Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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Rob and Jess are joined by the brilliant John McWhorter to discuss words you're not allowed to use. Professor McWhorter has written extensively about taboos, slurs and profanities and brings his unparalleled expertise on the English language.
🤬 Is "the R word" becoming even more taboo?
🤐 Are we "unaliving" our way to a new era of self-censorship?
🔄 Can a slur ever be truly "reclaimed"?
These questions answered, and many more, in a fascinatingly frank episode of Words Unravelled.

More about John: johnmcwhorter.org
📕 Nine Nasty Words: penguinrandomhouse.com/books/624619/nine-nasty-words-by-john-mcwhorter

👕 OUR MERCH 👚
US SHOP: wordsunravelledshop.myspreadshop.com
EU/UK SHOP: wordsunravelledshop.myspreadshop.net

👂LISTEN: podfollow.com/words-unravelled-with-robwords-and-jess-zafarris
or search for "Words Unravelled" wherever you get your podcasts.

==LINKS==
Rob's YouTube channel: youtube.com/robwords
Jess' Useless Etymology blog: uselessetymology.com
Rob on X: x.com/robwordsyt
Jess on TikTok: tiktok.com/@jesszafarris

#etymology #wordfacts #English