Words, Words, Words: A Podcast by Robert Tinajero

A shirt history lesson on the figure of Santa Claus.

A look at some if the discourse and phrases used by liberals and conservatives when it comes to issues like healthcare, taxes, guns, immigration, etc.

A look at some of the history and etymology of the word fuck.

A look at artificial intelligence and it’s uses in music and scams.

A look at several issues that arise when translating the Bible from choosing the translators, thinking about meaning, the use of commas, and pronouns, etc.

A look at some of the terms we use to label good songs.

Thinking about the sometimes violent rhetoric coming from football coaches with a look back at “bountygate.”

An introduction to ChatGPT and its effects on society.

A look at the etymology of the term “Christmas” and saying Merry Christmas vs. saying Happy Holidays.

A look at how Gen Zers find the thumbs up emoji passive aggressive and other emoji talk.

A look at the history and evolution of the term “piggyback”.

A quick look at puns, the Punslinger Finals, and a song about love and crossword puzzles.

A quick look at the literary and rhetorical devices of personification and anthropomorphism.

A look at pop culture body movements like the Dab, the Floss, and the Griddy and what they possibly communicate.

A look at how Russian nationalists see the Ukrainian language as “little Russian” but Ukrainians know it to be a distinct language.

A look at the new naming system for Covid-19 variants and why a place-based naming system isn’t best.

A look at the neologism (new slang term) “cheugy”. Wait, is it cheugy to be doing a podcast episode on “cheugy”? Probably.

A look at how cuss words are different than regular words and how cussing helps us tolerate pain.

A look at the power and influence of reviews.

A look at why composition classes became mandatory at most U.S. colleges and how they have changed over time.

A look at the idea of people being “connected but alone” as they use their smart phones and social media on a regular basis.

A look at some of the discourse used by Trump that led to the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

A look at the racial comedy used by some comedians and thinking about the possible positive and negative impact to society.

A look at some words and phrases used to motivate people during sports and working out.

A look at Rutgers University’s English Department’s new policies on race, racism, and Critical Race Theory.

Tips on creating a résumé, application letters, and an e-portfolio.

A look at the direct and indirect messages that our vehicles send. From color, to brand, to bumper stickers; what’s your car’s rhetorical message?

A look at “Black Lives Matter” vs “All Lives Matter”, plus the use of “battle space”, the visual rhetoric of Trump’s bible photo-op, and social media’s response to Trump’s messages.

Using your communication to deal with break ups, one night stands, dumping a friend, etc.

A look at how we change our rhetoric when talking to babies and toddlers and some possible reasons why.

A quick look at some of the misinformation about the pandemic.

A look at four love poems and how their rhetoric illustrates four different kinds of love.

A short history of the football terms Super Bowl, Quarterback, Fullback, and Halfback.

A look at how rappers use literary devices like allusion, alliteration, metaphor, simile, simple rhyme, and multisyllabic rhyme.

A recap of episodes 21-29 with three guests and their thoughts and opinions.

A look at three legal cases involving signage connected to dog attacks, sex offenders, and earthquakes.

I look at how we interact with people as we walk by them. Head nods, smirks, hellos, and what’s ups.

A look at some of the tactics used by phone scammers.

A quick look into the exclamation point and how its potency has declined over time.

A quick look at ancient advertising and eleven effective words used in advertising.

A quick history lesson on the “Happy Birthday Song” and the various times and ways we say happy birthday.

This episode looks at the racist rhetoric of the President and of the El Paso shooter. #elpasostrong

A brief history of the smiley face emoticon and the difference between emoticons and emojis. :-)

A look at some of the most popular baby names searched online in 2019 and various thoughts on baby names.

A discussion with two friends about topics from episodes 11-19. Topics include labels for Hispanics, sports mascots, laughter, communication with healthcare professionals, biased illustrations, and labels used for vegan products.

A look at the history/etymology of the term “spelling bee” and a list of some commonly misused words and phrases.

A look at the various biases present in illustrations in medical and anatomy textbooks.

A look at word choices and labelling choices of vegetarian and vegan products, specifically those that use meat-related rhetoric in their labeling.

A look at how healthcare professionals communicate with patients and the effect it can have.