Martha Barnette
@marthabarnette.bsky.social
Co-host, “A Way with Words” public radio show
USA TODAY bestselling author, FRIENDS WITH WORDS: ADVENTURES IN LANGUAGELAND
marthabarnette.com
#etymology #writing #books #words @wayword
USA TODAY bestselling author, FRIENDS WITH WORDS: ADVENTURES IN LANGUAGELAND
marthabarnette.com
#etymology #writing #books #words @wayword
Pinned
“A Way with Words” Is “Car Talk” for Lexiphiles
Scouting for words to talk about is a constant effort, but it comes naturally to the radio show’s co-hosts, a writer in love with so-called dead languages and a linguist with an ear for contemporary s...
www.newyorker.com
I think this lovely article in The New Yorker by the lovely Comma Queen herself is still the best intro to what we do on the radio show. A wee oasis in the midst of other gnarly news.
But wait — where’s Useless Etymology??
And I’ll close with word books because it was a fantastic year for word nerdy new releases.
📖 Proto by @laurainparis.bsky.social
📖 Unabridged by @stefanfatsis.bsky.social
📖 Why Q Needs U by @dannybate.bsky.social
📖 Friends with Words by @marthabarnette.bsky.social
📖 Proto by @laurainparis.bsky.social
📖 Unabridged by @stefanfatsis.bsky.social
📖 Why Q Needs U by @dannybate.bsky.social
📖 Friends with Words by @marthabarnette.bsky.social
January 5, 2026 at 1:23 AM
But wait — where’s Useless Etymology??
“ . . made my first foray into audiobooks with my girl Martha Barnette’s impossibly delightful (and wonderfully narrated) Friends with Words.” Thanks, The Millions! themillions.com/2025/12/a-ye...
A Year in Reading: 2025
The Millions has been on hiatus for the last year, so we’ve had to scale back our editorial output to just our seasonal Most Anticipated lists. But we couldn’t let 2025 go by without bringing out our ...
themillions.com
December 22, 2025 at 6:09 PM
“ . . made my first foray into audiobooks with my girl Martha Barnette’s impossibly delightful (and wonderfully narrated) Friends with Words.” Thanks, The Millions! themillions.com/2025/12/a-ye...
A chewy chat about aging, regrets, goals, and adjusting—and how words change as we do. Check out this @oldstermag.bsky.social questionnaire:
This is 67: Public Radio Host Martha Barnette Responds to The Oldster Magazine Questionnaire
"I did kind of like going into a store where the salesperson needed ID, looked at my driver license, and said, 'Oh! You’re eligible for our wisdom discount!'”
oldster.substack.com
December 17, 2025 at 5:16 PM
A chewy chat about aging, regrets, goals, and adjusting—and how words change as we do. Check out this @oldstermag.bsky.social questionnaire:
When it comes to books, I guess you can judge a cover. Here’s a spectacular list from @literaryhub.bsky.social. I’m delighted it includes the gorgeous cover of FRIENDS WITH WORDS. Richly deserved! The whole list is a treat for the eyes.
The 173 Best Book Covers of 2025
Per Literary Hub tradition, I am pleased to present the best book covers of the year—as chosen by some of the industry’s best book cover designers. This year, I asked 52 designers to share their fa…
lithub.com
December 11, 2025 at 5:40 PM
When it comes to books, I guess you can judge a cover. Here’s a spectacular list from @literaryhub.bsky.social. I’m delighted it includes the gorgeous cover of FRIENDS WITH WORDS. Richly deserved! The whole list is a treat for the eyes.
Listen in and nerd out! Lots of fun chatting about words and wonderful books 🙂📚
@marthabarnette.bsky.social's book "Friends With Words" is packed with tidbits for word lovers, and in today's podcast we look at some of my favorites:
— Why South Carolinians paint porches "haint blue" (to ward off ghosts)
— What a "quidnunc" is (a nosy neighbor)
1/2
APPLE: tinyurl.com/2cwb4t92
— Why South Carolinians paint porches "haint blue" (to ward off ghosts)
— What a "quidnunc" is (a nosy neighbor)
1/2
APPLE: tinyurl.com/2cwb4t92
December 4, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Listen in and nerd out! Lots of fun chatting about words and wonderful books 🙂📚
Great time sharing the joy of language with Arik and his listeners!
New interview! @marthabarnette.bsky.social, co-host of @waywordradio.org, discusses which local dialects or colloquialisms stood out when she traveled around the United States and how we can get our kids as excited about #language as she is. Listen: bit.ly/martha_barne... #words
December 3, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Great time sharing the joy of language with Arik and his listeners!
Fun chat about memoir and hypnagogic inspiration with @saribotton.bsky.social (“Hypnagogic”? Hint: It’s a great excuse for a nap! 😁)
#memoir #writersofbluesky #amwriting #readinglist #bookchat
#memoir #writersofbluesky #amwriting #readinglist #bookchat
The Memoir Land Author Questionnaire #156: Martha Barnette
"If you have deep knowledge of a subject and want to share it widely, consider framing it within stories from your life."
open.substack.com
November 28, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Fun chat about memoir and hypnagogic inspiration with @saribotton.bsky.social (“Hypnagogic”? Hint: It’s a great excuse for a nap! 😁)
#memoir #writersofbluesky #amwriting #readinglist #bookchat
#memoir #writersofbluesky #amwriting #readinglist #bookchat
Well, THAT’s a nice little bit of good news amid all the other mishegoss! Friends with Words made USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Booklist last week. Huzzah!
November 11, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Well, THAT’s a nice little bit of good news amid all the other mishegoss! Friends with Words made USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Booklist last week. Huzzah!
Taking my own damn escalator ride! See y’all tonight in Lexington!
October 30, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Taking my own damn escalator ride! See y’all tonight in Lexington!
Word Nerdery alert: Come peep us at the South Burlington Library in VT tonight!
October 28, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Word Nerdery alert: Come peep us at the South Burlington Library in VT tonight!
What a light, what a life. 💔
Susan Stamberg, a Longtime Voice of NPR, Is Dead at 87
www.nytimes.com
October 16, 2025 at 11:15 PM
What a light, what a life. 💔
Hey, book lovers in the South! I’ll be there this weekend, in conversation with @stefanfatsis.bsky.social to talk about his new book and mine. Join us! #friendswithwords 📚
We’re less than 3 weeks away from the 37th annual Southern Festival of Books! The author list is up, the schedule has been posted, and we couldn’t be more excited🤩 Will we see you there? Find out more: sofestofbooks.org
#Booksky
#Booksky
October 13, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Hey, book lovers in the South! I’ll be there this weekend, in conversation with @stefanfatsis.bsky.social to talk about his new book and mine. Join us! #friendswithwords 📚
I somehow missed “groksucker” until just now.
“Clanker” is a derogatory term used to insult AI products such as delivery robots, therapist chatbots and automated servants. Our future robotic overlords might take, writes Sarah Ogilvie.
Is it okay to say clanker?
Artificial intelligence won’t be offended by this new slur. But our future robotic overlords might take a different view
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
September 25, 2025 at 6:07 PM
I somehow missed “groksucker” until just now.
Looking forward to chatting with Spain’s largest English speaking talk radio station shortly!
On Hannah Murray's TRE in the Afternoon from 16.00CET - Karen Walrond's 'In Defense of Dabbling: The Brilliance of Being a Total Amateur', @marthabarnette.bsky.social's 'Friends with Words: Adventures in Languageland', and Freddie Lamb's weekend sport round up
September 22, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Looking forward to chatting with Spain’s largest English speaking talk radio station shortly!
My book makes this Arkansas library’s “Most Requested” list. Yay #libraries and #books! 📚👓
At the library | Hot Springs Sentinel Record
Top 5 requests
www.hotsr.com
September 19, 2025 at 8:28 PM
My book makes this Arkansas library’s “Most Requested” list. Yay #libraries and #books! 📚👓
Super-fun interview on WORT-FM about my mom, playing the Pink Panther theme, how Ritalin was named, and my upcoming appearance in Madison, Wisconsin, on Oct. 26! www.wortfm.org/martha-barne...
Martha Barnette on Words, Teaching, and Her New Book - WORT-FM 89.9
Martha Barnette joins the 8 O’Clock Buzz to discuss her new book Friends with Words, her radio show A Way with Words, and why language matters.
www.wortfm.org
September 16, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Super-fun interview on WORT-FM about my mom, playing the Pink Panther theme, how Ritalin was named, and my upcoming appearance in Madison, Wisconsin, on Oct. 26! www.wortfm.org/martha-barne...
So much fun to chew the fat with y’all! 🙏🏼
We had a great time talking with @marthabarnette.bsky.social of @waywordradio.org about her new book "Friends With Words". And she helped us with some of our toughest listener questions! It's a free episode for everyone.
Video: www.patreon.com/posts/video-...
Audio: www.patreon.com/posts/audio-...
Video: www.patreon.com/posts/video-...
Audio: www.patreon.com/posts/audio-...
Video 125: Friends With Words (live with Martha Barnette and friends) | Because Language
Get more from Because Language on Patreon
www.patreon.com
September 13, 2025 at 1:16 AM
So much fun to chew the fat with y’all! 🙏🏼
I’m so looking forward to signing #FriendswithWords and meeting other book lovers at this festival next month!
Sandy from Humanities Tennessee stopped by the store earlier this week to give us the good news in person — the Southern Festival of Books is on for 2025!!
September 4, 2025 at 8:59 PM
I’m so looking forward to signing #FriendswithWords and meeting other book lovers at this festival next month!
Thanks, @npr, for choosing #FriendswithWords as your Book of the Day!
‘Friends with Words’ is a book about language, from word origins to regional dialects : NPR's Book of the Day
For Martha Barnette, griping about grammatical pet peeves is one of the least interesting ways to talk about language. Instead, the co-host of the radio show “A Way with Words” says she’d rather think...
www.npr.org
September 3, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Thanks, @npr, for choosing #FriendswithWords as your Book of the Day!
Word of the Day: struthonian, or “Tending to ‘hide one’s head in the sand.”
Struthonian
An invention of the late Arthur Koestler, <em>Struthonian</em> is extremely rare but not quite defunct.
www.worldwidewords.org
August 26, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Word of the Day: struthonian, or “Tending to ‘hide one’s head in the sand.”
Come hang out with @grantbarrett.com and me tomorrow, 11:30 a.m, Main Stage. I’ll sign my new book afterwards! 📘
Hi! Martha and Grant will speak at the KPBS San Diego Book Festival presented by the University of San Diego, Saturday, August 23, University of San Diego campus. Come join the Wayword word nerds and book nerds and RSVP at https://kpbs.org/sdbookfestival @UofSanDiego #KPBSBookFestival
August 23, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Come hang out with @grantbarrett.com and me tomorrow, 11:30 a.m, Main Stage. I’ll sign my new book afterwards! 📘
What a fun, uplifting night with the hosts of @dailybeanspod.com! @benitezzzz.bsky.social and I are still laughing …
Was an honor to bring up @dgcomedy.bsky.social at the Diversionary Theater, and wonderful to see @marthabarnette.bsky.social and her lovely wife!
August 16, 2025 at 6:32 PM
What a fun, uplifting night with the hosts of @dailybeanspod.com! @benitezzzz.bsky.social and I are still laughing …
Reposted by Martha Barnette
How to find public radio stations in the US that need funding, now that public broadcasting funding has been stopped.
adoptastation.org
adoptastation.org
Adopt A Station - Rescue Public Media
Help preserve independent journalism and community programming across America by adopting a public media station. Congress has voted to rescind public media's funding.
adoptastation.org
August 11, 2025 at 12:29 PM
How to find public radio stations in the US that need funding, now that public broadcasting funding has been stopped.
adoptastation.org
adoptastation.org