What If We'd Named the Mississippi Something Else?

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What’s in a name? Would the Mississippi sound as sweet by any other name? If Colbert had carried the day, would Mark Twain have still been inspired? Big Muddy, Old Man River, Father of Waters, we sure seem to have a hard time sticking to one name for this river. In this solo episode, I retrace the steps for how we came to use these names and why names matter. I even take a little detour into the much celebrated but ultimately inconsequential search for the spot where the Mississippi begins. In the Mississippi Minute, I praise an app that has helped me find my way out of the forest more than once.