1013. How can fiction writers create diverse, authentic characters without relying on stereotypes? Alex Temblador, author of "Writing An Identity Not Your Own," tackles this question and more. Learn a

1012. Most words are different in different languages, but water from steeped leaves has only two main names: tea and chai. We look at why! Also, if you've ever mixed up words, like calling a butterfl

1011. This week, we look at language patterns that may indicate someone is lying, such as how often they say "um" and the diversity of the words they use. Then we tease out the difference between bein

1010. We'd never be accused of belling the cat, but we did let our curiosity get the best of us when sniffing around common cat-related idioms. Plus, little did we know that we're already in Augtober

1009. If you think apostrophes are confusing today, wait until you hear how people used them 100s of years ago! Ammon Shea has some wild stories. Plus, should you use "first," "second," and "third" or

1008. We look at why you have to use "the" before some nouns and not others, and then we dive into the science behind why rhymes stick in our memory and how they can even influence our beliefs.

1007. Why do Adele and Susan Boyle sound American when they sing? We have answers. Plus, with all the talk about "weird" lately, we think it's time to examine the old "I before E except after C" rule

1006. We look at why the pronoun "I" seems to take plural verbs, and then we talk about a grammar topic that's in the news: how to make names that end in S (like Harris and Biles) possessive.

1005. You asked, so I have a brief history of English from invading Germanic tribes to the Modern English era. We talk about Vikings, the Norman Conquest, the Black Death, the Tyndale Bible, the print

1004. This week, Karen Yin, author of "The Conscious Style Guide," discusses the concept of conscious language and its importance in promoting equity and respect. We explore the differences between co