Capital Language From Kyiv to Washington, D.C.
On today’s episode of Spectacular Vernacular, Nicole and Ben talk about how the capital of Ukraine has become a linguistic hot take. They also interview Jessi Grieser, a professor at the University of...
1 Feb 202232min
The Making of Wordle
On today’s episode of Spectacular Vernacular, Nicole and Ben interview Brooklyn-based software engineer Josh Wardle, the creator of the viral online word game Wordle. They also recap their participati...
18 Jan 202237min
Choosing Your Voice
On today’s episode of Spectacular Vernacular, Nicole and Ben discuss Creole languages. They also interview Rupal Patel, professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Computer Science at Northe...
21 Des 202135min
Cracking the Omicron Code
On today’s episode of Spectacular Vernacular, Nicole and Ben discuss the pronunciation of the name of the latest COVID variant. They also interview Alex Bellos, puzzle columnist for The Guardian and a...
7 Des 202133min
Taylor Swift’s “F— the Patriarchy”
On today’s episode of Spectacular Vernacular, Nicole and Ben discuss Ben’s case against an accusation of anachronistic language use in the new version of her song “All Too Well.” They also interview M...
23 Nov 202134min
Interrupting to Show We Care
On today’s episode of Spectacular Vernacular, hosts Nicole Holliday and Ben Zimmer recap the recent New Ways of Analyzing Variation conference for sociolinguistics. They also interview Deborah Tannen,...
9 Nov 202138min
The Millennial Language Cheat Code
On today’s episode of Spectacular Vernacular, hosts Nicole Holliday and Ben Zimmer talk about Anthony Fauci’s old-school Brooklyn accent. They also interview Sylvia Sierra about her new book Millennia...
26 Okt 202139min
Squid Game in Translation
On today’s episode of Spectacular Vernacular, hosts Nicole Holliday and Ben Zimmer chat about Netflix’s latest hit, Squid Game. They also interview award-winning staff writer at The New Yorker, John C...
12 Okt 202145min
