The Story of Us

What did English sound like during the Revolutionary War? John has a number of fascinating observations about the way the language was spoken back then — including the accents!PLEASE COME FIND US AT booksmartstudios.com — we won’t be on Substack for much longer!!! This is a publi ... Show More

Over isn’t just the opposite of under and off is not necessarily the opposite of on. John explains.Please subscribe to Lexicon Valley to support our show — go to www.booksmartstudios.com to find out how! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subsc ... Show More

The Thai words for fire, die and rim sound an awful lot like the English words fire, die and rim. Why is that? John explains.To help support Lexicon Valley please consider a paid subscription — visit www.booksmartstudios.com and sign up today! This is a public episode. If you wou ... Show More

Welcome to The Story of Language: an original podcast series about language, linguistics, cognition, and culture. In this bonus episode we talk about the state of modern linguistics, including the effects of the replication crisis, scientific fraud, Anglocentrism, and how the und ... Show More

Gen Z slang is rife with new words like "unalive," "skibidi" and "rizz." Where do these words come from — and how do they get popular so fast? Linguist Adam Aleksic explores how the forces of social media algorithms are reshaping the way people talk and view their very own identi ... Show More

Have you ever wondered why we sometimes use "will" or "going to" or even just the present continuous to talk about the future in English? Today, we'll look a little closer at all the different grammatical structures available for discussing the future. 

Today we talk about the late work of Wittgenstein in Philosophical Investigations. We talk about the meaning of words. Augustine's theory. Forms of life. Rules and practices. Grammar. Geometry. Family resemblance. And the role of a philosopher on the other side of accepting this ... Show More

There are so many things you'd miss out on if someone hadn't taken the time to translate them... the best literature, the trendy Netflix shows or the instructions for your medicine. Plus, learning a language so you can have a conversation with someone from another country that yo ... Show More

in which ismatu delivers a free-styled, spoken essay where they realize Grief as a seed blooming their bones. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ismatu.substack.com/subscribe 

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

English is often called a "Germanic" language, and yet huge parts of it come from Latin and Greek. So: what gives? Here's the story of English, in 17 minutes.Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media.Transcr ... Show More

This is the first part of a series of episodes in which I explore what the common assumptions are for language teaching. Today, I'm covering three more questions in the survey I opened, which you can also answer here: https://forms.gle/qAnoxepR2Fdgpnbv6 The questions are: Written ... Show More