Trans people did not appear when modern words appeared. The experience existed first. The words changed.

In this episode, Rae explores the history and evolution of transgender language through what she calls the “fossil record” of words: the old terms, the medical terms, the community terms, and the weaponized terms that have shaped how society has understood trans people over time.

Starting with her love of unusual words through Foyle’s Philavery, Rae reflects on how language works as a key to recognition. Words are not just labels placed onto reality after the fact. Sometimes they help reality come into focus. That becomes especially important when talking about trans identity, dysphoria, self-understanding, and the experience of finding language for feelings that existed long before the words did.

The video moves thr ...