Joshua Blackburn

Join Joshua Blackburn, creator of the board game League of the Lexicon and author of The Language-Lover's Lexipedia, as he dives into quirky linguistic discussions. Discover the fascinating Baader-Meinhof effect and the only country named after a woman—Saint Lucia. Joshua reveals the peculiarities of convict slang and misquotes like those wrongly attributed to Churchill. With laughter, he quizzes the hosts on unique words and their meanings, while sharing enlightening and humorous language tidbits that will spark your curiosity!

Join linguistics researcher Thom Scott-Phillips, who explores the evolutionary roots of human communication, and game creator Joshua Blackburn, known for the linguistic board game League of the Lexicon. They discuss how our brains evolved for complex language use while comparing it to animal communication. Delight in the cognitive role of filler words like 'um' and sample fun quizzes that test your linguistic skills. It's a fascinating dive into language’s intricacies, cultural quirks, and the playful side of linguistics!