129: They Started It: Children and Language Evolution (with Madeleine Beekman)
We've asked linguists about how language began, but what would an evolutionary biologist tell you? Prof Madeleine Beekman says it's part of a complex web of body, brain, and community, and at the heart of it is (perhaps surprisingly) childcare. Madeleine is the author of The Origin of Language: How We Learned to Speak and Why. Timestamps Cold open: 0:00 Intros: 0:42 News: 9:07 Related or Not: 30:02 Interview with Madeleine Beekman: 49:43 Words of the Week: 1:40:49 Comments: 2:01:30 The Reads: 2:08:07 Outtakes: 2:17:38
19 Nov 2h 25min
128: Across the Universe (with Natan Last)
Among so many great word games, crosswords still reign supreme. How have they survived — and even expanded — in our digital age? What goes into a good puzzle, and will computer techniques take over? Daniel chats with author Natan Last about his book Across the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of the Crossword Puzzle. Timestamps Intros: 0:35 News: 4:42 Related or Not: 22:13 Interview with Natan Last: 37:56 Words of the Week: 1:24:52 Comment: 1:53:37 The Reads: 1:55:31 Outtakes: 2:02:50
22 Okt 2h 7min
127: Oh (with Maia Chao, Kelly Wright, and Caitlin Green)
The "Oh" show was an experimental linguistics performance lecture. It happened in June 2025 at Creative Time HQ in New York City. Actors, musicians, and audience came together (with at least one linguist!) to act out dialogues from conversational analysis, and have fun with language. Are there more ways we can perform linguistics? We're talking with artist and linguistics fan Maia Chao. Timestamps Cold open: 0:00 Intros: 0:38 News: 7:16 Related or Not: 40:03 Interview with Maia Chao: 55:08 Words of the Week: 1:30:31 Bonus chat with Caitlin Green: groyper: 1:54:40 The Reads: 2:07:48 Outtakes: 2:14:59
10 Okt 2h 15min
125: Friends With Words (live with Martha Barnette and friends)
Martha Barnette is one half of the linguistics podcast A Way With Words, and author of the new book Friends With Words: Adventures in Languageland. Her lifelong love of language has led her through some of the toughest questions lexicography has to offer, and she's answering questions from our live listening audience. Why do we FALL pregnant? How can we use PRETTY to say something is "pretty ugly"? And once and for all, why do we really say "the whole nine yards"? Video for this episode: https://youtu.be/aPikLncj2xI Timestamps (audio) Start: 0:00 Cold open: 0:27 Intros: 2:02 Chat with Martha about Friends With Words: 5:42 On Martha's life and language: 11:10 Related or Not: 36:27 Questions for Martha: 56:25 The Reads: 1:25:40
12 Sep 1h 31min
124: Algospeak (with Adam Aleksic)
Creators have to be mindful of what to say and what not to say in their content. This affects the language we're exposed to — and what we say IRL. But it's part of an old process. Popular LingToker Adam Aleksic breaks it down. He's the author of the new book Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language. Timestamps Start: 0:00 Intros: 1:42 News: 12:25 Related or Not: 29:59 Interview with Adam Aleksic: 44:07 Words of the Week: 1:15:10 Comment: 1:37:56 The Reads: 1:39:56
23 Aug 1h 49min
123: Conscious Language (with Karen Yin)
We've all seen style guides that tell us what to say and what not to say. Has a style guide ever asked you what you wanted to say? Or challenged you to examine your thinking? This one does. It's the Conscious Style Guide by Karen Yin, and she joins us for this episode. Timestamps Cold open: 0:00 Intros: 0:35 News: 5:52 Related or Not: 31:13 Interview with Karen Yin: 48:43 Words of the Week: 1:30:10 Comments: 1:44:07 The Reads: 1:47:45 Outtake: 1:54:06
3 Aug 1h 54min
122: The Interaction Engine (with Stephen Levinson)
How did language start? What do all languages have in common? How does language really work? Many answers have been posed to these questions, but one thing is for sure: interaction is the combustion chamber where everything happens. We're having a chat with linguistic lion Stephen Levinson, author of The Interaction Engine. Timestamps Introductions: 0:19 These fascinating facts about language will make you (or Dr Levinson) a hit at any party: 3:47 The mechanics of speech production: 06:01 What's going on when we're talking or listening? 8:46 Cultural differences in conversational norms: 20:33 Universals of interaction: 22:10 Metaphors of space may have been a motivator for language: 25:53 The role of gesture in language development: 28:47 Cooperation and empathy in language: 34:59 What one thing explains the most about language?: 45:56 Disclosure: Hedvig is employed at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, where Dr Levinson is an emeritus director.
12 Juli 55min
121: Learning from LLMs (with Adele Goldberg)
How do large language models (LLMs) do their thing, and it is anything like how we do our thing? What can we learn about human language from this software? The answer might involve constructions — pairings of form and meaning that we use to make language. And here to discuss it with us is constructionist pioneer and linguistic legend, Professor Adele Goldberg. Timestamps Intros: 1:14 News: 7:13 Related or Not: 34:18 Interview with Adele Goldberg: 46:40 Words of the Week: 1:38:19 The Reads: 1:56:50 Bonus chat with Adele Goldberg: 2:03:16 Outtakes: 2:13:11
29 Juni 2h 22min