Writing
Here are some of the articles and reviews I’ve written elsewhere.
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“5 Punctuation Marks That Look Nothing Like They Used To.” The Huffington Post, October 10, 2014. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/keith-houston-/post_8467_b_5989482.html.
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“8 Punctuation Marks That Are No Longer Used.” The Huffington Post, September 24, 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/keith-houston-/post_5696_b_3976733.html.
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“A Brief History of the # and the @.” Penguin Blog. Penguin Books, April 22, 2015. http://penguinblog.co.uk/2015/04/22/a-brief-history-of-the-and-the-by-keith-houston/.
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“Hats Off to the Circumflex.” New York Times, February 19, 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/20/opinion/hats-off-to-the-circumflex.html.
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“How Complex Math and Human Innovation Created the Calculator.” Literary Hub, August 31, 2023. https://lithub.com/how-complex-math-and-human-innovation-created-the-calculator/.
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“Irony.” Grammar Girl, September 26, 2013. http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/irony-0.
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“Marks of Distinction.” Wall Street Journal, 2015. http://www.wsj.com/articles/marks-of-distinction-1445023773.
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“Punctuation That Failed to Make Its Mark.” BBC.com Culture, November 4, 2015. http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20151104-punctuation-that-failed-to-make-its-mark.
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“Rain on Your Wedding Day.” New Statesman, no. 18-24 October (2013): 32–34.
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“Smile! A History of Emoticons.” Wall Street Journal, September 27, 2013. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304213904579093661814158946.html.
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“The Ancient Roots of Punctuation.” Page Turner, September 6, 2013. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2013/09/origins-of-hashtag-manicule-diple-pilcrow-ampersand-explained.html.
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“The Early History of Counting.” Lapham’’s Quarterly, August 23, 2023. https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/early-history-counting.
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“The Evolution of Punctuating Paragraphs Through 5 Specific Markers.” Mental Floss, October 20, 2015. http://mentalfloss.com/article/69847/evolution-punctuating-paragraphs-through-5-specific-markers.
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“The History of #—and 6 Other Symbols That Rule Twitter (and the Web).” Time.com, September 23, 2013. http://ideas.time.com/2013/09/23/the-history-of-and-6-other-symbols-that-rule-twitter-and-the-web/.
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“The List: Keith Houston on Four Unusual Punctuation Marks.” Financial Times, October 2, 2013. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/a7ebcafe-207a-11e3-9a9a-00144feab7de.html#axzz2gyf7GjrZ.
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“The Mysterious Manicule.” Lexicon Valley, September 30, 2013. http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2013/09/30/the_manicule_a_hand_with_a_pointing_index_finger_becomes_a_common_marginalia.html.
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“The Mysterious Origins of Punctuation.” BBC.com Culture, 2015. http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150902-the-mysterious-origins-of-punctuation.
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“The Rise and Fall of the Infamous SarcMark.” The Daily Beast, September 24, 2013. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/24/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-infamous-sarcmark.html.
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“The Rise and Fall of the Pilcrow, Part I.” Lexicon Valley, September 25, 2013. http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2013/09/25/the_pilcrow_how_the_paragraph_punctuation_mark_evolved_from_ancient_greece.html.
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“The Rise and Fall of the Pilcrow, Part II.” Lexicon Valley, September 26, 2013. http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2013/09/26/the_pilcrow_how_the_paragraph_mark_evolved_from_ancient_greece_and_rome.html.
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“Un Maximum de Sens Dans Un Minimum d’espace: L’histoire de La Ponctuation.” Hiatus, La Revue, no. April (2013).
Radio
I’ve appeared on a number of radio programmes and podcasts:
- 99% Invisible
- BBC Radio 4’s Word of Mouth with Michael Rosen
- BBC World Service’s More or Less with Tim Harford
- Newstalk’s Moncrieff programme
- Radio NZ’s Nine to Noon
- ABC Radio National’s Sunday Extra
- ABC Radio Adelaide’s Drive with Jules Schiller
- ABC’s Late Night Live
- Monocle’s Section D
- WGBH’s Innovation Hub
- The Browser’s Radio Browser
- History Hit’s Patented podcast
- KPCW’s Cool Science Radio
- SETI’s Big Picture Science
- The Economist’s The Intelligence
- Alan Alda’s Clear and Vivid
My second book, The Book, was BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week for the week of the 14th of May, 2018.
If you’d like me to write for your publication or to appear on your show, please get in touch.