Ep. 32: Sonder

On this episode, The Extreme Vocabularians find a recently-coined word and critique its poetic, philosophical, and psychological possibilities. In other words, we hate it. But even though this word is new, it has a mysterious and disputed history that you may have insight into. And in the spirit of coining new words, Abe and Josh decide to coin their own with interesting results. Then, Efren finds a tumblr blog, and Aaron wisely curates today's music selection. So, don't just feel the depths of our reality from afar, join it, by listening to today's episode of EXTREME VOCABULARY!

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Ep. 31: Defenestrate

Word recommender and guest host, Renee joins Extreme Vocabulary this week for a discussion on one of the deadliest words we've ever featured. Tracing this word's histories back to the time of the Reformation, we learn about how people used DEFENESTRATION as a particularly effective way to remove a religious authority from power? Is there a way to DEFENESTRATE things in our own time? Efren brings us a meditation on today's word from Elijah Matthew Tubbs, author of "In Through a Door, out a Window," and we all contemplate the many reasons we might find ourselves flying out a window. So, come to our window and join us for another great episode of EXTREME VOCABULARY.

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Ep. 30: Us and Them

Hey it’s US again! But if we’re US, then who is everybody else? In our great tradition of defining words that we already know, we are going with a couple of the first words we learn. Are they also some of the first words humans conceptualized? If so, what does that mean for the way we build society around us? Efren brings a poem by David Tomas Martinez, and we choose a straight classic jam to go out with. To find out, don’t listen to THEM, just click the link.

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Ep. 29: Breath

By now, you can probably see where this is going. By analyzing the origins of today's word, we uncover some ancient associations with it that exist to this day in some magical way. Yeah, we've been doing this for a while now, so it's almost as easy as BREATHING. Efren brings some poetry from Walt Whitman, Aaron brings Andre the Giant, Josh forgets his lines, and Abe reveals his vulnerabilities, all on today's EXTREME VOCABULARY.

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Ep. 28: Party

Cowabunga! We're here to PARTY and do our best to explore the mystery of words. Today's word has lots of definitions and tons of applications. So whether you are a member of a party, at a party, interested in hunting, or a just person who just likes, you may have enjoyed using today's very fun word. Efren is here once again with some poetry by William E. Stafford, and we answer emails. Don't worry if you didn't bring any snacks, we got everything you need on EXTREME VOCABULARY.

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Ep. 27: Antidisestablishmentarianism

Today’s episode tells the story of how the King of England set in motion a series of events that would create what is arguably the longest word in the English language (even if it’s mostly suffixes and prefixes). Then, we pluck this word from its historical context and see if it holds any relevance for the hip kids of today. Efren brings us a short story by Gayle Pemberton, Aaron shows off his knowledge of history, Abe does the research, Josh does bad accents, and we all get together to tell the kids to get off our lawn on today’s episode of EXTREME VOCABULARY.

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Ep. 26: Fetish

The Extremers are three-legged in this episode, without the mighty aid and insight of Efren. Abraham, Josh, and Aaron shuffle forward in order to try and figure out the mysteries and mystique of the word fetish. Abe crunches away at our brains with his deep research and encyclopedic knowledge of all things word-y while Josh and Aaron add their unique perspectives to this titillating word and its many implications. Meanwhile, due to the absence of our steadfast literature maven (Efren), Aaron steps up and does his best impression of a person who knows how to read poetry. The showcase piece of lit today happens to be a poem: "Aria" by David Barber. Come to this episode with an open mind and a forgiving nature as we whip up a short, but sweet, activity to stimulate your ears and, hopefully, your minds.

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