The topic of 'Word Association' is directly related to the podcast episodes provided, as it features prominently in both episodes.

In the first episode of 'The Harland Highway', the segment called 'Words from a Wooden Shoe' involves Pauly Shore engaging in improvisational storytelling based on random words drawn from a shoe, showcasing the power of word association in creative comedy.

Similarly, the second episode of 'Consider This from NPR' describes a word association exercise conducted during focus groups with swing voters, which revealed their negative sentiments and harsh criticism towards the 2024 presidential candidates, 'Double disapprovers' could decide the election. Here's what they say.