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‘These are weird people’: A look at weirdness in politics and beyond

Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a rally on July 31, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Spencer Platt
/
Getty Images North America
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally on July 31, 2024, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

It’s kind of weird how much the word “weird” has been coming up all of a sudden in the election, isn’t it?

This hour, a look at weirdness and the Democrats’ new wall-to-wall, paint-Trump-and-Vance-as-weird strategy.

Plus, the history of the word “weird,” what it’s like being weird, and a few minutes on quantum weirdness.

GUESTS:

  • Olga Khazan: A staff writer for The Atlantic covering health, gender, and policy and the author of Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider World
  • Douglas Natelson: Associate dean for research at the Wiess School of Natural Sciences at Rice University, where he studies the emergent properties of materials
  • Kase Wickman: A freelance journalist and frequent contributor to Vanity Fair
  • Ben Zimmer: A linguist and lexicographer and the language columnist for The Wall Street Journal

The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode!

Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show.

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Colin McEnroe and Bradley O’Connor contributed to this show.

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Jonathan is a producer for ‘The Colin McEnroe Show.’ His work has been heard nationally on NPR and locally on Connecticut Public’s talk shows and news magazines. He’s as likely to host a podcast on minor league baseball as he is to cover a presidential debate almost by accident. Jonathan can be reached at jmcnicol@ctpublic.org.
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