Episode · No Stupid Questions · 2023-11-12
Books mentioned on 171. Where Is the Line Between Exaggeration and Lying?
Why do we use “literally” figuratively? Does conveying an "emotional truth" justify making things up?
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Giver
The Giver by Lois Lowry is a dystopian young adult novel set in a seemingly utopian society that has eliminated pain, fear, and strong emotions by enforcing absolute conformity and sameness.
Discussed“Have you ever read The Giver? I just read it last year. Okay, it's probably the book I've read more than any other book.”
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Words on the Move
Discussed“There is this linguist, John McWhorter, he wrote a book, Words on the Move: Why English Won't and Can't Sit Still, and he talked about the very fact that words just change and dictionaries sort of set in our minds that language is going to be precise forever, and this is just what this word means, or this is how”
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
Passing The Giver
“In the first half of the show, Mike discusses Lois Lowry's Newbery Award-winning novel The Giver. He refers to the protagonist as Jona, but the character's name is Jonas!”