Friday, July 17, 2009
David Broder of The Washington Post joins Bob to talk politics. Next, wordsmith Michael Quinion returns to the show, this time to discuss his most recent book,Why Is Q Always Followed By U?: Word-Perfect Answers to the Most-Asked Questions About Language. Quinion will discuss how “cloud nine” actually started out as “cloud seven;” who the first person was to “have their thunder stolen;” why ranchers coined “come hell or high water;” and other odd-ball clichés. Then, in this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, Bob talks with executive director Dan Gediman about the essay from anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901-1978). She spent many years in Polynesia studying native cultures there. She also worked as an associate curator at the American Museum of Natural History, professor at Columbia University, and president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.