“Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit Amet.” It’s a string of text that’s become ubiquitous. Designed as a placeholder for work-in-progress documents, those quasi-Latin words now appear on mugs, tote bags and T-shirts. But why did this particular passage of bastardized Cicero become the industry’s default?
For years no one was quite sure, until science communicator Emily Zhang got to the bottom of it. Host Indira Lakshmanan talks with Zhang about the investigation she recently published on “Rabbit Hole,” a YouTube channel she created.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
Copyright 2026 WBUR
