Language, Culture, and Politics

Language is a lot like love. You can enjoyably lose yourself in both. They can both be dangerous. And they both entail a responsibility to keep each other safe. A new book Linguaphile: A Life of Language Love is both a language book and a memoir, connecting the strands of language learning, language love, and language loss. Daniel speaks with author Dr Julie Sedivy.

Also: Large language models have proven adept at duplicating patterns of language that humans find possible. But what about impossible language patterns? Can LLMs learn those? And what even is an impossible language? Dr Matt Spike explains.

Timestamps

• Cold open: 0:00
• Intros: 0:34
• News: 5:49
• Interview with Matt Spike: 32:01
• Related or Not: 50:57
• Interview with Julie Sedivy: 1:05:34
• Words of the Week: 1:33:33
• The Reads: 1:55:04
• Outtakes: 2:01:21