A Way with Words (Wayword, Inc.)

What A Way with Words (Wayword, Inc.) does

A Way with Words (Wayword, Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that produces a weekly hour-long public radio show and podcast about language, covering word origins, etymology, regional dialects, slang, grammar, and word games. The show is hosted by co-hosts Martha Barnette (author/journalist) and Grant Barrett (lexicographer, former head of lexicography at Dictionary.com), with senior producer Stefanie Levine leading production. Its core product is a call-in program distributed free to listeners via two channels: broadcast carriage on 80+ NPR member stations across 40+ U.S. states (plus parts of Mexico and Canada), and a podcast available on 15+ platforms including Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, and iHeart Radio in both ad-supported and paid no-ads formats. The organization also runs a secondary public events program featuring the hosts as speakers at live and virtual engagements.

The underlying technology is standard public radio production and podcast distribution infrastructure. Episodes are delivered to stations as pre-produced files (WAV, MP3, MP2) via PRSS/Content Depot, PRX, or direct download, and the podcast is distributed through mainstream app stores using conventional RSS-based syndication. The company operates a content website (waywordradio.org) with a full searchable episode archive, show notes, and reference resources. No proprietary technology, AI systems, or data assets are disclosed; the value proposition is the irreplaceable expertise of the hosts and the depth of the content library accumulated over 25+ years.

The business model is nonprofit donation-and-sponsorship driven. Revenue streams include listener donations (primary), corporate underwriting/sponsorships, foundation grants, a small paid no-ads podcast subscription via SupportingCast, and secondary income from live and video events. The organization explicitly receives no funding from NPR, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, KPBS, or any other public radio station, and is governed by a 7-member volunteer board. The core customer base is broadly distributed: language enthusiasts, educators and students (including ESL/ELT use), families, and general public radio listeners, with an intentionally horizontal, mass-market positioning rather than concentrated enterprise accounts.

Name

A Way with Words (Wayword, Inc.)

Legal name

Wayword, Inc.

Website

https://waywordradio.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Short description

A Way with Words (Wayword, Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that produces a weekly public radio show and podcast about language, distributed on 80+ NPR member stations and major podcast platforms to a broad listener audience of language enthusiasts, educators, and general public radio listeners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Radio and Podcast Programming

NAICS

Other Sound Recording Industries (512290), Radio Broadcasting Stations (51611)

SIC

Radio Broadcasting Stations (4832)

akta.pro primary industry

Podcast Networks & Multi-Show Publishers (MPACADAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public/Noncommercial Radio Broadcasting (NPR, Community, Campus) (MPAIAEAB), Audio Learning Content (Podcasts, Audiobooks, Listening Programs) (EDAGALAM)

Keywords

• Public radio programming
• Language education content
• Nonprofit media production
• Podcast broadcasting
• Call-in radio show

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Listener Donations: Primary revenue source from charitable gifts and donations from individual listeners. The nonprofit is primarily funded through listener donations as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
2. Corporate Sponsorships: Corporate underwriting and sponsorships from businesses that support the show's nonprofit mission.
3. Podcast Subscription: No-ads podcast subscription via SupportingCast for a small fee. Listeners can choose between ad-supported (free) or no-ads (paid) versions of the podcast.
4. Foundation Grants: Funding from grant-making organizations and foundations that believe in the nonprofit mission and public radio goals.
5. Public Events: Secondary income earned from live and video events featuring the hosts as speakers at various venues.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

A Way with Words produces and distributes a weekly hour-long public radio call-in show and companion podcast about language — covering word origins, etymology, regional dialects, slang, grammar, and word games — broadcast on 80+ NPR member stations across 40+ U.S. states and streamed on 15+ podcast platforms. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit also books co-hosts Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett as speakers at live and virtual events, and offers a no-ads subscription tier via SupportingCast.

Product overview

A Way with Words is a media production company offering a single unified product: a weekly public radio show and podcast about language. The core offering consists of the radio show (broadcast on NPR stations across the United States) and its companion podcast (distributed through major podcast platforms in both ad-supported and ad-free subscription formats). The organization also operates a public events program featuring the hosts as speakers. All content is produced by Wayword, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit company based in San Diego, California.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• A Way with Words Radio Show A weekly hour-long public radio call-in show featuring conversations about language, word histories, etymology, regional dialects, slang, grammar, and word games, broadcast coast-to-coast on NPR stations across the United States. Targeted at individual language enthusiasts, educators, students, and general public radio listeners.
• A Way with Words Podcast A podcast version of the radio show distributed through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio, Pandora, Amazon Music, and 10+ additional podcast platforms, with millions of downloads per year. Available in both ad-supported (free) and ad-free (paid via SupportingCast) subscription formats. Targeted at individual listeners and ESL/linguistics educators.
• A Way with Words Public Events

Quantifiable outcome

• Millions of podcast downloads per year
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Grammar Girl (Quick and Dirty Tips): Direct peer: also a long-running English-language podcast about grammar, usage, and word origins hosted by Mignon Fogarty. Targets the same language-enthusiast and educator segments with similar Q&A-style format.
• The Allusionist (Helen Zaltzman): Direct peer: independently produced podcast about language, etymology, and word histories. Same niche audience and solo-host format with comparable depth on linguistics topics.
• Lexicon Valley (Slate): Direct peer: Slate's podcast covering linguistics, etymology, and language change, hosted by linguists. Overlaps directly with A Way with Words on topics and academic-leaning audience.
• The World in Words: Direct peer: PRI/PRX-distributed podcast about language and global communication. Comparable niche focus on linguistics stories from a public-radio-style production.

Broad incumbents

• NPR (National Public Radio): Broad incumbent: largest US public radio network and the primary distribution umbrella under which A Way with Words reaches its 80+ station footprint. Not a direct content competitor but the structural ecosystem for the show.
• WNYC Studios: Broad incumbent: major public radio podcast publisher (Radiolab, On the Media, Death, Sex & Money). Represents the kind of scaled nonprofit podcast operation A Way with Words could aspire to grow into.
• This American Life: Broad incumbent: flagship public radio narrative program and one of the most successful distributed radio shows ever. Comparable syndication/distribution model but on a vastly larger scale.

Others

• PRX (Public Radio Exchange): Infrastructure peer: public radio distribution platform that routes content to member stations. A Way with Words uses PRX as one of its automated/manual selection channels for carriage.

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@waywordradio
• Facebookfacebook.com/groups/waywordradio
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/a-way-with-words-wayword-inc-
• Instagraminstagram.com/waywordradio

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about A Way with Words (Wayword, Inc.)