Thisweek,weturntoanexpertwhotrompsthewildsofwordlessness.Lulu’syoungson.Inthisessay,originallypublishedforTheParisReviewunderthetitle“TheEleventhWord,”Luluexploreswhatislostwiththegainingoflanguage.Andhow,inaveryoddway,afearofconfusionandtheunknownmaybeginwiththeadventofwords.TheRadiolabsoundteambringsthispiecetolifewithoriginalmusic,andatonepointthewordsmeltrightoutoftheair.

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