Word Matters is a show for readers, writers, and anyone who's curious about the English language. Join Merriam-Webster editors as they challenge supposed grammar rules, reveal the surprising origins behind words, tackle common questions, and generally geek out about the beautiful nightmare that is our language.
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Booking probability
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Guest openness
Selective
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Signup to Generate a PitchWord Matters is a show for readers, writers, and anyone who's curious about the English language. Join Merriam-Webster editors as they challenge supposed grammar rules, reveal the surprising origins behind words, tackle common questions, and generally geek out about the beautiful nightmare that is our language.
Recent episodes include "The Making of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Twelfth Edition" (6 May 2026, 65 minutes), "An Interview with John Morse, Part 3" (15 July 2025, 48 minutes), and "An Interview with John Morse, Part 2" (11 July 2025, 47 minutes).
Word Matters publishes roughly weekly, with episodes averaging 29 minutes across 105 episodes.
Booking probability for Word Matters is 24%, and the host is rated Selective on guests. Word Matters requires a Pod Score of 80 or higher. Word Matters's contact route on record: verified email.
The strongest fits for Word Matters are Courses, Coaching & Lessons. Word Matters has an education audience.
Word Matters is an education podcast with 105 episodes published.
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Episode #104
While the famous Merriam-Webster.com online dictionary is constantly being updated, creating a new edition of our Collegiate Dictionary print book is a different matter. We'd been updating it regularly since its...
Episode #103
<p>Part three of a three-part interview with John Morse, former president and publisher of Merriam-Webster</p><p>Hosted by Emily Brewster and Peter Sokolowski.</p><p>Produced in collaboration with New England Public...
Episode #102
<p>Part two of a three-part interview with John Morse, former president and publisher of Merriam-Webster</p><p>Hosted by Emily Brewster and Peter Sokolowski.</p><p>Produced in collaboration with New England Public...
Episode #101
<p>Part one of a three-part interview with John Morse, former president and publisher of Merriam-Webster</p><p>Hosted by Emily Brewster and Peter Sokolowski.</p><p>Produced in collaboration with New England Public...
Episode #100
<p>It’s our 100th episode, which seemed like a good occasion to answer a listener question of a more personal type: how did we—that is, we three editors—get here?</p><p>Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter...
Episode #99
<p>A listener questions a tautology in one of our definitions and starts us off on a discussion of all types of repetition and redundancy.</p><p><br></p><p>Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter...
Episode #98
<p>Writing advice often includes hackneyed phrases we’re supposed to avoid. The phrases we're warned against today are different from the ones of yesteryear. We'll explore both.</p><p><br></p><p>Hosted by Emily...
Episode #97
<p>Whether you're hoping to improve your high school French or just order that croissant with more confidence, we have some tips for you.</p><p>Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.</p><p>Produced...
Episode #96
<p>A discussion of various kinds of slips of the tongue and errors of the ear.</p><p><br></p><p>Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.</p><p>Produced in collaboration with New England Public...
Episode #95
<p>In the disconcerting event that your travels by air deliver you, but not what you've packed, to your destination, you may find yourself filing a lost luggage claim, or a lost baggage claim—it could be either. Instead...
Episode #94
<p>Sometimes a word, over time, will take on a meaning that doesn’t play very nicely with its original meaning, leaving a person who knows both meanings unsure what to do. Is the word still usable? Or is it … skunked...
Episode #93
<p>We’ve discussed how words come to be entered in our dictionaries before, but today we’re going to talk about removing words from dictionaries. Which words get dropped? And why? </p><p>Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon...
Episode #92
<p>Some listeners want to know if working with words professionally makes a dictionary editor better, or worse, at Wordle, and another listener wants us to weigh in on the difference between 'nauseated' and...
Episode #91
<p>The earliest dictionaries were the fruit of one person’s labor, but the 1864 Webster's Unabridged changed all of that.</p><p>Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.</p><p>Produced in collaboration...
Episode #90
<p>Jacques Bailly has been the official pronouncer for Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2003—23 years after winning the bee himself. A professor in the Classics department at the University of Vermont, his language...
Episode #89
<p>An exploration of Thomas Nashe's use of animals as metaphors for those who imbibe heavily; And what *is* the plural of octopus?</p><p>Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.</p><p>Produced in...
Episode #88
<p>An exploration of spellings—like 'ect.' for 'etc.'—that reflect alternative pronunciations, and the unexplainable favoritism that is shown to 'inexplicable.'</p><p><br></p><p>Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and...
Episode #87
<p>A visit to the mailbag provides us with a sartorial use of ‘hipster,’ some schooling on 19th century locomotive technology, and a question about sneaking words into dictionaries.</p><p>Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon...
Episode #86
<p>We all know how to find opposites by removing prefixes: 'unhappy' becomes 'happy'; 'disagree' becomes 'agree.' Easy peasy. But some words resist prefix removal—or, at least they try. </p><p>Hosted by Emily Brewster...
Episode #85
<p>George Orwell published his famous essay "Politics and the English Language" in 1946, and we mostly wish he hadn't.</p><p>Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.</p><p>Produced in collaboration...
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