Words to That Effect

We have no problem thinking mathematically about four-dimensional space. Where a 3-d cube has 8 vertices, a 4-d hypercube has 16 vertices. Where a cube has 6 faces, like a dice, a 4-d hypercube has 24 faces. The problem is imagining what…

If you want to understand how we ended up with anything from Star Wars to Star Trek, Superman to Batman, intergalactic travel to microscopic worlds, profound meditations on the nature of being human to thrilling tales about Martian…

What Happens after the End of the World? What would happen if humanity ceased to exist? Well, assuming, of course, that earth itself has not been destroyed in this hypothetical apocalypse, the world would continue quite happily without…

In the 19th century, a very popular form of entertainment was the mummy unwrapping party. You could go to a private or public event at which an ancient Egyptian mummy would be unrolled and examined. Bandages would be passed around, touched…

In 1842 a Victorian anatomist looked at some unusual fossils and, noticing they had something in common, he decided we needed a word to describe these strange creatures. He called them dinosaurs.…

Words To That Effect is back! Season 3 kicks off next Monday, Jan 14th. In the meantime, have a listen to a preview of what's in store for the season. https://audioboom.com/posts/7139018-wtte-season-3-preview The music heard in this episode…

Words To That Effect #24: Live at Liberty Hall Words To That Effect is back! Episode 24 is a recording of a live show for this year's Dublin Podcast Festival. This episode is a story about a long-forgotten nervous disease. But it’s…

WTTE Ep23: Adaptation (How does a book become a film?) The book is always better than the film. Or so they say. But there are obviously quite a few problems with this, as there tends to be with any sweeping generalisation. For some, the…

The Rick O'Shea Bookclub is Ireland's largest book club. It has over 17,000 members and is growing fast. Book clubs have never been more popular. But where did they begin, and what role have they played in literary history? Quite a large…

Words To That Effect Episode 21: The Invention of Time Time, as we understand it today, was only really invented in the Victorian era. We take it for granted today that our phones and watches and other devices are accurate to the second.…