “kudos,” but I distinctly remember thinking that it was 1970’s slang.

How wrong I was! I only found out last week, though, that “kudos” goes all the way back to the days of Homer, meaning “magical glory” in ancient Greek.

This means, if someone says, “kudos, you did a great job at the game,” the original meaning was more like, “Magical glory! Man, you’ve been blessed by the gods. Great job.”

How cool is that?

There’s a fierce battle raging among linguists about this word (something I’d love to see in person). I go into details in episode 69 of the Vocabbett podcast!

Amid the recent inauguration news, I kept hearing the word “rostrum.”

“As he approaches the rostrum tomorrow…”

“Donald Trump began his term from the same rostrum…”

“In his inaugural address Wednesday, delivered from a rostrum…”

Obviously this word wasn’t crucial to my understanding of what was happening, but being the inquisitive sort, I needed to know all about it.

A rostrum is basically a podium. There are subtle differences, but for all intents and purposes, it’s a podium. 

That’s not the good bit, though. The good bit is what comes before the definition, the story of how we got the definition. 

Like so many others, this story goes back to ancient Rome (and their fighting preferences).

Learn all about it on episode 68 of the Vocabbett podcast!

With colleges dropping the SAT left and right — and the recent announcement that they’re dropping the essay and subject tests — it’s normal to feel a reluctant pang of sympathy for a dying rite of passage.

Here’s the thing, though: The College Board (the organization that runs the SAT) is stronger than ever.

Most people don’t know that the AP program is also managed by The College Board, so while people celebrate the end of a standardized test…we’re unwittingly letting them standardize the entire high school curriculum.

I’m not against AP’s. There are some great AP courses! But when one organization has so much power, there are bound to be issues because we don’t all want the same thing.

I dive into this issue in greater detail in episode 67 of the Vocabbett podcast. I’d consider it a must-listen for students, parents, and educators!