A Way with Words
Broadcast: Saturdays from 10-11am and 8-9pm on Radio Sausalito 

A Way with Words is an upbeat and lively hour-long public radio show about language examined through history, culture, and family. Co-hosts Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett talk with callers from around the world about slang, grammar, old sayings, word origins, regional dialects, family expressions, and speaking and writing well. They settle disputes, play word quizzes, and discuss language news and controversies. The show is heard by more than a quarter-million listeners each week over the air and by podcast. A Way with Words comes to Radio Sausalito from our partner, Wayword, Inc., based in San Diego, Calif.

Co-host Martha Barnette

Co-host/co-producer Martha Barnette is the author of reader-friendly books on word origins. She has a background in ancient Greek and Latin, studied Spanish in Costa Rica, and worked as a newspaper reporter for major metropolitan dailies. Raised in the South, she now lives in San Diego, where she’s often found hiking mountain trails and performing with an improv comedy troupe.

Co-host Grant Barrett

Co-host/co-producer Grant Barrett is an American lexicographer and dictionary editor specializing in slang and new words who has helped produce dozens of dictionaries. He’s a voracious reader, speaks a bit of French and Spanish, and spent years working in the jargon-rich jungles of information technology. Though born and raised in Missouri, and having been a long-time resident of New York City, Grant now lives in San Diego, California, with his wife, also a linguist and lexicographer, and their young son.