HMSP — Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
by Dominik J. Otto
Each episode immerses you in a different world — historical, scientific, philosophical — where rare English words appear not as vocabulary lessons but as the natural language of the story. You absorb words like caliginous, tergiversate, and susurrant the way you would in life: from context, without interruption. Every episode is produced with AI tools: the writing, narration, illustrations, and music are AI-generated under close human direction. We commission extensive research to ensure factual accuracy, but the nature of AI-assisted production means we cannot guarantee that every historical or scientific detail is correct. When in doubt, verify independently.
Episodes
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The Leviathan's Wake
An eighty-five-minute audiobook that teaches the vocabulary of Moby-Dick through the true story that inspired it. In 1820 the Nantucket whaleship Essex was rammed and sunk by a sperm whale in the emptiest water on earth. Follow cabin boy Thomas Nickerson from the oil-soaked wharves of Nantucket,...
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The Eternal City
A forty-minute audiobook that teaches rare English vocabulary through vivid historical narrative. Trace the rise and fall of Rome from the Antonine golden age through the sack of 410 AD, encountering words like apotheosis, flagitious, vicissitude, and palimpsest in their natural context. Full...
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The Palimpsest of Ashworth Hall
A thirty-minute audiobook that teaches rare English vocabulary through vivid fiction. Follow archivist Eleanor Vance as she uncovers decades of corruption hidden in the palimpsest pages of a university's founding documents.
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The Salon on the Rue Saint-Honoré
Paris, 1753. A provincial widow arrives at Madame Geoffrin's salon and spends four decades among the great minds of the Enlightenment — Diderot, Voltaire, Rousseau, d'Alembert, Franklin — as the Age of Reason gives way to revolution. One hour. Ten chapters. Over 300 rare English words woven into...
About this show
Each episode immerses you in a different world — historical, scientific, philosophical — where rare English words appear not as vocabulary lessons but as the natural language of the story. You absorb words like caliginous, tergiversate, and susurrant the way you would in life: from context, without interruption.
Every episode is produced with AI tools: the writing, narration, illustrations, and music are AI-generated under close human direction. We commission extensive research to ensure factual accuracy, but the nature of AI-assisted production means we cannot guarantee that every historical or scientific detail is correct. When in doubt, verify independently.
Hosted by
Dominik J. Otto