Episode 21

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Published on:

13th Mar 2026

Episode 21: patience

When someone is a "patient," that person is, in one sense, weakened by an affliction but also, in another, powerfully enduring it. There's a paradox behind the idea of "patience," and in this episode we consider how this English word confronts this very tension. Finally, we consider a brief poem by the reclusive author Emily Dickinson, whose bracing images remind us that strength can sometimes hide under a veneer of vulnerability.

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Music: Adapted from Sonatine by Maurice Ravel, performed by Irene Posviatovska (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

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About the Podcast

Original Public Meaning
Exploring the ancient roots of modern words
Where do our modern English words come from? And what do their long histories tell us about our own ideas and the wider world? On Original Public Meaning, we unearth the ancient foundations of our language and consider how its vast, rich literature—fiction, essays, science, and more—can help us savor our words today.
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Charles McNamara

Director of Greek and Latin Language, University of Minnesota