118: The A.I. Con (with Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna)

Our Mailbag is once again full of questions, and podcasting luminary Helen Zaltzman is here to help us answer them! Why is the raspberry sound (PBTPBBBBT) not a speech sound in any language? Or is it? How can sounds in a language change so much over time? Am I BURNED OUT? Or BURNT OUT? Why are they called metaphysicians and not metaphysicists? What can we call something besides LAME? Why is AMPHI- so infrequently used in English?

14 Juni 20211h 7min

Blog post with show notes: http://becauselanguage.com/29-cultish/ Support the show on Patreon: http://patreon.com/join/becauselangpod/ Language helps us build and maintain social relationships. Cults — however we define them — exploit this function and subvert it for their own ends. Amanda Montell is the author of the new book Cultish, and she joins us for this show. And researcher Jared Holt explains why QAnon conspiracy catch phrases seem to be dropping off in popularity from the mainstream web.

8 Juni 20211h 47min

Show notes: http://becauselanguage.com/28-the-cutting-edge/ Become a patron and support the show: http://patreon.com/join/becauselangpod/ We're taking over Pint of Science (or are they taking over us?) for this episode! Three researchers are presenting their work in language, and they'll also tell us what they're learning about public science communication.

26 Maj 20211h 33min

Blog post with show notes and video episode: http://becauselanguage.com/27-its-all-semantics/ Become a patron yourself: http://patreon.com/join/becauselangpod/ Are fish wet? What is bi-weekly? And which Monday is next Monday? We're solving some of the thorniest problems in semantics by voting, because that's how language works! 👍 Our great Patreon patrons join us for this episode, along with Christy Filipich on Auslan interpretation. Part of #LingFest.

18 Maj 20211h 29min