PLAY PODCASTS
The Book Club: A Brief History of the Aphorism

The Book Club: A Brief History of the Aphorism

Best of the Spectator · The Spectator

December 4, 202543m 29s

Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (sphinx.acast.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.

Show Notes

My guest in this week’s <em>Book Club</em> podcast is James Geary, talking about the new edition of his classic <em>The World in a Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism</em>. He tells me about what separates an aphorism from a proverb, a maxim or a quip; about the long history of the form and his own lifelong infatuation with it; and about whether – given our dwindling attention span and appetite for zingers on social media – we can expect to be living through a new golden age of aphorism. <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>