John McWhorter Describes Human Language'...

<p>The American Indian leader Wakara was among the most influential and feared men in the nineteenth-century American West. He and his pan-tribal cavalry of horse thieves and slave traders dominated the Old Spanish Trail, the region&rsquo;s most important overland route. They wid ... Show More

<p>Rome began as a pagan, Latin-speaking city state in central Italy during the early Iron Age and ended as a Christian, Greek-speaking empire as the age of gunpowder dawned. Everything about it changed, except its&nbsp;Roman&nbsp;identity. This was due to a unique willingness am ... Show More

Gunslinging, gold-panning, stagecoach robbing, whiskey guzzling – the myth and infamy of the American West is synonymous with its most famous town: Deadwood, South Dakota. The storied mining town sprang up in early 1876 and came raining down in ashes only three years later, desti ... Show More

<p>Around the world, 2.3 billion people speak English, and for most of them it is an extra, rather than their first, language.</p> <p><br></p> <p>In many countries, English is also used to teach most academic subjects at schools and universities – even where most of the populatio ... Show More

My guest today is someone who I believe, without exaggeration, will help transform the way people learn ancient languages for years to come. While our institutional academies crumble, a new academy is quietly emerging in independent organizations like the Ancient Language Institu ... Show More

<p><em>Why modern communication still relies on ancient words and narratives.</em></p><p><br>All communication and connection depend on one thing: language. That’s why <a href="https://www.fastersmarter.io/guests/laura-spinney/">Laura Spinney</a> says understanding language — whe ... Show More

There are thousands of languages in the world. Some are spoken by billions of people, others by less than one hundred! Which country has the most languages? In this episode I’ll answer that question, look at some of the languages spoken in that country, and try to explain why the ... Show More

<p><strong>Is the Way You Speak Limiting How You Think?</strong></p><p>For years, scientists debated how language shapes the brain, but new research reveals it goes far beyond communication. Some languages lack numbers, grammar, or even complex sentences—yet their speakers naviga ... Show More

It's always a bit sad to hear someone say they didn’t want to travel somewhere because they were worried about not being able to get by in a foreign language. Struggling to communicate can be half the fun of a trip (at least in retrospect!) and we can learn so much from cultures ... Show More

What does the future hold for the English language? And how is technology transforming the way we speak, write and connect across borders?In this episode of Our World, Connected, host Christine Wilson explores how digital culture is reshaping the English language, from the rise o ... Show More

Let's be honest: the concept of writing stuff down is both brilliant and insane. Right now, all around the world, countless people are scrawling or typing messages that may last long after the writer has passed from this mortal plane - in a way, reading your favorite dead authors ... Show More

In this episode, Emily and Lukas dive into the problems with bigger and bigger language models, the difference between form and meaning, the limits of benchmarks, and why it's important to name the languages we study.Show notes (links to papers and transcript): http://wandb.me/gd ... Show More

Despite being the most widely spoken African language on Earth, KiSwahili originates from a people who are shockingly small in number. However, what the Swahili lacked in numbers, they made up for in influence and fascination. Join us for our sixth season, as we dive into the his ... Show More