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Constant Wonder

Constant Wonder

How to Make Fast Friends with Words

Apr 29, 2026 · 57m

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On this episode

About this episode

What does it mean to be truly speechless—struck dumb by beauty, grief, or awe? In this episode of Constant Wonder, host Marcus Smith sits down with Martha Barnette, co-host of the beloved radio show and podcast A Way with Words, for a wide-ranging conversation about language, wonder, and the moments that leave us reaching for words we don't have. Martha shares memories of her Greek tutor Professor Leonard Latkovski, and a remarkable moment when her father, theologian Henlee Barnette, invited Martin Luther King, Jr. to speak at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The conversation moves through the concept of "thin places”—those uncanny moments where the boundary between the ordinary and…