The Great American Spelling Bee with Gabe Henry
4/14/20261 hr 26 min
Can you use the word in a sentence? For this episode, Spelling Correspondent Gabe Henry takes Sarah through the surprisingly rampageous (r-a-m-p-a-g-e-o-u-s) history of the Spelling Bee, a uniquely American phenomenon. From the earliest examples of late night “spelling matches,” to the rough-and-tumble contests of the early frontier, to the controversy of the first National Spelling Bee, it turns out that these mild-mannered academic flexes were once both raucous and revolutionary. Gabe also brings his own spelling bee to test the gifted child that still buzzes within Sarah Marshall. Digressions include Ben Franklin’s morning routine, why we need more statues of kids, and the Wolf Blitzer Hologram.
More Gabe Henry:
Gabe's book Enough is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Easier to Spell
Produced + edited by Miranda Zickler
More You're Wrong About:
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSarah Marshall· Host0:00
I want to see the queen of the spelling bee. I bet she's pretty scary. [upbeat music] Welcome to You're Wrong About. With me today is Gabe Henry, and we are going to talk about spelling, and I'm going to sound like Pepper Ann, and I'm much too cool for seventh grade. Gabe, thank you so much for coming back.
Gabe Henry· Guest0:28
Thank you so much for having me, Sarah.
Sarah Marshall· Host0:30
Uh, you were on to talk about the movement to standardize American spelling when we last talked to you, and about your book. And, I don't know, I... What, what is your wheelhouse, I guess? [laughs] What, what kind of a correspondent are we going to name you for this show? Would you like to be the spelling correspondent, or is that a little bit too un-fun sounding?
Gabe Henry· Guest0:50
I would be so honored. You know, I think ever since I lost my spelling bee in third grade, I've been trying to process my trauma in a really healthy and constructive way, and I think being your spelling correspondent will do the trick.
Sarah Marshall· Host1:03
Okay, perfect. And, uh, and I also will confess at the start that I, uh, got dinged on, I think, a fifth grade, not a spelling, uh, test exactly, but I think we just had to, like, write the names of the states, and I had been reading the Dear America book about the Oregon Trail, which spelled Missouri Missoura. [laughs] And I got a point off for that, and I'm still a little sad about it, and that was in 1999. [laughs] So...