Hosts Grant Barrett and Martha Barnette answer questions from listeners across North America about odd words and phrases.

Callers can be anyone from any background, from recent immigrants looking for a better grasp on the nuances of English prepositions, to a child pondering the distinction between "barely" and "nearly," to a person from one state who just moved to another and discovered that nobody in their new hometown knows a phrase they grew up with.

"They looked at me like I had two heads" is a common sentiment among A Way with Words callers, yet Grant and Martha expertly dispel that feeling of alienation with good humor and meticulously researched facts about the regional distribution of words.

Like A Way with Words, Lexitecture is full of deep dives into the complicated histories of words and phrases, albeit with arguably a more focused approach.

They follow their chosen words on meandering historical journeys, puzzling out the stories of how the words' meanings have changed since being introduced to English.

The best moments in Lexitecture are when Amy and Ryan discover that their words are distant etymological cousins, or discover how their own distinct linguistic experiences (Ryan is Canadian; Amy is Scottish) affect their expectations of a word's history, or marvel at how the juxtaposition of two independently chosen words create a perfect episode title.

This includes recent episodes "Inertia Device" (in which we learn that a "device" was originally a thing that was devised) and "Swear Method" (which gives us a hilarious title in addition to the fascinating story of how "swear" evolved from a word associated with making promises to one associated with taboo words).

Lexitecture invites fans to very seriously engage with the hosts, whether by inviting them to respond to episodes on social media or asking them to suggest new words for the occasional Listener Wordstravaganza.

99% Invisible is a long-running Radiotopia podcast about the design of everyday things and cultural artifacts, from the history of toilet paper and department-store mannequins to the architecture of shade and the economics of chili peppers?

Recent 99% Invisible episodes have dealt with issues related to the pandemic, but the podcast has also just begun a second season of its "Articles of Interest" miniseries, in which producer Avery Trufelman investigates the history of fashion design.

We'd love to hear what your favorite episodes of these podcasts are, and what other podcasts are helping you keep going.