Mark Monmonier, author of From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow: How Maps Name, Claim, and Inflame, was interviewed last week by Robin Young on WBUR’s program Here and Now. Young begins the segment by warning that “some of the language in the following conversation about maps might be upsetting for some, but that’s the point.” Monmonier discusses map names—toponyms—that are offensive, pejorative or simply lascivious. He does manage to get bleeped, but just once.
Listen to the program segment. Read an excerpt from the book and a blog essay by Monmonier.