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Oct 27, 2026 35 min

Doktoro Esperanto

from 99% Invisible Hosted by Katie Thornton

Esperanto is what linguists call a “constructed language.” It isn’t attached to a nation or a region, and it didn’t evolve from another language over time. Instead, nearly 150 years ago, someone decided to sit down and design the whole thing from scratch. That someone was L. L. Zamenhof, also known as Doktoro Esperanto. He created this language with the hope that it would unite the world under one shared tongue. Today, reporter Katie Thornton tells the story of Doktoro Esperanto’s dream, and what we can all still learn from Esperanto right now. For more, check out Katie's story on Esperanto in Harper's Magazine. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.

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Reporter Katie Thornton tells the story of Doktoro Esperanto’s dream, and what we can all still learn from Esperanto right now.

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Doktoro Esperanto

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This episode is 35 minutes long.

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This episode was published on October 27, 2026.

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