Death of a Name: Mildred, Bertha & Todd
Mobituaries with Mo Rocca
English - October 19, 2022 07:01 - 42 minutes - 38.6 MB - ★★★★★ - 22.1K ratingsHistory Society & Culture Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Previous Episode: Wishbone: Death of a Working Dog
Next Episode: Mr. & Mrs. Smith: Death of a Marriage Ban
What’s in a name…that makes it popular to one generation, and downright ugly to the next? From "Bertha" and "Layla" to "Reagan" and "Katrina," history shows us that politics, pop songs and news events all play roles in sending baby names skyrocketing or plunging in the rankings. Mo (short for "Maurice"!) returns to his elementary school to speak with his fifth grade teacher about his own name then talks to Columbia University linguist John McWhorter and actor Todd Bridges about other names that have seen better days.
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