Episodes

Episode 1: Uppity Women. In this episode we discuss the dreaded vocal fry. We explain what vocal fry actually is, who uses it (cough everyone cough), and why we judge only women for using it. Carrie and Megan ask you to stop judging women for using vocal fry – it’s a proxy for sexism and anyway, it’s everywhere.

Episode 2: Foul-mouthed Women. Have you ever wondered why swearing feels so good? Carrie and Megan explain what counts as swearing and why it’s so fun to swear. They also discuss what types of words become profane over time and how swearing varies across languages and cultures. Also, they swear a lot. gasp

Episode 3: Southern Fried. Megan and Carrie talk to Beth Troutman about what it’s like to be a Southerner in politics and TV, discuss some Southern American English features, and why it’s uncool to judge regional accents.

Episode 4: Grammar Not-zi. Carrie and Megan talk about prescriptive grammar, grammar peeving, and how most of the rules you were taught about English were made up by a few white dudes way back when. Turns out, prescriptivism is racist, classist, and ableist, and enforcing these rules kinda make you a jerk. They also discuss how they had been trained in high school to be prescriptivists, and how linguistics helped them become less biased.

Episode 5: On the Rez. Megan and Carrie interview Dr. Peter Jacobs, Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Simon Fraser University, where he works on language revitalization. They talk about Rez English(es) (the varieties of English spoken on reserves/reservations), indigenous languages of the United States and Canada, and language revitalization.

Episode 6: A Serious Problem. Do Siri or Alexa have problems understanding you? Learn why, with Carrie and Megan. They talk to Dr. Rachael Tatman about Automatic Speech Recognition (the technology responsible for Siri and Alexa) and why it might be as biased as humans are.

Episode 7: Freaky Fryday. Megan and Carrie chat about superstitions, special numbers and the real meaning of ‘witch hunt’, all while (mis?)pronouncing triskaidekaphobia. It’s the spookiest episode yet!

Episode 8: Borderlands/La Frontera. Carrie and Megan chat with award-winning Chicano Poet Alberto Álvaro Ríos about living on the border between the US and Mexico and between English and Spanish.

Episode 9: ChicaNO? ChicanYES! Megan and Carrie talk with Dr. Carmen Fought about Chicano English, why it matters, and why it isn’t the same as Spanglish. Carmen Fought is a Professor of Linguistics at Pitzer College.

Episode 10: Down in the Holler. Carrie and Megan talk with Dr. Paul Reed, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communicative Disorders at the University of Alabama. They discuss Appalachian English (and how it’s the Southerniest of Southern), hollers, and Jack tales.

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