Because Language - a podcast about linguistics, the science of language.

Episodes page 2 of 2

1. 96: Language City (with Ross Perlin)

   19 Apr 2024 · 1 h 45 min · Explicit

   New York City is home to a lot of languages! Sometimes a sizeable language community can live on just a couple of floors of an apartment building. Dr Ross Perlin is working to find and promote minority languages in…

2. 95: Why the Far-Right Demagogues Language (with Caitlin Green and Maureen Kosse)

   1 Apr 2024 · 1 h 44 min · Explicit

   Language authorities. Right-wing politicians. White supremacists and feminists. What do they have in common? They're all working together to fight gender-inclusive language. But why bring language into this fight? What…

3. 94: Mailbag of Sextillion and Three

   18 Mar 2024 · 1 h 17 min · Explicit

   Dr Kelly Wright is helping us understand the link between public health and language maintenance. And she's helping us with our voluminous Mailbag! • Why can you have a TRIFECTA, but not any other number -FECTA? • Why…

4. 93: Stop! Grammar Time (live with Ellen Jovin and friends)

   2 Mar 2024 · 1 h 28 min · Explicit

   In honour of Grammar Day (4 March), we are joined live by special guest Ellen Jovin, who regularly dispenses grammar advice and wisdom from the Grammar Table. Now she's testing our grammatical mettle and answering our…

5. 92: In the First 600 Milliseconds (with Rachel Nordlinger)

   22 Feb 2024 · 1 h 45 min · Explicit

   What are your eyes doing when you describe a scene? It may depend on your language. New research from Dr Rachel Nordlinger and team shows that we do a lot of planning and scanning very quickly, and it follows the…

6. 91: Linguistic Time Machine, part 2: Prehistory

   31 Jan 2024 · 1 h 34 min · Explicit

   We're climbing back into the linguistic time machine and taking a look at language in the long view. We'll find out what language was like • 100,000 years ago • 1 million years ago • 10 million years ago and then…

7. 90: Enpoopification (with Grant Barrett and Tim Brookes)

   21 Jan 2024 · 2 h 06 min · Explicit

   We're talking words, and no one has a way with words like Grant Barrett. He's here to tell us what it's like at Dictionary.com, and what went down at the annual American Dialect Society Words of the Year 2023 vote. And…

8. 89: Words of the Week of the Year 2023 (with Cory Doctorow and friends)

   24 Dec 2023 · 1 h 54 min · Explicit

   The public has voted, and a winner has been decided! We're looking all the words chosen by the various dictionary bodies, and counting down our Words of the Week of the Year. And there's a very special interview with…

9. 88: Linguistic Time Machine, part 1: History

   7 Dec 2023 · 1 h 25 min · Explicit

   What was language like a year ago? Ten years ago? A hundred? What about before that? We're climbing into the Linguistic Time Machine and finding out. Along the way, we'll explain the resources that linguists use. And…

10. 87: Trans-Inclusive (with Andrew Perfors)

    1 Dec 2023 · 1 h 42 min · Explicit

    What is a woman? Or a man? Or a chair, or a sandwich? Or anything, really? "Gender critical" people are making language into a vector to attack the rights of trans people. They treat categories like man and woman as…

11. 86: Mailbag of Dog Sushi (with Nicole Holliday)

    14 Nov 2023 · 1 h 19 min · Explicit

    We've got mail, and linguistic MVP Dr Nicole Holliday is here to help us sort some things out around here. And we chat about the state of lingcomm today. • Why is dog sushi made FOR dogs, but duck sushi is made FROM…

12. 85: The Dictionary People (with Sarah Ogilvie)

    4 Nov 2023 · 1 h 43 min · Explicit

    Who wrote the Oxford English Dictionary? Sure, James Murray had a very important role as editor, but a small army of volunteers submitted hundreds of thousands of words on slips of paper to get the project off the…

13. 84: Diego's Discourse (with Diego Diaz)

    18 Oct 2023 · 1 h 45 min · Explicit

    What's happening with signed language in Argentina? How are terms for gender changing in the Spanish language? And are Zoomers making work language more casual? Listener and friend of the pod Diego Diaz has put…

14. 83: You're All Talk (with Rob Drummond and Robbie Love)

    2 Oct 2023 · 3 h 01 min · Explicit

    Our accents are great! They represent our origins, our languages, our community, and our identity. But too many of us feel like we can't speak with our authentic voice. Accent prejudice is real. Linguist and author Dr…

15. 82: Girl Dinner (live with our patrons and friends)

    16 Sep 2023 · 1 h 26 min · Explicit

    Our patrons are joining us live to give us their news, words, and stories. That's right, it's a Potluck episode! What's a "girl dinner"? What's the other name of India? And how is AI helping translate an ancient…

16. 81: Mother Tongue (with Jenni Nuttall)

    2 Sep 2023 · 1 h 50 min · Explicit

    Women's bodies, women's occupations, women's experiences. So often in history, the discourse about women has been by men, about women. And that means that women's words have been lost. Dr Jenni Nuttall has charted the…

17. 80: Mailbag of TLAs

    13 Aug 2023 · 1 h 31 min · Explicit

    Listeners have once again sent us some great questions, and we have answers! • Why do we TALK SHIT and not SPEAK SHIT? • Do we KEEP OUT, or STAY OUT? • Why are so many acronyms three letters long? • How do we break…

18. 79: A.I. Hype Hosedown (with Emily Bender and Jack Hessel)

    26 Jul 2023 · 3 h 01 min · Explicit

    Daniel Midgley, Ben Ainslie, and Hedvig Skirgård

19. 78: Forensic Linguistics, Really (with Helen Fraser, Georgina Heydon, Diana Eades, Seán Roberts, and Steph Rennick)

    29 Jun 2023 · 2 h 39 min · Explicit

    For decades, forensic linguists have been pushing back on harmful language ideologies, and fighting for better representation for linguistic minorities in the legal domain. We're talking to three legendary linguists…

20. 77: Big Tent (live with Aris Clemons, Caitlin Green, Rikker Dockum, and friends)

    15 Jun 2023 · 1 h 50 min · Explicit

    How do we make the discipline of linguistics — and our world — a more just, diverse, and equitable place? Why does our personal history and personal perspective matter when doing science? How do we build community? And…

21. 76: Ooo! Yum! Uh… (with Emily Hofstetter, Eleonora Beier, and Russell Gray)

    27 May 2023 · 2 h 27 min · Explicit

    Why does everyone say OOO! when they see someone fall down? Why do we say YUM when we feed a baby? And what's the deal with fillers like UM? For this episode we're talking about non-lexical vocalisations with Dr…

22. 75: Fake News (with Jack Grieve)

    15 May 2023 · 1 h 44 min · Explicit

    How can you tell if a news story is intended to deceive? In one well-known case of journalistic deception, there were tells that required machine learning to trace. We're talking to author and computational linguist…

23. 74: Mailbag of Go

    25 Apr 2023 · 1 h 09 min · Explicit

    We're going deep into our Mailbag, and we're going to answer all your questions. • Why do we say "here you go" when we give something to someone? • Why can we reduce something to /sʌmʔ/? • The thing is is, there are…

24. 73: Consequences of Language (with Nick Enfield and Morten Christiansen)

    3 Apr 2023 · 2 h 13 min · Explicit

    When language was innovated, what happened next? How did it change our abilities — and our responsibilities — to each other? Dr Nick Enfield shares ideas from his new book, Consequences of Language. Plus: Have large…

25. 72: PharaohKatt Is a Speechie Now

    25 Mar 2023 · 1 h 38 min · Explicit

    Here's an entire show, curated by one of our most prolific contributors — newly minted speechie PharaohKatt! She's got news. She's got words. She tries to stump us on Related or Not. She even teaches us how to roll…

26. 71: You're Welcome, English! (live with friends, for LingFest23)

    2 Mar 2023 · 1 h 33 min · Explicit

    For this special live LingFest23 episode, we'll again be voting on tricky language issues, and our votes will be binding on all English users for all time because that's how language works. • If you had to walk 10…

27. 70: Free Speech, But… (with Dennis Baron)

    16 Feb 2023 · 1 h 43 min · Explicit

    We all have freedom of expression, but what are its limits — social and legal? And how have governments tried to curtail it? We're talking through the implications of free speech with Dennis Baron. He's the author of…

28. 69: Mailbagussy

    27 Jan 2023 · 1 h 37 min · Explicit

    The American Dialect Society Word of the Year has been chosen — and it's a wonderful and terrible pick! Depending on who you're talking to. In this episode, we're talking about -USSY and all the words. And we're…

29. 68: Lazy in a Good Way (with Mark Ellison)

    3 Jan 2023 · 1 h 22 min

    In what was meant to be a casual chat, cognitive scientist Dr Mark Ellison answers galaxy-brain-level questions about how language works. • Why aren't we more efficient with language? • How do we know when something…

30. 67: Words of the Week of the Year 2022 (live with friends)

    20 Dec 2022 · 1 h 45 min · Explicit

    We're counting down our Words of the Year, as voted by you! We're joined by our friends and patrons, and they've brought us some words we missed. And we'll go through all the Words of the Year from dictionaries and…

31. 66: ChatGPT Wrote This Episode (with Daan van Esch)

    13 Dec 2022 · 1 h 26 min · Explicit

    ChatGPT has just landed. It can generate text that seems fluid, plausible, and (surprisingly) not total nonsense. It's got a lot of people wondering what's left for humans — and for the field of Natural Language…

32. 65: Naval Manoeuvres (with Chase Dalton)

    7 Dec 2022 · 1 h 28 min · Explicit

    Many expressions we use come from the nautical domain. But are they nautical? Are they really? We've got Chase Dalton from the US Naval History Podcast to shine a light on some of these expressions, and in some cases…

33. 64: Struggle Pile (with Kelly Wright)

    20 Nov 2022 · 1 h 57 min · Explicit

    A chat with Dr Kelly Wright, who's been working on… well, really a lot. Kelly is at the juncture of a lot of areas we're keen on. Oxford's effort to document African-American English? She's been there. Doing…

34. 63: Mailbag of Yeah-No (with Isabelle Burke)

    3 Nov 2022 · 1 h 28 min · Explicit

    Just two words, but they do so much. But what exactly? Here to answer that question is Dr Isabelle Burke, who has studied yeah-no in depth. She's also going to help us with these Mailbag questions. • Why is LIKE so…

35. 62: Language in Spaaaaace (with Hannah Little)

    22 Oct 2022 · 1 h 48 min · Explicit

    Yes, linguistics is all through the world of sci-fi, but science fiction has had a surprising impact on linguistic research as well. Dr Hannah Little is cataloguing the ways in a new book, and she joins us for this…

36. 61: Together at Last

    8 Oct 2022 · 1 h 15 min · Explicit

    It's Ben, Hedvig, and Daniel all together in the same place for the first time. We're talking about the state of the show, the state of linguistics communication, and where we are after all these years.

37. 60: The Crossworld (with Hayley Gold)

    13 Sep 2022 · 1 h 49 min · Explicit

    Language isn't just for communication — it's fun. For over a hundred years, crosswords have served as entertainment, and even been blamed for society's ills. Turns out crosswords are serious business. Author and…

38. 59: Mailbag of Ew

    30 Aug 2022 · 1 h 13 min · Explicit

    In which we get together for a chat, talk about stuff we like, and — oh, yeah — answers a few questions from our great listeners. • Other languages have a word for late morning, before noon. Why doesn't English have…

39. 58: Expression Unleashed (with Thom Scott-Phillips and Joshua Blackburn)

    3 Aug 2022 · 1 h 46 min · Explicit

    Today, we communicate. But once, we didn't. What had to happen in our brains to make communication possible? And why don't other animals do it like we do? We talk to Dr Thom Scott-Phillips about his new work in the…

40. 57: Potluck (live, with friends)

    27 Jul 2022 · 1 h 27 min · Explicit

    Our friends, listeners, and patrons give us so many great stories, news, and words, so for this live episode, we're having them tell these language stories in their own words. Thanks to PharaohKatt, Lord Mortis,…

41. 56: Diego's Digest

    14 Jul 2022 · 1 h 05 min · Explicit

    Our listeners and patrons send in so many great ideas, stories, and words. For this episode, listener and prolific contributor Diego has put together an entire show for our edification. • ASL may have changed to…

42. 55: Rebel With a Clause (with Ellen Jovin)

    29 Jun 2022 · 1 h 39 min · Explicit

    Everyone's favourite tabletop grammarian is back! It's Ellen Jovin, proprietor of the Grammar Table. She dispenses grammar advice around New York City and the world, and now she's written a book about her grammar…

43. 54: Slang (with Jonathon Green)

    15 Jun 2022 · 1 h 37 min · Explicit

    It's crude. It's rude. And it's a lot of fun. Slang has been with us for as long as people didn't want others to understand what they were about. But what exactly is it? And has the nature of slang changed in our…

44. 53: Mailbag of Compounds (with Tiger Webb)

    31 May 2022 · 1 h 32 min · Explicit

    Language titan Tiger Webb is helping us with our voluminous Mailbag. Hedvig is giving her annual Eurovision language roundup. And we're sorting through the lexicon of the 2022 Australian election. • Is MAYBE a…

45. 52: The Language Game (with Morten Christiansen and Nick Chater)

    11 May 2022 · 1 h 32 min · Explicit

    How is language like a game of charades? According to a new book, quite a lot. Charades players and language users improvise and work together to create meaning in a situation, and they get better at it as they reuse…

46. 51: A Wug-Tonne of Advice (with Kitty Liu and Romany Amber)

    1 May 2022 · 53 min · Explicit

    We had the pleasure of an interview with two up-and-coming linguists, wanting to find out more about the show and linguistic communication. It was such a fun chat that we wanted to share it with you. Here's Daniel and…

47. 50: Employing Linguistics (with Anna Marie Trester and Ellen)

    8 Apr 2022 · 1 h 38 min · Explicit

    Linguistics is what we all love, but how do we make it pay? Turns out there are more ways than you might have thought of, and a new book is here to help. Dr Anna Marie Trester joins Daniel for an uplifting and hopeful…

48. 49: Mailbag - It's That T Again (with Mignon Fogarty)

    23 Mar 2022 · 1 h 11 min · Explicit

    Lingcomm legend Mignon Fogarty (Grammar Girl) joins us to answer all the questions in our Mailbag! And we have to ask her about National Grammar Day. How do we bring out descriptive grammar, and tone down the policing?…

49. 48: The Black Side of the River (with Jessi Grieser)

    4 Mar 2022 · 1 h 32 min · Explicit

    Anacostia is a rapidly gentrifying suburb in Washington DC, and as Anacostia changes, so does the language. How do the original Black residents use language to establish their cred? What about the language of the new…

50. 47: We Need to Talk About Grice (with Rikker Dockum)

    20 Feb 2022 · 1 h 14 min · Explicit

    Every Linguistics 101 student knows about HP Grice and his famous Maxims. They state that dialogue is usually cooperative — and when it doesn't appear to be, they explain how we manage to work out meaning anyway. But…