Category: interviews (page 4 of 7)

265: Universal Grammar 2 (featuring Dan Everett and Lynne Murphy)

The biggest idea in linguistics is back on the table.

Is there such a thing as the Universal Grammar? Do you have to have a human brain to learn language, or is learning a language just like learning anything else? …

260: Promoting LOTE (featuring Annie Demosthenous)

Language learning is important. Loads of kids are taking languages other than English (or LOTE). Lots of people are teaching them.

But for all that, we’re just not learning them. So why not? Are we doing it wrong? Not starting …

253: Secret Professional Slang (featuring Dr Brian Goldman and Ji-Soo Kweon)

Do you know what doctors are really saying?

How about tech support people? Or butchers? They’ve all got their own jargon that they use to communicate amongst themselves — or to exclude.

Linguist Daniel Midgley helps you crack the code on …

250: Comma Sutra (featuring Louisa Fitzhardinge)

The Talk the Talk team is taking a break, but Daniel jumped at the chance to speak to Louisa Fitzhardinge, whose new comedy show ‘Comma Sutra’ looks at the lighter side of the use — and misuse — of …

248: Dog Whistles and Dead Cats (featuring Howie Manns)

It’s the political season in Australia again, and the air is filled with the sound of dog whistles and dead cats hitting tables.

For this show, we turn our attention to political language. What makes a good slogan? What’s behind …

246: Yiddish (featuring Ben Zimmer)

Do you know from Yiddish?

A controversial new hypothesis has surfaced about its origins, but does it stand up to the data? And are you using Yiddish words without even knowing it?

Daniel Midgley speaks with lexicographer Ben Zimmer on …

237: Hinglish (featuring Sana Bharadwaj)

Hinglish. It’s not Hindi. It’s not English. So what is it?

It’s a hybrid language spoken by about 350 million Indian people. And it’s getting bigger all the time. But what’s it like, and what function does it have for …

235: Worst Words (featuring Don Watson)

Are our vocabularies shrinking? Is bureaucratic double-talk a sinister form of code designed to short-circuit original thought?

Author Don Watson thinks so, and explains why in his latest book Worst Words. But how does his view stack up to language …

233: Comedy in Translation (featuring Kuah Jenhan)

A joke’s a joke, but is it still funny in translation? How does a comic have to adapt things for different language audiences? And what’s going on in Malaysia’s burgeoning comedy scene?

Multilingual writer and comedian Kuah Jenhan is in …

229: Social Justice Lexicon (featuring Ji-Soo Kweon)

Social justice is a hot topic right now, and it’s commanding a lot of attention both on- and off-line.

Terms like trigger warning, safe space, and micro-aggressions are erupting into the public awareness. So what’s behind these terms?…

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