That Word Chat

Today: Nick Norlen on #ThatWordChat. Hear about “Paper Airplane”—70+ pages of writing, comics, puzzles, and more. Last chance to register: ThatWordChat.com #Publishing #WordNerds #Writers

Tomorrow on #ThatWordChat: Nick Norlen, freelance writer and editor of “Paper Airplane.” Inside Vol. 1: escape pages, photo essays, wordplay, and more. Register to attend: ThatWordChat.com #WritingCommunity #Editors #Language

Next week on #ThatWordChat, we’ll be sitting down with Nick Norlen, founder of “Paper Airplane.” Join us Tuesday, September 16, at 4:30 p.m. ET to hear how the first issue came together. Register here: ThatWordChat.com #Publishing #Editors #WritersLife

Episode 87 of #ThatWordChat is now on YouTube! We talk with “A Way With Words” co-host Martha Barnette about: – Her new book “Friends with Words” – Spark words and etymology – Improv, listening, and speaking fears Watch it here: bit.ly/ThatWordVideo #Etymology #Language

On Sept. 16, #ThatWordChat welcomes Nick Norlen, founder of “Paper Airplane,” a magazine that’s fun, fascinating, uncynical, and human—writing, comics, games, and art with no ads and no AI. Sign up to attend: ThatWordChat.com #Publishing #WritingCommunity #WordNerds

📢 Missed Keith Houston on #ThatWordChat? Catch the YouTube Premiere today at 4:30 PM ET! Watch here: bit.ly/ThatWordVideo #Editors #Writers #Emoji #Typography #Publishing

Thank you to Martha Barnette for joining us on today’s #ThatWordChat! Her new book "Friends with Words: Adventures in Languageland" is out now. Get your copy: amazon.com/Friends-Words-…

“These are the stories I don’t always get to share on the radio,” Barnette says. “But they’re key to who I am. That’s why I wanted to include them in the book.” #ThatWordChat

Her dad was a civil rights advocate in Kentucky. There’s a photo of him with Martin Luther King Jr. “He invited Dr. King to speak to his class and got in a lot of trouble for it.” #ThatWordChat

Martha comes from a very wordy household: “My mom was an English teacher. My dad taught ethics at a Baptist seminary. My brother got a PhD in Russian from a Swedish university.” #ThatWordChat

She had wanted to dive into etymology—nice once meant ignorant—but her co-host and the caller were more interested in emotional nuance. Still, fate had other plans. #ThatWordChat

Fast-forward to a fundraiser in San Diego. “I walk into the pub and see this woman across the room. She says, ‘I came here to meet you.’” Turns out she was a caller who had wanted to talk about the difference between nice and kind. #ThatWordChat

So when a caller brought up the word ex and wanted a softer alternative, Barnette seized the moment: “I said, I have a good relationship with my ex… and just kind of put that out there.” #ThatWordChat

Martha Barnette met her wife… as a caller on A Way With Words. At the time, Barnette says, “I was lonely. I’d been on the apps, nothing was working. I couldn’t say it on-air, but I thought: maybe I can hint.” #ThatWordChat

Martha’s spark word: Crās, Latin for “tomorrow.” “In 9th-grade Latin, I thought: crās… procrastinate?” She looked it up: procrastinate = to put off until tomorrow. There’s even a rarer one: perendinate—to put something off until the day after tomorrow. #ThatWordChat

On "spark words": words that ignite a lifelong fascination. Barnette: “Birders have spark birds. Why not spark words for us ‘worders’? #ThatWordChat

Behind the scenes, one name keeps coming up: producer Stefanie Levine. “She plucked me from Kentucky. Plucked Grant from NYC. She’s raised us both.” Barnette calls her “the heart and soul of the show.” #ThatWordChat

Listeners now call in from all over the world, not just from NPR-affiliate towns. Barnette: “It’s like a three-way ping-pong match: me, Grant, and the caller. The caller is the third voice that makes the show.” #ThatWordChat

Has podcasting changed A Way With Words? Absolutely. “It’s so much easier for listeners to go back. Some start at the very beginning,” Barnette says. “By the time they catch up, Grant’s kid is off to college.” #ThatWordChat

They formed a nonprofit and kept going, with no salaries for the first three years. “That’s three years of no income, doing a full-time job." And to this day, the show is listener-supported and freely available to stations. #ThatWordChat