A Word, Please


Words are harbingers, messengers of our time. They come into the world one way, and as the world turns, they evolve. It strikes me that this year of challenge and change makes for the perfect moment to renew our words. Agree? Then come aboard! Each week on A Word, Please, we’ll be turning a new word around—how it began, how we’re using it now. Some weeks I’ll invite guests, or I’ll read a passage from something I’m working on, or a poem or page that I think will inspire us.

The RUTH in RUTHLESS


GENEROSITY


LEARN and TEACH


GAR OO CHUGAR


SUSS


ORDINARY and ORNERY


CRISIS


NARRATIVE


RAPPORT


Looking at E.L. Doctorow's novel "RAGTIME"

INTUITION


PRESENCE


LABOR


BALANCE


VACATION


CATASTROPHE


FLIRT


INEFFABLE


All you word lovers: please join me! Let’s look at the world one word at a time.


The opening lines of Joan Didion's classic essay "GOOD-BYE TO ALL THAT"

GLAMOUR

HUMILITY

PRIDE

LUDDITE

the green of VERT

the WHELM in OVERWHELM

FOSTER

POIGNANT

STRESS

RESPITE

GASLIGHT

A Passage from Tolstoy's ANNA KARENINA

STANZA

RESILIENCE

The opening lines of SULA

DICHOTOMY vs PARADOX

LOVE

The opening lines of THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD

JUSTICE

CLICHÉ

The opening lines of Louise Erdrich's LOVE MEDICINE

GOOD

AMPLIFY

CUMMARI

VOTE!

BIAS

The opening lines of Virginia Woolf's A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN

DEADLINE with Sarah Balakrishnan

BROADCAST

The opening lines of Toni Morrison's BELOVED

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