The Mysterious Origins of Abracadabra and Other Magic Words | Otherwords

Since ancient times, humans have believed in the special power of words to change the world around them... and they might be right! Otherwords is a PBS web series on Storied that digs deep into this quintessential human trait of language and finds the fascinating, thought-provoking, and funny stories behind the words and sounds we take for granted. Incorporating the fields of biology, history, cultural studies, literature, and more, linguistics has something for everyone and offers a unique perspective on what it means to be human. Host: Erica Brozovsky, Ph.D. Creator/Director: Andrew Matthews & Katie Graham Writer: Erica Brozovsky, Ph.D. Producer: Katie Graham Editor/Animation: Andrew Matthews Executive Producer: Amanda Fox Fact Checker: Yvonne McGreevy Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell Stock Images from Shutterstock Music from APM Music Otherwords is a production of Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios. © 2025 PBS. All rights reserved. sources: https://www.worldhistory.org/article/... https://mythlok.com/what-was-ras-secr... https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles... https://yalebooksblog.co.uk/2023/10/3... https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tinR... https://drdavidhamilton.com/the-scien... https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles... https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles... https://www.sciencedirect.com/science... https://www.njppp.com/fulltext/28-152...