Michelle Troszak Interstellar Song Contest Interview

Today we're talking about a super sunny song and the darkness that lies within. And we're pairing that with the topic of covert hate speech, basically. A lot of numbers. Bigots seem to really like numbers. Kind of good to know what the tainted numbers are so you don't accidentally use them, just saying. For Eurovision, we are finally talking about the winner of Eurovision, Switzerland's Nemo, and their song "The Code". Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at [email protected] Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week’s promoted podcast is Haunted Moonlight. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/haunted-moonlight/id1703911242Find them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network podmoth.network

We're talking about perhaps the greatest Metallica song, probably the most listened to now that it got the Stranger Things bump. And we're talking about "puppet". The word, the history, the creep factor, the surprising relevance and popularity of puppets today. If anything, they're more popular than ever before. For Eurovision, we talk about Estonia's 2024 entry 5MIINUST and Puuluup ‘(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi.’ Definitely in my (Russell's) top 3 favorite songs of the competition. This is also the last episode we recorded pre-Eurovision so after this one we'll finally know what the rest of the world has known for months regarding the winner, the controversies, etc. This is of course our second episode on the topic of puppets. If you haven't listened to our interview with Matt Sandbank the puppeteer yet, go back and give that a listen before or after this one. You can find Matt Sandbank at these links: His instagram here: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/sandbank_shadow_factory/⁠ Or his website: ⁠http://www.sandbankshadowfactory.com/⁠ Find us on instagram here: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/⁠ And email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠ Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week’s promoted podcast is Bad Acts. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bad-acts-a-true-crime-podcast/id1538464479 Find them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network ⁠podmoth.network

Next week's episode will be about the word "puppet", the etymology, history, and cultural stuff surrounding the word. So this week, I am interviewing my favorite puppeteer, Matt Sandbank. Matt Sandbank does lightbox shadow puppetry. His shows are clever, poignant, and hilarious. He is based in North Carolina, but he does shows around the country. We talk about his puppet work, and his ideas and views of puppetry. You can find Matt Sandbank on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/sandbank_shadow_factory/ Or at his website: http://www.sandbankshadowfactory.com/ Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at [email protected] Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week’s promoted podcast is Anything Bones. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/anything-bones/id1536352309 Find them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network podmoth.network

We selected the cringiest musical artist we could think of to feature in our discussion of cringe. What is this complex emotion and how has it evolved? And where did the word come from? Is it an ideophone? What's an ideophone? We discuss it. In Eurovision, we discuss Austria's 2024 song "We Will Rave" by a Kaleen. Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at [email protected] Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week’s promoted podcast is Haunted Apartment Complex. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jack-billings-presents-haunted-apartment-complex/id1572711048Find them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network podmoth.network

Recently I got into the band Mannequin Pussy, and I thought it's interesting that they have trouble with censors in media and platforms such as Tiktok, for "pussy", a word that not that long ago was acceptable to use in any context because it had two meanings - cat and genitals. So we're exploring how it shifted over time from first meaning only cat, to then meaning cat and genitals, to now meaning only genitals. And now, it's even become grammaticized to a suffix in -ussy, as in bussy, pizussy, clussy, etc. And what better song to represent pussy than Khia's "My Neck My Back"? Please, don't waste my timeussy, there is no better song. In Eurovision we talk about the opposite of a pussy, a tower, with Poland's 2024 offering "The Tower" by Luna. And we talk about what Polish people call the female genitalia. Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at [email protected] Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week’s promoted podcast is Freaky Fridays. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: https://linktr.ee/freakyfridayspodFind them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network podmoth.network

Welp, we watched the musical Wonka movie. And one of us loved it and one of us did not. Which of us is which may not surprise you. It's a "funny" movie with some funny words, so we thought we'd talk about what makes some words funny. We look at the discourse and research into what makes a word funny. And we list lots of examples of words that various people have pointed out as being funny words. We also talk about Roald Dahl, a man who made a career out of making up funny sounding words. In Eurovision, we discuss Spain's 2024 offering, "Zorra" by Nebulossa. Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at [email protected] Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week’s promoted podcast is Thick Thighs & Creepy Vibes. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thick-thighs-and-creepy-vibes/id1736179086Find them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network podmoth.network

We're talking about the only artist whose name rhymes with RZA . . . SZA! And of course we're talking about the surprising history of rhyming plus different kinds of rhymes. Which words do and don't rhyme? It's more complicated than you think. Are slant rhymes bad writing? It's more complicated than you think! For Eurovision, we discuss Croatia's 2024 song "Rim Tim Tagi Dim" by Baby Lasanga. Meow cat, please meow back. Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at [email protected] Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week’s promoted podcast is Caffeinated Conspiracies. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/caffeinated-conspiracies/id1454287363Find them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network podmoth.network

On this jagged little podcast we discuss Alanis Morisette's first hit and what she's done since. Amazing what a woman with pockets can do. Of course we're talking about hands, including the etymology of the word, and also the fingers, and also various hand signs such as the high five. In Eurovision talk, we discuss the UK's 2024 offering, "Dizzy" by Olly Alexander. And we chat a bit about the Tiktok hand dancing trend. Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at [email protected] Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! Find Patsy on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@patsywalker1481 This week’s promoted podcast is the Doe Identify Podcast. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-doe-identify-podcast/id1544009777Find them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network podmoth.network

Today, building on our discussion last week with Michelle Troszak, creator of the Interstellar Song Contest, we talk about fictional languages. We have all your favorites except for the Game of Thrones ones! Klingon! Elvish! Simlish! Furbish! Wenja from Far Cry! And more! In Eurovision, we talk about space-themed songs throughout the years. Remember to check out the Interstellar Song Contest at any of the following links: The full show (like a radio show format): ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/skysail-theatre⁠ ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/4G93JBa74dvXuCBadnsyUk⁠ The cast album: ⁠https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/skysailtheatre/interstellar-song-contest-original-cast-recording⁠ ⁠https://open.spotify.com/album/56VbHsBJNcn37QWiqFF4UP⁠ Skysail Theatre: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/skysailtheatre⁠ ⁠https://www.instagram.com/skysailtheatre⁠ ⁠https://linktr.ee/skysailtheatre⁠ Find us on instagram here: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/⁠ And email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠ Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! Find Patsy on youtube at ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@patsywalker1481⁠ This week’s promoted podcast is Bad Acts. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bad-acts-a-true-crime-podcast/id1538464479⁠ Find them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network ⁠podmoth.network

Today we talk to Michelle Troszak, founder of Skysail Theatre, about her new musical, The Interstellar Song Contest. This episode is part 1 of our discussion on fictional languages, which will conclude in next week's episode. The Interstellar Song Contest currently exists as a cast recording and a radio show in podcast format. Find Michelle, Skysail Theatre, and the show at the following links! The full show (like a radio show format): https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/skysail-theatre https://open.spotify.com/show/4G93JBa74dvXuCBadnsyUk The cast album: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/skysailtheatre/interstellar-song-contest-original-cast-recording https://open.spotify.com/album/56VbHsBJNcn37QWiqFF4UP Skysail Theatre: https://www.facebook.com/skysailtheatre https://www.instagram.com/skysailtheatre https://linktr.ee/skysailtheatre Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at [email protected] Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! Find Patsy on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@patsywalker1481 This week’s promoted podcast is Anything Bones. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/anything-bones/id1536352309Find them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network podmoth.network