I’ve grown addicted to WNYC’s ‘Radiolab‘ podcast. With all the time I’ve spent in the car this summer, Radiolab has been a savior, making five-hour trips seem like 30 minutes. The show is similar to Chicago Public Radio’s This American Life, but a little less smug and a little more nerdy.

A recent episode on “Words” is nerdtopia for communicators like me. The one-hour show tries to imagine what the world would be like without words, and investigates how language shapes and structures the way we communicate and interpret the world. From looking at turns of phrase coined by Shakespeare, to following a group of deaf children in Nicaragua who created their own language, to studying how babies’ brains make connections between group of words (it happens later than you think) — I was riveted.

Carve out an hour of your day and take a listen here.

Also check out this cool video produced to accompany the episode. It took me until the second watch to “get it”, but it’s clever and beautifully done: