Lexicon Valley
Lexicon Valley
A podcast about language, with hosts Mike Vuolo, Bob Garfield and John McWhorter.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Sep 29, 2020 • 35min
To Reason Why
There's more than one way to ask why. How come? What for?
Twitter: @lexiconvalley
Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley
Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
Sep 15, 2020 • 41min
When Talking to Your Mother-In-Law Is a Minefield
From baby talk to formal varieties, languages around the world offer—or even require—different ways of speaking for different situations.
Twitter: @lexiconvalley
Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley
Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
Sep 1, 2020 • 59min
The Incredible Story of the Traveling Creole
Enslaved people developed a hybrid language that sailed from Africa to the Caribbean and—unbelievably—back again.
Twitter: @lexiconvalley
Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley
Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
Aug 18, 2020 • 53min
This Am a Minstrel Stereotype, Right?
A longstanding mystery of Black English may finally be solved.
Twitter: @lexiconvalley
Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley
Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
Aug 4, 2020 • 44min
When Jews Adapted Spanish
Languages of the Ottoman Empire, inspired by historian Alan Mikhail's new book, God's Shadow.
Twitter: @lexiconvalley
Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley
Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
Jul 21, 2020 • 50min
Does English Have a Future?
Lots of languages have no dedicated way to indicate later-ness. Somehow life goes on.
Twitter: @lexiconvalley
Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley
Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
Jul 7, 2020 • 39min
Defund Karen
On the insults, acronyms and sloganeering of America's racial reckoning.
Twitter: @lexiconvalley
Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley
Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
Jun 23, 2020 • 49min
Beyond the Five Ws
The curious grammar of questions in languages around the world.
Twitter: @lexiconvalley
Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley
Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
Jun 9, 2020 • 45min
Tweety Bird and Toddlerspeak
Language acquisition is like magic—how do children do it?!
Twitter: @lexiconvalley
Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley
Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
May 26, 2020 • 42min
Coronavirus: Isolation and Aspiration
Can strongly aspirated consonants increase transmission of COVID-19?
Twitter: @lexiconvalley
Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley
Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
