The Allusionist

140. Num8er5

We use verbal numbers and we use numerals - why do we need both? Why do we have the ones we have? What happened to Roman numerals? And what's loserish about the fiftieth Super Bowl? Stephen Chrisomalis, professor of anthropology and linguistics and author of the book Reckonings: Numerals, Cognition and History, returns to the Allusionist to explain our current numbers, and why we shouldn't get too arrogant about them. There's more about this episode, and a transcript, at <a href="theallusionist.org/numbers">theallusionist.org/numbers</a>. Sign up to be a patron at <a href="http://patreon.com/allusionist">patreon.com/allusionist</a> and as well as supporting the show, you get discounted tickets to the upcoming Allusionist live show on 4 September 2021. The music is by Martin Austwick. Hear Martin’s own songs at <a href="http://palebirdmusic.com">palebirdmusic.com </a>or search for Pale Bird on Bandcamp and Spotify, and he’s @martinaustwick on Twitter and Instagram.  The Allusionist's online home is <a href="http://theallusionist.org/">theallusionist.org</a>. Stay in touch at <a href="http://twitter.com/allusionistshow">twitter.com/allusionistshow</a>, <a href="http://facebook.com/allusionistshow">facebook.com/allusionistshow</a> and <a href="http://instagram.com/allusionistshow">instagram.com/allusionistshow</a>.<a href="http://patreon.com/allusionist" rel="payment">Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist</a>See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.