Who was J.L. Austin?

Have you ever thought about how weird it is to make a promise? One second there’s no rule, and the next second—BOOM—you owe your friend a cookie! It’s basically like magic! In this mind-bending episode of Philosophy is Not Boring, Mira and Finn explore what actually happens when we say words like "I promise," "I apologize," or "I bet you." We travel back to the mid-20th century to meet an incredible Oxford philosopher named J.L. Austin. He realized that we don't just use words to describe the world; we actually use them to change it! He called these magic word-spells "performative utterances." If you say "I name this ship," you are literally doing the naming right then and there! But what happens when these word-spells go wrong? Can you make a promise to a goldfish? Plus, discover an unbelievable secret about J.L. Austin: he wasn't just a quiet teacher reading in a dusty library. During World War Two, he was a real-life spy and intelligence officer who helped plan the famous D-Day invasion! Tune in to find out how your words are basically a superpower!