Podcasts about new york times sunday review

I am still turning this over in my head, that Dr. Ricardo Nuila says the purpose of Arts and Humanities is...beauty. I have not thought of it in that way before, and he has really made me think about the role of beauty in my life, in my work, in small and big spaces of good and bad. I think this is a must listen! Dr. Ricardo Nuila, MD is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and sees patients at Ben Taub hospital in Houston, Texas as part of the Harris Health System. Ben Taub is a safety-net hospital where the focus in on a given individual's healthcare problem. He is also a writer, and his pieces on health disparities, politics and medicine, and art and medicine have been published in VQR, The Atlantic, The New York Times Sunday Review, The New Yorker, and The New England Journal of Medicine.

Emily Dickinson was one of the first poets that I was introduced to when I was younger, and Dr. Ricardo Nuila refers to one of her lines, Tell the truth but tell it slant. We talk about this, about nuance and context, and how that relates to algorithmania. It comes back to metacognition, gestalt vs algorithmic thinking. Dr. Ricardo Nuila, MD is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and sees patients at Ben Taub hospital in Houston, Texas as part of the Harris Health System. Ben Taub is a safety-net hospital where the focus in on a given individual's healthcare problem. He is also a writer, and his pieces on health disparities, politics and medicine, and art and medicine have been published in VQR, The Atlantic, The New York Times Sunday Review, The New Yorker, and The New England Journal of Medicine.

Ben Taub Hospital, located in the heart of Houston, Texas, is the city's largest hospital for those who cannot afford medical care. Texas, in turn, is the US state with the country's largest uninsured population. Amid chaotic emergency rooms and busy hospital wards serving the most financially and medically vulnerable people, Ricardo Nuila, MD finds meaning and beauty through stories he hears from his patients. In addition to his duties as a hospitalist at Ben Taub Hospital, Dr. Nuila is an associate professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, where he directs the Humanities Expression and Arts Lab, as well as an author whose writings have appeared in the Atlantic, the New Yorker, the New York Times Sunday Review, and more. His 2023 book, The People's Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine, explores the ups and downs of American medicine through the lens of patients he has encountered at Ben Taub. Over the course of our conversation, we discuss what it's like to practice in a safety net hospital, the power of narrative medicine in connecting with patients, and how clinicians can hold onto their strength of character, even when working in a system that often feels broken and indifferent to human suffering.In this episode, we discuss: 2:25 - How Dr. Nuila became drawn to both medicine and creative writing  6:07 - The characteristics that define different types of hospitals 12:06 - A patient story that exemplifies the experience of being a doctor at a public safety net hospital 20:33 - How Dr. Nuila finds deeper meaning in providing care, even when faced with systemic circumstances that a doctor can't fix25:34 - Dr. Nuila's advice for how to get through the moments when you feel like you are “at war” with gaps in the system 42:32 - How narrative medicine and storytelling can make more effective clinicians 45:45 - Dr. Nuila's advice on how to make a career in medicine meaningful Dr. Ricardo Nuila can be found on Twitter/X at @Riconuila.Dr. Nuila is the author of The People's Hospital (2023).Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.Copyright The Doctor's Art Podcast 2024

The CE experience for this Podcast is powered by CMEfy - click here to reflect and earn credits: https://earnc.me/O9a1Y4 Jay Wellons MD, MSPH holds the Cal Turner Chair of Pediatric Neurosurgery and is Chief of  the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and  the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. He is a Professor in the Departments of  Neurological Surgery, Pediatrics, Plastic Surgery, and Radiology and Radiological Sciences, and  is also the Vice Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery. He founded SOCKS (the Surgical  Outcomes Center for Kids) in 2015 and served as the Medical Director until 2022. He also  served as the VUMC Section of Surgical Sciences Vice Chair of Clinical Research 2018-2022  and Department of Neurological Surgery Program Director for the Neurosurgery Residency  Training Program from 2014-2018. In addition to his scientific writing, he has been a contributor to the New York Times Sunday  Review, TIME, Garden and Gun Magazine, Fresh Air: NPR, and OprahDaily.com. His book All  That Moves Us: A Pediatric Neurosurgeon, His Young Patients, and their Stories of Grace and  Resilience with publisher Penguin Random House debuted in June of 2022. His non-scientific  writing focuses specifically on his specialty of pediatric neurosurgery, but also the broader field  of medicine and the profound lessons learned from the children and parents that he has cared for  over the last 30 years. -+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+= This Episode is brought to you today by Eagle Financial Group. Eagle Financial Group is here to help you understand your numbers to make wise decisions. From fractional CFO services to accounting, bookkeeping, and payroll, Eagle financial group is your partner to ensure that your practice keeps on serving your patients, and gives you more time to spend with your family and friends. It's time that you overcome your obstacles, and get control of your financial life today. Give Eagle Financial Group a call at 719-755-0043, drop us an email at clientservices@eaglefsg.com, or visit us on line at eaglefsg.com We are a proud sponsor of the MD Coaches family of podcasts.  -=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=- Are you a doctor struggling to provide the best care for your patients while dealing with financial and caregiving matters out of the scope of your practice? Do you find yourself scrambling to keep up with the latest resources and wish there was an easier way? Finally, our Virtual Health and Financial Conference for Caregivers is here! This conference helps you and your patients enlist the best strategies around health care resources and the best financial steps for your patients to take while navigating care. You don't have to go home feeling frustrated and helpless because you couldn't connect your patients with the best services. In just 90 minutes, our VIP Live Roundtable will answer your questions and be the lifeline that helps your patients put together an effective caregiving plan. Find out more at Jeanniedougherty.com and click on Conference for Caregivers VIP. -=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-   Join the Conversation! We want to hear from you! Do you have additional thoughts about today's topic? Do you have your own Prescription for Success? Record a message on Speakpipe   Unlock Bonus content and get the shows early on our Patreon Follow us or Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Amazon  | Spotify --- Show notes at https://rxforsuccesspodcast.com/172 Report-out with comments or feedback at https://rxforsuccesspodcast.com/report Music by Ryan Jones. Find Ryan on Instagram at _ryjones_, Contact Ryan at ryjonesofficial@gmail.com Production assistance by Clawson Solutions Group, find them on the web at csolgroup.com  

On today's episode, we are going to talk about designing hope in American medicine. Dr. Ricardo Nuila works as an internal medicine doctor and hospitalist in his hometown of Houston. It's hard for him to imagine practicing medicine anywhere else but at a safety-net hospital, where he focuses on a person's healthcare problem. His experiences as a doctor gives his writing its fuel. Ricardo focuses mostly on health disparities, how policies affect real people, and the interface between art and medicine. He has written for Texas Monthly, VQR, The New York Times Sunday Review, The Atlantic.com, and The New England Journal of Medicine. He has also covered Hurricane Harvey and the COVID pandemic for The New Yorker. His short stories have appeared in the Best American Short Stories anthology as well as in McSweeney's and other literary magazines. The New England Review published one of his short stories and awarded him with its inaugural Emerging Writer's Award. Ricardo directs the Humanities Expression and Arts Lab (HEAL) at Baylor College of Medicine. This lab develops educational materials and experiences that weave the arts and humanities into medical education. Episode mentions and links: www.ricardonuila.com Made to Care For Those Left Behind, This Hospital Leads the Way (Book Review via NYT) Humanities Expressions and Arts Lab (HEAL) Ricardo's restaurant rec: Nancy's Hustle Follow Ricardo: Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook; Episode Website: https://www.designlabpod.com/episodes/116

In this episode of “Keen On”, Andrew is joined by Amelia Pang, the author of “Made in China: A Prisoner, an SOS Letter, and the Hidden Cost of America's Cheap Goods”. Amelia Pang is an award-winning, investigative journalist of Uyghur and Chinese descent. Her work has been published in The New Republic, Mother Jones, and The New York Times Sunday Review, among other publications. She is currently an editor at EdTech Magazine. Visit our website: https://lithub.com/story-type/keen-on/ Email Andrew: a.keen@me.com Watch the show live on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ajkeen Watch the show live on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankeen/ Watch the show live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lithub Watch the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LiteraryHub/videos Subscribe to Andrew's newsletter: https://andrew2ec.substack.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amelia Pang is an award-winning, investigative journalist of Uyghur and Chinese descent. Her work has been published in The New Republic, Mother Jones, and The New York Times Sunday Review, among other publications. She is currently an editor at EdTech Magazine. Her most recent book, which I highly recommend is called Made in China: A Prisoner, an SOS Letter, and the Hidden Cost of America's Cheap Goods, published on February 2, 2021, by Algonquin Books. Amelia Pang Book Recommendations: Land of Big Numbers - Te-Ping Chen Random Family - Adrian Nicole LeBlanc Crazy Rich Asians - Kevin Kwan The Road - Cormac McCarthy About The Inquiring Mind Podcast: I created The Inquiring Mind Podcast in order to foster free speech, learn from some of the top experts in various fields, and create a platform for respectful conversations. Learn More: https://www.theinquiringmindpodcast.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theinquiringmindpodcast/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theinquiringmindpodcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/StanGGoldberg TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdKj2GeG/ Subscribe to the Inquiring Mind Podcast: Spotify: http://spoti.fi/3tdRSOs Apple: https://apple.co/3lGlEdB Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/3eBZfLl Youtube: https://bit.ly/3tiQieE

Daniel Duane is a San Francisco-based writer, author, climber and surfer. He has written for The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Sunday Review, California Sunday Magazine, Wired, GQ, Esquire, Men's Journal, Outside, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, and more. You can find Daniel's work at danielduane.com Click here for the video version of the podcast: https://youtu.be/mWYihADVwwA --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nicksvancast/support

Daniel Duane is a San Francisco-based writer, author, climber and surfer. He has written for The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Sunday Review, California Sunday Magazine, Wired, GQ, Esquire, Men's Journal, Outside, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, and more. You can find Daniel's work at danielduane.com Click here for the video version of the podcast: https://youtu.be/mWYihADVwwA --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nicksvancast/support

Please consider a paid subscription to this daily podcast. Everyday I will interview 2 or more expert guests on a wide range of issues. I will continue to be transparent about my life, issues and vulnerabilities in hopes we can relate, connect and grow together. Join the Stand Up Community   My guest today is Professor Colin Jerolmack. We talked about his excellent new book Up to Heaven and Down to Hell: Fracking, Freedom, and Community in an American Town Here is all of his info from his website.... I am a professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies at New York University. I am also chair of the Dept. of Environmental Studies. My new book, Up to Heaven and Down to Hell: Fracking, Freedom, and Community in an American Town (Princeton University Press, April 2021), is an intimate, ethnographic account of what happens when one of the most momentous decisions about the well-being of our communities and our planet—whether or not to extract shale gas and oil from the very land beneath our feet—is largely a private choice that millions of ordinary people make without the public’s consent. Based on time I spent living in a rural Pennsylvania community, the book documents the dramatic confrontation between personal sovereignty and the public good that unfolds from the fact that landowners have the right to lease the subsurface of their property for oil and gas development. This "deeply reported" (Publisher's Weekly) community study reveals "the tradeoffs that follow from America's liberty-loving ways" (Sarah Smarsh [author of Heartland], the Atlantic). What's more, it serves as a lens through which to understand the cultural polarization that drives so much of contemporary American politics and stymies efforts to combat climate change. Click here for a complete list of reviews, events, and media related to the book. Click here to purchase the book. CLick here to download and read the introduction for free. Click here to read an essay from this project published in Slate. My first book, The Global Pigeon (2013, University of Chicago Press), examines how relationships with animals and nature shape social life in the city. Click here to read an essay I adapted from The Global Pigeon for the New York Times Sunday Review. Click here to visit my twin brother's website. He's a real scientist. Pete on YouTube Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page

Please consider a paid subscription to this daily podcast. Everyday I will interview 2 or more expert guests on a wide range of issues. I will continue to be transparent about my life, issues and vulnerabilities in hopes we can relate, connect and grow together. Join the Stand Up Community I was really excited to get the opportunity to Interview Senator Mazie Hirono who I have watched kick the crap out of everyone from her seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee from Brett Kavanaugh to Bill Barr. She has written an important, powerful and enlightening memoir about her life and service and it's a great read. It's called Heart of Fire AN IMMIGRANT DAUGHTER'S STORY Senator Mazie K. Hirono is a graduate of the University of Hawaii, Manoa and the Georgetown University Law Center. She has served in the Hawaii House of Representatives (1981-1994), as Hawaii’s lieutenant governor (1994-2002), and in the U.S. House of Representatives (2006-2013). She became Hawaii’s first female senator in 2013, winning reelection in 2018. Hirono serves on the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, among others. Mazie Hirono is one of the most fiercely outspoken Democrats in Congress, but her journey to the U.S. Senate was far from likely. Raised on a rice farm in rural Japan, she was seven years old when her mother, Laura, left her abusive husband and sailed with her two elder children to Hawaii, crossing the Pacific in steerage in search of a better life. Though the girl then known as “Keiko” did not speak or read English when she entered first grade, she would go on to serve as a state representative and as Hawaii’s lieutenant governor before winning election to Congress in 2006.  In this deeply personal memoir, Hirono traces her remarkable life from her earliest days in Hawaii, when the family lived in a single room in a Honolulu boarding house while her mother worked two jobs to keep them afloat, to her emergence as a highly effective legislator whose determination to help the most vulnerable was grounded in her own experiences of economic insecurity, lack of healthcare access, and family separation. Finally, it chronicles Hirono’s recent transformation from dogged yet soft-spoken public servant into the frank and fiery advocate we know her as today. For the vast majority of Mazie Hirono’s five decades in public service, even as she fought for the causes she believed in, she strove to remain polite and reserved. Steeped in the nonconfrontational cultures of Japan and Hawaii, and aware of the expectations of women in politics–chiefly, that they should never show an excess of emotion–she had schooled herself to bite her tongue, even as her male colleagues continually underestimated her. After the 2016 election, however, she could moderate herself no longer. In the face of a dangerous administration–and amid crucial battles with lasting implications for our democracy, from the Kavanaugh hearings to the impeachment trial–Senator Hirono was called to give voice to the fire that had always been inside her. The compelling and moving account of a woman coming into her own power over the course of a lifetime in public service, and of the mother whose courageous choices made her life possible, Heart of Fire is the story of a uniquely American journey, told by one of those fighting hardest to ensure that a story like hers is still possible in this country. My second guest today is Professor Colin Jerolmack. We talked about his excellent new book Up to Heaven and Down to Hell: Fracking, Freedom, and Community in an American Town Here is all of his info from his website.... I am a professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies at New York University. I am also chair of the Dept. of Environmental Studies. My new book, Up to Heaven and Down to Hell: Fracking, Freedom, and Community in an American Town (Princeton University Press, April 2021), is an intimate, ethnographic account of what happens when one of the most momentous decisions about the well-being of our communities and our planet—whether or not to extract shale gas and oil from the very land beneath our feet—is largely a private choice that millions of ordinary people make without the public’s consent. Based on time I spent living in a rural Pennsylvania community, the book documents the dramatic confrontation between personal sovereignty and the public good that unfolds from the fact that landowners have the right to lease the subsurface of their property for oil and gas development. This "deeply reported" (Publisher's Weekly) community study reveals "the tradeoffs that follow from America's liberty-loving ways" (Sarah Smarsh [author of Heartland], the Atlantic). What's more, it serves as a lens through which to understand the cultural polarization that drives so much of contemporary American politics and stymies efforts to combat climate change. Click here for a complete list of reviews, events, and media related to the book. Click here to purchase the book. CLick here to download and read the introduction for free. Click here to read an essay from this project published in Slate. My first book, The Global Pigeon (2013, University of Chicago Press), examines how relationships with animals and nature shape social life in the city. Click here to read an essay I adapted from The Global Pigeon for the New York Times Sunday Review. Click here to visit my twin brother's website. He's a real scientist. Pete on YouTube Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page    

Amelia Pang is an award-winning investigative journalist of Uyghur and Chinese descent. Her work has been published in The New Republic, Mother Jones, and The New York Times Sunday Review - among other publications. She is currently an editor at EdTech Magazine. Amelia is the author of Made In China: A Prisoner, An SOS Letter, and the Hidden Cost of America's Cheap Goods. Her powerful book sheds light on the atrocities committed against the Uighur population by the Chinese government. Amelia and I discuss: Organ harvesting operated by the Chinese government Forced labor camps What prompted her to write the book If the Chinese population is aware of the labor camps The state of journalism America's obsession with cheap goods Genocide of the Uighurs And much more... Amelia Pang My Take: Just because a conversation is hard or uncomfortable does not mean we should not have it. I believe it is the opposite - these conversations are actually crucial to have because most likely no one else is. There are blatant human rights violations, and some would argue a genocide, happening right now against the Uighur people - yet the world is afraid to speak up. If we don't speak up, if we don't bring forth the conversation, no one will. Support the Podcast

Why We Swim I love swimming and was super excited when Bonnie Publicist reached out for me to have her on the show. As a passionate swimmer, Bonnie became curious about why we swim and how this fascination for swimming is now one of the most popular activities in the world. While our evolutionary ancestors learned to swim for survival many of us now swim for pleasure, and others for exercise and healing. The pure joy of swimming I find rather meditative. In this interview, we discuss Bonnie's curiosity into our love for swimming and the many associated benefits. Guest Bio. Bonnie Tsui is the author of the new book WHY WE SWIM. A journalist and longtime contributor to The New York Times, she is also the author of AMERICAN CHINATOWN, the winner of the Asia/Pacific American Award for Literature and a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller. She lives, swims, and surfs in the San Francisco Bay Area. WHY WE SWIM is a cultural and scientific exploration of our human relationship with water and swimming. Published in April 2020, it was excerpted in The New York Times Sunday Review, and has received praise from The New York Times Book Review ("An enthusiastic and thoughtful work mixing history, journalism, and elements of memoir"), NPR's Weekend Edition (“Bonnie Tsui reminds us that humankind once sprang from and still seeks water… An amazing story”), The San Francisco Chronicle ("Succeeds brilliantly… deepens from informative and entertaining to transcendent and moving"), Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, and Booklist, who called it "eloquent, fascinating, and gripping." It was named a best book of the season by Amazon, Buzzfeed, Bustle, and more.

This week I take a look at a recent issue of New York Times’ Sunday Review (2/24), where seven of eighteen articles focus on the real-time evolution of sex and gender relations. The Sunday Review is a quality barometer of the cultural weather in America and is must reading for me each week. In this […] The post Dispatch from the Sexual Evolution appeared first on The Daily Evolver.

Elisabeth L. Rosenthal, a New York Times correspondent who trained as a medical doctor, is the author of Paying Till it Hurts, an award-winning 2 year-long series on health care costs and pricing. She is currently completing a book about the commercialization of American medicine, to be published by Penguin Random House early in 2017. During 20 years as a reporter/correspondent for the New York Times, she has covered a wide variety of beats – from health care to international environment to general assignment reporting for 6 years in China. She is a frequent contributor to the New York Times’ Sunday Review section. Ms. Rosenthal’s journalism awards include the Victor Cohn Prize for medical reporting, the Association of Health Care Journalists’ beat reporting prize, the Online New Association’s award for Feature reporting and the Asia Society’s Osborn Elliott prize. She has been a Poynter Fellowat Yale and a Ferris Visiting Professor at Princeton. Born in New York City, Ms. Rosenthal received a B.S. degree in biology from Stanford University and an M.A. degree in English literature from Cambridge University. She holds an M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School. She trained and worked at Weill-Cornell Medical Center in the Emergency Department before becoming a full-time journalist.

The author of "Mindful Work," New York Times reporter David Gelles is a self-described "sporadic meditator." During the day, Gelles says he uses so-called "meditation hacks," such as waiting a beat or two before picking up a ringing phone or practicing walking meditation around the office at work. Earlier this month, he wrote an op-ed for the New York Times Sunday Review called "The Hidden Price of Mindfulness, Inc.," in which he talked about the "mindfulness economy" and the hundreds of products out there, from books to apps to a dairy-free mayonnaise substitute called Mindful Mayo, all carrying a "mindfulness" label.

Porter was born in New York and raised on the coast of Maine. He lives, writes, teaches and edits the literary travel writing journal Nowhere. His fiction, essays and nonfiction have been published in The New York Times Magazine, The Believer, Outside, Men's Journal, National Geographic Adventure, Powder, Salon.com, Narrative, The Literary Review, Northwest Review, Third Coast and Conjunctions, among others. In 2013 he published DEEP: The Story of Skiing and the Future of Snow. The book was featured on the cover of the New York Times Sunday Review, CBS national news, NPR and in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. I first met Porter while searching for a new work space in Brooklyn. He owns Nowhere Studios in Bed Stuy, along with his wife, providing an ideal enclave for freelance creatives of all backgrounds. His open and supportive personality was immediately clear. Easy to talk to and knowledgeable on a diverse range of subjects, it is no surprise he’s had a successful career as a journalist and writer. As the podcast continues these are the kinds of conversations I hope to have with creatives working outside of the film industry. I believe there are many similarities and parallels that can be made with other freelance roles. This discourse provides the type of perspective needed to appreciate the universal nature of our needs, problems and solutions.

Following the December 7, 2014 publication of his New York Times Sunday Review, "Detroit By Air" which examines the city's dramatic haves and have-nots, photographer Alex MacLean is interviewed by Kevin Walsh and Thomas J. Reed, Jr. of the new website,  DiggingDetroit.com.   Topics include... ·      Alex’s background, including his fear of flying leading to his pilot’s license ·      Detroit’s past, present and future ·      Regrowing urban communities ·      Alex’s transition from aerial surveyor to gallery artist ·      His favorite audiences ·      Switching to digital, but still loving prints—and those amazing drones!   More information on Alex can be found at his website:  http://alexmaclean.com

Finding that special bottle of wine can be tough, and even tougher if you're not fluent in winespeak. "Strawberries, rhubarb, and hints of leather are present in the nose." Say what? We discuss the sometimes baffling language of wine. Plus, many folks wish each other "Merry Christmas." But why don't we use the word "merry" with anything else? Anyone ever wished you a "Merry Birthday"? Also, Grant shares some of his picks for Word of the Year 2012, and Quiz Guy John Chaneski presents his annual news of the year Limerick Challenge. And do you pronounce the word scone to rhyme with "John" or "Joan"?FULL DETAILSWhat's the deal with winespeak? Can a grenache really taste like strawberries, rhubarb, hints of leather and dutch cocoa, all over the course of a long swig? While it may sound ridiculous, it does pose the challenge: how would you describe a flavor? It's not easy!If something's clean as a whistle, that doesn't mean it's shiny and spotless like a silver whistle in a referee's mouth. The idiom refers to a whistle's sound: That sharp, piercing sound is one of the cleanest things known to the ear.If you say, "He stuck his spoon in the wall," you mean that he died. In German, the person who's deceased has passed along his spoon, and in Afrikaans, he's jabbed his spoon into the ceiling. These expressions reflect the idea that eating is an essential part of life. An article in the British Medical Journal has a long list of euphemisms for dying, from the French avaler son extrait de naissance, "to swallow one's birth certificate," to the Portuguese phrase vestir pijama de madeira, "to wear wooden pajamas."Why must Christmas be merry, but no other holiday? What if you want a merry birthday? While merry's heyday was the 1800s, you still see the term, meaning "exuberant" or "joyful," in phrases like go on your merry way or even merry-go-round. If a fellow's getting married, you might say he's getting himself another rib. What slang do you have for getting hitched? Share it with us.Our Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a news of the year Limerick Challenge fit for word lovers and news hounds alike. Try to finish this one: When they speak of their great virtuosity/ The team does not speak with pomposity/ NASA's rolling in clover/They've delivered a rover/ aptly named _______?What's the past tense of squeeze? Is it squeezed or squoze? While the former is the proper version, squoze is a real word used in several dialects. Ronald Reagan even used it in the 1980s!When the sky falls, we shall all catch larks. Or in other words, worrying about what's going to happen won't change it. If you've got a proverb you love, share it with us!Do you pronounce scone to rhyme with Joan or John? In Canada, about 40 percent of English speakers go for the soft o sound, compared to two third of those in the U.K. But in the United States, 90 percent rhyme it with Joan. Grant has compiled his ninth annual Words of the Year piece for The New York Times Sunday Review section. Among these gems is the verb doxing, as in documenting someone's life and share it on the web. What were your picks for word of the year?Do you have a saying for when you drive over a bump and plop back down? In the Northeast, it's common to say thank you, ma'am, since the nodding motion of a head going over a bump is reminiscent of genteel greetings. It's also known as a dipsy doodle, duck-and-dip, tickle bump whoop-de-do, belly tickler, and how-do-you-do. Our favorite, though, is kiss-me-quick, a reference to seizing the opportunity when a bump in the road throws passengers closer together. The term goes back to the days of horse-drawn buggies. Do you have a favorite word? Martha's is mellifluous, which means pleasing to the ear, but goes back to the idea of flowing with honey. If you have a favorite word, take a picture of yourself holding it up and send it in to our Word Wall!If you're a wine connoisseur, do you remember the moment when it really clicked for you, when you could comprehend and describe the flavors of a wine? In his essay Wine and Astonishment, Andrew Jefford contends that every wine writer and wine lover should remember what it feels like to be astonished by wine. Jefford's essay Source/The Wine Writer is Dead is also directed at wine writers, but contains good advice for anyone interested in crafting prose.What's your hobby? Or, rather, do you call your interests or passions hobbies at all, or does the word hobby connote something frivolous or strangely obsessive? The term hobby goes back to a nickname for a horse, which transferred to the popular hobby horse toy for children, who'd play with it incessantly, the way one might obsessively fuss over model trains. A noisy river never drowned nobody. Throw that one back at a blowhard sometime! R. Alan Smith from San Diego, California, is a strategic advisor. Or is he an adviser? There's been a shift over the years from the -er spelling to the -or, but we're pleased to announce that despite the style guides, advisor is the the overwhelmingly preferred version, and is absolutely correct! Among Grant's Words of the Year picks had to be Higgs boson, that particle discovered by scientists at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.When something happens above board, it means things are clear and in the open. But this has nothing to do with being on board a ship. Rather, it comes from the term board meaning "table," as in room and board, and has to do with poker players keeping their cards above board, so as to prevent any underhanded sneaky stuff.Any public-radio-listening polymath should know about MOOCs, or massive open online courses. These classes and lectures, often taught by the brightest minds at the most prestigious universities, are broadcast online, many times for free. It's being welcomed as a new way for learning to reach people all over the world who'd never have to opportunity to learn this stuff otherwise. Have you taken a MOOC? Let us know how you liked it!This week's episode was hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett and produced by Stefanie Levine.....Support for A Way with Words also comes from National University, which invites you to change your future today. More at http://www.nu.edu/.And from The Ken Blanchard Companies, whose purpose is to make a leadership difference among executives, managers, and individuals in organizations everywhere. More about Ken Blanchard's leadership training programs at kenblanchard.com/leadership.--A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: words@waywordradio.orgPhone: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donateSite: http://waywordradio.org/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradio Copyright 2012, Wayword LLC.