For those who might want to use our episodes in the classroom, we have some suggested topics, with associated episodes:
Ableism
The Evil Sorting Hat of Whiteness Megan and Carrie talk with Dr JPB Gerald, host of Unstandardized English, a podcast about language teaching, race, and whiteness, about his new book Antisocial Language Teaching: English and the Pervasive Pathology of Whiteness.
Accents
Don’t be an Accenthole Carrie and Megan talk with Ethan Kutlu, PhD student at the University of Florida about foreign accented speech (FAS), which foreign accents are judged more harshly, and why we should stop judging FAS.
Ope, Just Gonna Sneak Right Past Ya and Grab the Ranch Carrie and Megan talk with Amanda and Lucy from the Wine and Crime podcast about all things Minnesota.
Your Language Sounds Like it has a Drawbridge Carrie and Megan talk to Dr Sadie Ryan, host of the Accentricity podcast, the podcast that examines the eccentricities of language and identity and how the way we talk connects to who we are.
Everybody Hertz Megan and Carrie talk to Dr Lisa Davidson, Professor of Linguistics at New York University, about the terms used by journalists to describe language and accents (and why they are so often problematic).
Practice Makes Easier Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Melissa Baese-Berk, Associate Professor at the University of Oregon, about native and non-native English and the different levels of effort required to understand each.
What’s in a Name Carrie and Megan talk to Dr Laurel MacKenzie, Assistant Professor at NYU, about all things names.
Accent-uate Your Performance Carrie and Megan talk with Erik Singer, dialect coach to the stars, about what dialect coaches do, how to become one, and his strategies for teaching different accents to actors.
I Ain’t Messing With You Carrie and Megan talk with Deion Broxton about his Baltimore accent, his career and speech therapy, and going viral.
Everybody Wants to Rural the World Carrie and Megan talk to Jeff Zentner, author of The Serpent King (among others), about his YA books set in Appalachia, why he doesn’t use eye-dialect, and why representation matters.
Mara Effin Wilson Carrie and Megan talk with Mara Wilson about her voice, her neurodivergence, and the IPA.
ACTING
To Be or Not to Be (Hamlet) Megan and Carrie talk to Duane Daniels, actor, acting coach, director and producer, aka Principal Van Clemmons on Veronica Mars, about acting, singing and his new book You are Not Really Hamlet: And Everybody Knows It.
Accent-uate Your Performance Carrie and Megan talk with Erik Singer, dialect coach to the stars, about what dialect coaches do, how to become one, and his strategies for teaching different accents to actors.
Mara Effin Wilson Carrie and Megan talk with Mara Wilson about her voice, her neurodivergence, and the IPA.
Africa
We’re Ghana Talk English Megan and Carrie talk with Selikem Gotah, Masters student at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, about Ghanaian English, Ghanaian Pidgin English, and other languages of Ghana. Learn a little about the history of Ghana and the status of English, Pidgin and other languages in Ghana.
Zom-be or not Zom-be: That is the Question Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Jamie Thomas, Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Swarthmore, about zombies, Swahili, and her book Zombies Speak Swahili.
AI
Me Myself and AI Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Emily M. Bender, Professor of Linguistics at University of Washington, about her paper “On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big? 🦜”, Google firing Drs. Timnit Gebru and Margaret Mitchell, two of the co-authors, and the dangers of large language models and NLP.
Alt-Right
Cruz Control Carrie and Megan talk with Maureen Kosse, linguistics PhD student at University of Colorado Boulder, about her paper “Ted Cruz Cucks Again”, the origins and meaning of “cuck”, white supremacy, antisemitism, and the alt-right.
Antisemitism
Cruz Control Carrie and Megan talk with Maureen Kosse, linguistics PhD student at University of Colorado Boulder, about her paper “Ted Cruz Cucks Again”, the origins and meaning of “cuck”, white supremacy, antisemitism, and the alt-right.
Asia
Myanmar? I Hardly Know Her! Megan and Carrie talk with Katie Craig about Myanmar/Burma, the languages spoken there and her organization Myanmar Indigenous Community Partners, which works with local communities to develop and celebrate these languages – and the people who speak them – in developing quality, locally relevant education in order to preserve languages and ways of life as well as to promote equality and social cohesion.
Australia
Two Canadians, an Australian and an American Walk into a Linguistic Conference… What is This? A Crossover Episode? In this special episode of the Vocal Fries, Carrie and Megan chat with Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne of Lingthusiasm about Australian and Canadian English while at the Linguistics Society of America’s annual conference.
Maaate, Don’t Come the Raw Prawn with Me, Alright? Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Tony McMahon from RMIT about all things bogan and Australia.
Living Languages Megan and Carrie talk to Ebony Joachim, at Living Languages, who runs professional development courses for Indigenous communities in Australia, about her work, language revitalization and documentation, and the languages of Australia.
Basque
Basque-ing in the European Sun Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Itxaso Rodríguez-Ordóñez from Southern Illinois University Carbondale about Basque and the discrimination Basque speakers deal with in Spain and France.
Bias
Unconscious Bias Project Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Linet Mera, co-founder of the Unconscious Bias Project, and Lucretia Iruela, consultant to the UBP, about unconscious bias and the Project.
Bilingualism
Bilingualism isn’t just for White Kids Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Abby Bajuniemi about heritage languages and heritage language speakers.
Bilingualism is. It just is. Megan talks with Dr Nelson Flores, Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr Jonathan Rosa, Associate Professor at Stanford, about the bilingual brain, semilingualism, and why people keep confusing them for the other.
Hypocritical Oath Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Elena Costello Tzintzun, a newly-minted PhD, about the importance of using heritage language learners as healthcare interpreters and healthcare accessibility.
Black English and Rhetoric
Black Lives Matter Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Ersula Ore, Assistant Professor in Rhetoric at Arizona State University, about rhetoric, respectability politics, and her arrest near campus back in 2014. Her story intersects with the larger conversation about black life in America, including the story of Sandra Bland. Content note: this conversation includes mentions of rape, lynching and police brutality.
Beyoncé, Hoodies and Obama Linguistics Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Nicole Holliday, Assistant Professor of Linguistics and Cognitive Science at Pomona College about Black English, biracial language, vocal fry, intonation, and the field of Obama linguistics.
What’s in a Name Carrie and Megan talk to Dr Laurel MacKenzie, Assistant Professor at NYU, about all things names.
Linguistic Injustice Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Sharese King, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago, about Rachel Jeantel and her treatment by the justice system and the media during the George Zimmerman trial.
Read between the Vines Carrie and Megan talk with Kendra Calhoun, graduate student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, about anti-hegemonic racial humor on Vine.
Jamaalapalooza Megan and Carrie talk with Jamaal Muwwakkil, PhD candidate in Linguistics at the University of Santa Barbara about African American English and racial justice in university and community college.
The Rickford Files Carrie and Megan talk with Dr. John Rickford, emeritus professor at Stanford, about his memoir, Speaking my Soul: Race, Life and Language, growing up in Guyana, moving to the United States, and his love of linguistics and Black Talk.
Dr G Squared Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Geneva Smitherman/Dr G about her book My Soul Look Back In Wonder, narrative essays about her race, gender, class, and linguistic consciousness as a member of the Black Power Generation of the 1960s and 70s.
Canada
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.
French (Canadian) Fries Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Nicole Rosen, Canada Research Chair in Language Interactions at the University of Manitoba about Canadian French, including Laurentian, Acadian and Métis French. We discuss the politics, history and features of Canadian French, including the distinct features of the variety spoken in Winnipeg.
Two Canadians, an Australian and an American Walk into a Linguistic Conference… What is This? A Crossover Episode? In this special episode of the Vocal Fries, Carrie and Megan chat with Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne of Lingthusiasm about Australian and Canadian English while at the Linguistics Society of America’s annual conference.
The Rock was the Rock before the Rock, b’y Carrie and Megan talk with Tracy O’Brien, literature PhD student at the University of Toronto, about all things Newfoundland. Yes b’y.
Reawakening Pentlatch Carrie and Megan talk with the Working Pentlatch Revitalization team (Mathew Andreatta, Jessie Recalma, Chief Michael Recalma, and Dr Su Urbanczyk) about their work on reawakening Pentlatch, a Coast Salish language on Vancouver Island.
Chicano English and Culture
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.
ChicaNO? ChicanYES! Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Carmen Fought, Professor of Linguistics at Pitzer College, about Chicano English, why it matters, and why it isn’t the same as Spanglish.
Computational Linguistics
Me Myself and AI Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Emily M. Bender, Professor of Linguistics at University of Washington, about her paper “On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big? 🦜”, Google firing Drs. Timnit Gebru and Margaret Mitchell, two of the co-authors, and the dangers of large language models and NLP.
conversation
All Your Meme Are Belong To Us Megan and Carrie talk to Dr. Sylvia Sierra about her new book, Millennials Talking Media: Creating Intertextual Identities in Everyday Conversation, intertextuality, memes, and the tropes embedded in internet memes.
Creoles
No hasi ko’i pendeu Carrie and Megan talk with Keisha Wiel, PhD student at Temple University, about Papiamentu, a Creole spoken in the Caribbean.
Brasse pa lamèrd Megan and Carrie talk with Jonathan “radbwa faroush” Myers and Adrien Guillory-Chatman, members of the first Wikitongues cohort, about Kouri-Vini, aka Louisiana Creole, a French Creole spoken mainly in Louisiana.
(The Language of) Cults
Cult Classic Megan and Carrie talk with Amanda Montell about her newest book Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, out June 15, 2021, how cults use language to entice and keep followers and why cults fascinate us.
Dictionaries
Ha-has and Moonbeams and Yaks, Oh My Carrie and Megan talk with Jane Solomon about her upcoming book The Dictionary of Difficult Words.
Diet & Wellness Culture
Maintenance Baes Megan and Carrie talk with the cohosts of Maintenance Phase, Michael Hobbes and Aubrey Gordon, about wellness, diet culture, fatness and how not to be an asshole to fat people.
Disability and Language
The (In)Visibility of Disability Megan and Carrie talk to Alice Wong, the founder and Project Coordinator of the Disability Visibility Project, and Nina G, comedian, professional speaker, storyteller, writer and educator, about their disabilities and why the voices of disabled people belong in podcasts.
Mara Effin Wilson Carrie and Megan talk with Mara Wilson about her voice, her neurodivergence, and the IPA.
Documentation
Putting the Antics in SemAntics Megan and Carrie talk to Dr Andrew McKenzie, Associate Professor at the University of Kansas, about Kiowa (Cauijoga), language documentation and the importance of semantic documentation.
Be Good and Be Kind Carrie and Megan talk to Dr Ake Nicholas, Lecturer at Massey University, about Cook Islands Maori, language documentation and the importance of teachers in language revitalization.
Living Languages Megan and Carrie talk to Ebony Joachim, at Living Languages, who runs professional development courses for Indigenous communities in Australia, about her work, language revitalization and documentation, and the languages of Australia.
Wikitongues Carrie and Megan talk with Daniel Bogre Udell, cofounder of Wikitongues, about language documentation and revitalization.
East Coast Dialects of North American English
Down the Shore Carrie and Megan talk with Lou Capetta of the Lou Capetta Show with Jay Burke about all things New Jersey, including the Sopranos, the Jersey Shore and water ice.
The Rock was the Rock before the Rock, b’y Carrie and Megan talk with Tracy O’Brien, literature PhD student at the University of Toronto, about all things Newfoundland. Yes b’y.
How Millennials are Ruining the Philly Accent Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Betsy Sneller, Postdoc at Georgetown University about all things Philadelphia English.
I Ain’t Messing With You Carrie and Megan talk with Deion Broxton about his Baltimore accent, his career and speech therapy, and going viral.
Europe
Basque-ing in the European Sun Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Itxaso Rodríguez-Ordóñez from Southern Illinois University Carbondale about Basque and the discrimination Basque speakers deal with in Spain and France.
Calling London Carrie and Megan talk with Issa Wurie, cohost of the Young Free and Coupled podcast, about South London dialects and slang.
Your Language Sounds Like it has a Drawbridge Carrie and Megan talk to Dr Sadie Ryan, host of the Accentricity podcast, the podcast that examines the eccentricities of language and identity and how the way we talk connects to who we are.
Irish isn’t Just Decorative Carrie and Megan talk with Gearoidin McEvoy, PhD Candidate in Minority Language Rights Law at Dublin City University and cohost of Motherfoclóir, about Irish and the law.
Galicious Megan and Carrie talk with Dr. Enrico Torre about Galician and other languages spoken in Spain and why they matter.
Free Speeech
The Freeze Peach Paradox Megan and Carrie talk to Dr Dennis Baron, Emeritus Professor of English at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, about his newest book You Can’t Always Say What You Want: The Paradox of Free Speech.
French in North America
French (Canadian) Fries Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Nicole Rosen, Canada Research Chair in Language Interactions at the University of Manitoba about Canadian French, including Laurentian, Acadian and Métis French. We discuss the politics, history and features of Canadian French, including the distinct features of the variety spoken in Winnipeg.
Neaux French Left Behind Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Nathalie Dajko, Assistant Professor at Tulane University, about varieties of French in Louisiana and the history of French and revitalization efforts in the region.
Brasse pa lamèrd Megan and Carrie talk with Jonathan “radbwa faroush” Myers and Adrien Guillory-Chatman, members of the first Wikitongues cohort, about Kouri-Vini, aka Louisiana Creole, a French Creole spoken mainly in Louisiana.
Fatness/Weight
Maintenance Baes Megan and Carrie talk with the cohosts of Maintenance Phase, Michael Hobbes and Aubrey Gordon, about wellness, diet culture, fatness and how not to be an asshole to fat people.
Galician
Galicious Megan and Carrie talk with Dr. Enrico Torre about Galician and other languages spoken in Spain and why they matter.
Halloween
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!
Bat Signals It’s another Halloween episode! Megan and Carrie talk about bats, wolves and … prairie dogs?
Zom-be or not Zom-be: That is the Question Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Jamie Thomas, Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Swarthmore, about zombies, Swahili, and her book Zombies Speak Swahili.
Heritage Languages
Bilingualism isn’t just for White Kids Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Abby Bajuniemi about heritage languages and heritage language speakers.
Hypocritical Oath Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Elena Costello Tzintzun, a newly-minted PhD, about the importance of using heritage language learners as healthcare interpreters and healthcare accessibility.
Higher Education
Standardized Language Ideology Megan and Carrie talk with Drs. Gaillynn Clements, Visiting Assistant Professor in Linguistics at Duke University, and Marnie Jo Petray, Associate Professor in TESOL at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, about their new edited volume, Linguistic Discrimination in US Higher Education Power, Prejudice, Impacts, and Remedies.
Jamaalapalooza Megan and Carrie talk with Jamaal Muwwakkil, PhD candidate in Linguistics at the University of Santa Barbara about African American English and racial justice in university and community college.
The Language of Love Megan and Carrie talk with Natalyn Daniels, Clery Liaison at the University of California, Berkeley, and Dr. Rose Wilkerson, lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, about growing up on the Navajo Nation, transferring to Berkeley from community college, sociolinguistics, academic English, standard language ideology and the language of love.
Humor
Read between the Vines Carrie and Megan talk with Kendra Calhoun, graduate student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, about anti-hegemonic racial humor on Vine.
Immigration Issues
Megan Squared Megan and Carrie talk to Dr Megan Strom, Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, about the importance of interpretation services in the United States.
The Rhetoric of Xenophobia Carrie and Megan talk to Ben Zimmer about the rhetoric of “infestation” and “invasion” and the history of their use.
Creating Puentes Megan and Carrie discuss the letter to the LSA and then talk with Dr Marie-Eve Monette, founder of Creating Puentes, about the importance of translation and interpretation services and her life as a French speaker living in the US.
Inclusive Language/Singular They
They/Them/Theirs Carrie and Megan talk with Kirby Conrod, doctoral student at University of Washington, about trans language, including pronoun usage and singular they.
Todos/Todas/Todes Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Santiago Kalinowski, Director of the the Linguistics Department at the Argentinian Academy of Letters, about lenguaje inclusivo/inclusive language in Spanish.
Choice is Good; Justice is Better Carrie and Megan talk with Mary-Caitlyn Valentinsson, PhD student at the University of Arizona, about the language around reproductive rights, reproductive justice and abortion.
Word Slut Megan and Carrie talk with Amanda Montell about her new book wordslut: a feminist guide to taking back the english language.
Racists and Transphobes and Scaredy Cats, oh my Carrie and Megan discuss Yamiche Alcindor‘s “ungrammatical sentences” and Latinx/Latine supposedly ruining Dem’s electoral chances.
Use People’s Pronouns Carrie and Megan talk with Ártemis López about queer and trans translation and interpretation, indirect and direct non-binary language and Spanish non-binary morphemes.
Indigenous knowledge
Save the Saguaro Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Jessica Hernandez, a transnational Indigenous scholar, scientist, and community advocate based in the Pacific Northwest, about her new book Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes through Indigenous Science.
Indigenous Languages of Australia and New Zealand
Be Good and Be Kind Carrie and Megan talk to Dr Ake Nicholas, Lecturer at Massey University, about Cook Islands Maori, language documentation and the importance of teachers in language revitalization.
Living Languages Megan and Carrie talk to Ebony Joachim, at Living Languages, who runs professional development courses for Indigenous communities in Australia, about her work, language revitalization and documentation, and the languages of Australia.
Indigenous Languages of North America
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.
Water is Life Carrie and Megan talk with Nicole Horseherder, Diné from Arizona, about Diné Bizaad (aka Navajo).
Chatting about Chatino Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Hilaria Cruz, Assistant Professor at the University of Louisville in the Department of Comparative Humanities, about Chatino languages and Chatino conceptions of death.
Putting the Antics in SemAntics Megan and Carrie talk to Dr Andrew McKenzie, Associate Professor at the University of Kansas, about Kiowa (Cauijoga), language documentation and the importance of semantic documentation.
Chaos and Order Megan and Carrie talk with David Bowles, a Mexican-American author from south Texas who teaches at the University of Texas Río Grande Valley, about Classical Nahuatl and the culture of the people who spoke it.
Reawakening Pentlatch Carrie and Megan talk with the Working Pentlatch Revitalization team (Mathew Andreatta, Jessie Recalma, Chief Michael Recalma, and Dr Su Urbanczyk) about their work on reawakening Pentlatch, a Coast Salish language on Vancouver Island.
Interpretation & Translation
Troublesome Terps Megan and Carrie talk with Alexander Drechsel, Alexander Gansmeier and Jonathan Downie of the Troublesome Terps in this special crossover episode.
Megan Squared Megan and Carrie talk to Dr Megan Strom, Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, about the importance of interpretation services in the United States.
Creating Puentes Megan and Carrie discuss the letter to the LSA and then talk with Dr Marie-Eve Monette, founder of Creating Puentes, about the importance of translation and interpretation services and her life as a French speaker living in the US.
Use People’s Pronouns Carrie and Megan talk with Ártemis López about queer and trans translation and interpretation, indirect and direct non-binary language and Spanish non-binary morphemes.
Hypocritical Oath Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Elena Costello Tzintzun, a newly-minted PhD, about the importance of using heritage language learners as healthcare interpreters and healthcare accessibility.
Language Acquisition
The Kids are Alright Carrie interviews Megan about child language acquisition and why correcting kids’ “mistakes” is not worth your time.
Teach Your Kids about Linguistic Discrimination Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Katherine D. Kinzler, Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago, about her new book How You Say It: Why You Talk the Way You Do—And What It Says About You.
Language and Education
Don’t Mind the Gap Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Nelson Flores, newly minted Associate Professor of Educational Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania about the so-called 30 million word gap, why it is problematic, and how better to think about the language children hear around them.
Bilingualism isn’t just for White Kids Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Abby Bajuniemi about heritage languages and heritage language speakers.
Bilingualism is. It just is.Megan talks with Dr Nelson Flores, Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr Jonathan Rosa, Associate Professor at Stanford, about the bilingual brain, semilingualism, and why people keep confusing them for the other.
Teach Your Kids about Linguistic Discrimination Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Katherine D. Kinzler, Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago, about her new book How You Say It: Why You Talk the Way You Do—And What It Says About You.
Sounds about White Megan and Carrie talk with JPB Gerald, host of Unstandardized English, a podcast about language teaching, race, and whiteness, EdD student and adult educator about whiteness in language education.
The Language of Love Megan and Carrie talk with Natalyn Daniels, Clery Liaison at the University of California, Berkeley, and Dr. Rose Wilkerson, lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, about growing up on the Navajo Nation, transferring to Berkeley from community college, sociolinguistics, academic English, standard language ideology and the language of love.
Language and the Law
On the Basis of Voice Megan and Carrie talk with Kelly Wright, PhD student at the University of Michigan, about housing discrimination via dialect discrimination.
Linguistic Injustice Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Sharese King, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago, about Rachel Jeantel and her treatment by the justice system and the media during the George Zimmerman trial.
Reid between the Lines Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Marianne Mason, newly minted Associate Professor of Spanish at James Madison University, about police interviews, the Reid technique, and linguistics and the law.
Language and policing
Reid between the Lines Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Marianne Mason, newly minted Associate Professor of Spanish at James Madison University, about police interviews, the Reid technique, and linguistics and the law.
Language and Technology
A Sirious 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.
There Is No Try, There Is Only Du…olingo Carrie and Megan talk with Joan Palmiter Bajorek, PhD candidate at the University of Arizona, about the issues around learning a second language via educational technology.
Me Myself and AI Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Emily M. Bender, Professor of Linguistics at University of Washington, about her paper “On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big? 🦜”, Google firing Drs. Timnit Gebru and Margaret Mitchell, two of the co-authors, and the dangers of large language models and NLP.
Language and the Workplace
Cheaper Than Therapy Megan and Carrie chat with Dr Anna Marie Trester, founder of Career Linguist, about the importance of linguistics to the workplace. (Employers: you need us!)
Latinx/Latine
Don’t Mind the Gap Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Nelson Flores, newly minted Associate Professor of Educational Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania about the so-called 30 million word gap, why it is problematic, and how better to think about the language children hear around them.
Todos/Todas/Todes Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Santiago Kalinowski, Director of the the Linguistics Department at the Argentinian Academy of Letters, about lenguaje inclusivo/inclusive language in Spanish.
Latino Threat Narrative Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Matthew Garley, Assistant Professor at CUNY, York College, about the use of Spanish and Spanglish in rap.
Bilingualism isn’t just for White Kids Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Abby Bajuniemi about heritage languages and heritage language speakers.
Looking Like a Language, Sounding like a Podcast Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Jonathan Rosa, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics at Stanford University, about his forthcoming book Looking Like a Language, Sounding Like a Race.
Racists and Transphobes and Scaredy Cats, oh my Carrie and Megan discuss Yamiche Alcindor‘s “ungrammatical sentences” and Latinx/Latine supposedly ruining Dem’s electoral chances.
Hypocritical Oath Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Elena Costello Tzintzun, a newly-minted PhD, about the importance of using heritage language learners as healthcare interpreters and healthcare accessibility.
Louisiana
Means Doesn’t Rhyme with New Orleans Megan and Carrie talk with Lisa Sprowls, PhD student at Tulane University about New Orleans English(es), especially Yat and the Garden District dialects, and speakers perception of New Orleans dialects.
Neaux French Left Behind Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Nathalie Dajko, Assistant Professor at Tulane University, about varieties of French in Louisiana and the history of French and revitalization efforts in the region.
Brasse pa lamèrd Megan and Carrie talk with Jonathan “radbwa faroush” Myers and Adrien Guillory-Chatman, members of the first Wikitongues cohort, about Kouri-Vini, aka Louisiana Creole, a French Creole spoken mainly in Louisiana.
Masculinity
Trumped Up Masculinity Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Norma Mendoza-Denton Professor of Anthropology at UCLA, about her new edited book, Language in the Trump Era.
Memes
All Your Meme Are Belong To Us Megan and Carrie talk to Dr. Sylvia Sierra about her new book, Millennials Talking Media: Creating Intertextual Identities in Everyday Conversation, intertextuality, memes, and the tropes embedded in internet memes.
Minnesota
Ope, Just Gonna Sneak Right Past Ya and Grab the Ranch Carrie and Megan talk with Amanda and Lucy from the Wine and Crime podcast about all things Minnesota.
Misc
Third Time’s the Charm It’s the Fries 3-year anniversary! Carrie and Megan respond to listener voicemails about linguistic discrimination.
“Moist”
The Moist Towelette of Podcasts Megan and Carrie talk with Kory Stamper, lexicographer extraordinaire, about lexicography, her experience on the History of Swear Words, and her favourite swear word.
Calling London Carrie and Megan talk with Issa Wurie, cohost of the Young Free and Coupled podcast, about South London dialects and slang.
Music
Rock ‘n’ Rhotic Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Bob Kennedy of the University of California, Santa Barbara about accents in song, including which accents are associated with which genres, appropriation of those accents, and r’s.
Latino Threat Narrative Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Matthew Garley, Assistant Professor at CUNY, York College, about the use of Spanish and Spanglish in rap.
Snap, Crackle, K-Pop Carrie and Megan talk with Dr. Joyhanna Yoo Garza, postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard, about KPop, semiotics, cultural appropriation, and Ali Wong.
New Zealand
Be Good and Be Kind Carrie and Megan talk to Dr Ake Nicholas, Lecturer at Massey University, about Cook Islands Maori, language documentation and the importance of teachers in language revitalization.
NLP
Me Myself and AI Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Emily M. Bender, Professor of Linguistics at University of Washington, about her paper “On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big? 🦜”, Google firing Drs. Timnit Gebru and Margaret Mitchell, two of the co-authors, and the dangers of large language models and NLP.
Prescriptive Grammar
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.
Literally Exploding with Nerd Rage Megan and Carrie discuss Time’s/The Muse’s list of “bad” words. HEAVY SIGH.
Standardized Language Ideology Megan and Carrie talk with Drs. Gaillynn Clements, Visiting Assistant Professor in Linguistics at Duke University, and Marnie Jo Petray, Associate Professor in TESOL at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, about their new edited volume, Linguistic Discrimination in US Higher Education Power, Prejudice, Impacts, and Remedies.
Jamaalapalooza Megan and Carrie talk with Jamaal Muwwakkil, PhD candidate in Linguistics at the University of Santa Barbara about African American English and racial justice in university and community college.
The Language of Love Megan and Carrie talk with Natalyn Daniels, Clery Liaison at the University of California, Berkeley, and Dr. Rose Wilkerson, lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, about growing up on the Navajo Nation, transferring to Berkeley from community college, sociolinguistics, academic English, standard language ideology and the language of love.
Make Grammar Cool Again Megan and Carrie talk with Drs Andreea Calude and Laurie Bauer about their new textbook Mysteries of English Grammar: A Guide to Complexities of the English Language and their edited volume Questions about Language: What Everybody Should Know about Language in the 21st Century.
Pronouns
They/Them/Theirs Carrie and Megan talk with Kirby Conrod, doctoral student at University of Washington, about trans language, including pronoun usage and singular they.
Use People’s Pronouns Carrie and Megan talk with Ártemis López about queer and trans translation and interpretation, indirect and direct non-binary language and Spanish non-binary morphemes.
Pronunciation
Between Iraq and a Hard Place Carrie and Megan talk to Dr Zachary Jaggers, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Oregon, about differences in pronunciation of borrowings and what they tell us (or don’t tell us) about people’s political leanings.
What’s in a Name Carrie and Megan talk to Dr Laurel MacKenzie, Assistant Professor at NYU, about all things names.
Racism & Xenophobia
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.
Black Lives Matter Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Ersula Ore, Assistant Professor in Rhetoric at Arizona State University, about rhetoric, respectability politics, and her arrest near campus back in 2014. Her story intersects with the larger conversation about black life in America, including the story of Sandra Bland. Content note: this conversation includes mentions of rape, lynching and police brutality.
Don’t be an Accenthole Carrie and Megan talk with Ethan Kutlu, PhD student at the University of Florida about foreign accented speech (FAS), which foreign accents are judged more harshly, and why we should stop judging FAS.
Latino Threat Narrative Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Matthew Garley, Assistant Professor at CUNY, York College, about the use of Spanish and Spanglish in rap.
The Rhetoric of Xenophobia Carrie and Megan talk to Ben Zimmer about the rhetoric of “infestation” and “invasion” and the history of their use.
Beyoncé, Hoodies and Obama Linguistics Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Nicole Holliday, Assistant Professor of Linguistics and Cognitive Science at Pomona College about Black English, biracial language, vocal fry, intonation, and the field of Obama linguistics.
Bilingualism isn’t just for White Kids Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Abby Bajuniemi about heritage languages and heritage language speakers.
Zom-be or not Zom-be: That is the Question Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Jamie Thomas, Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Swarthmore, about zombies, Swahili, and her book Zombies Speak Swahili.
Be Good and Be Kind Carrie and Megan talk to Dr Ake Nicholas, Lecturer at Massey University, about Cook Islands Maori, language documentation and the importance of teachers in language revitalization.
Between Iraq and a Hard Place Carrie and Megan talk to Dr Zachary Jaggers, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Oregon, about differences in pronunciation of borrowings and what they tell us (or don’t tell us) about people’s political leanings.
Living Languages Megan and Carrie talk to Ebony Joachim, at Living Languages, who runs professional development courses for Indigenous communities in Australia, about her work, language revitalization and documentation, and the languages of Australia.
Practice Makes Easier Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Melissa Baese-Berk, Associate Professor at the University of Oregon, about native and non-native English and the different levels of effort required to understand each.
Linguistic Injustice Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Sharese King, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago, about Rachel Jeantel and her treatment by the justice system and the media during the George Zimmerman trial.
Read between the Vines Carrie and Megan talk with Kendra Calhoun, graduate student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, about anti-hegemonic racial humor on Vine.
Dismantling White Supremacy Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Anne Charity Hudley, Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, about how to dismantle white supremacy in linguistics.
Teach Your Kids about Linguistic Discrimination Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Katherine D. Kinzler, Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago, about her new book How You Say It: Why You Talk the Way You Do—And What It Says About You.
Sounds about White Megan and Carrie talk with JPB Gerald, host of Unstandardized English, a podcast about language teaching, race, and whiteness, EdD student and adult educator about whiteness in language education.
Racists and Transphobes and Scaredy Cats, oh my Carrie and Megan discuss Yamiche Alcindor‘s “ungrammatical sentences” and Latinx/Latine supposedly ruining Dem’s electoral chances.
Jamaalapalooza Megan and Carrie talk with Jamaal Muwwakkil, PhD candidate in Linguistics at the University of Santa Barbara about African American English and racial justice in university and community college.
I Ain’t Messing With You Carrie and Megan talk with Deion Broxton about his Baltimore accent, his career and speech therapy, and going viral.
The Language of Love Megan and Carrie talk with Natalyn Daniels, Clery Liaison at the University of California, Berkeley, and Dr. Rose Wilkerson, lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, about growing up on the Navajo Nation, transferring to Berkeley from community college, sociolinguistics, academic English, standard language ideology and the language of love.
All Your Meme Are Belong To Us Megan and Carrie talk to Dr. Sylvia Sierra about her new book, Millennials Talking Media: Creating Intertextual Identities in Everyday Conversation, intertextuality, memes, and the tropes embedded in internet memes.
Chocolate City Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Jessi Grieser about her new book, The Black Side of the River, DC, Tennessee and the way Black residents of Anacostia talk about their neighborhood and themselves.
The Rickford Files Carrie and Megan talk with Dr. John Rickford, emeritus professor at Stanford, about his memoir, Speaking my Soul: Race, Life and Language, growing up in Guyana, moving to the United States, and his love of linguistics and Black Talk.
Cruz Control Carrie and Megan talk with Maureen Kosse, linguistics PhD student at University of Colorado Boulder, about her paper “Ted Cruz Cucks Again”, the origins and meaning of “cuck”, white supremacy, antisemitism, and the alt-right.
Rhetoric
Black Lives Matter Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Ersula Ore, Assistant Professor in Rhetoric at Arizona State University, about rhetoric, respectability politics, and her arrest near campus back in 2014. Her story intersects with the larger conversation about black life in America, including the story of Sandra Bland. Content note: this conversation includes mentions of rape, lynching and police brutality.
The Rhetoric of Xenophobia Carrie and Megan talk to Ben Zimmer about the rhetoric of “infestation” and “invasion” and the history of their use.
Trumped Up Masculinity Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Norma Mendoza-Denton Professor of Anthropology at UCLA, about her new edited book, Language in the Trump Era.
Semiotics
Snap, Crackle, K-Pop Carrie and Megan talk with Dr. Joyhanna Yoo Garza, postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard, about KPop, semiotics, cultural appropriation, and Ali Wong.
Cruz Control Carrie and Megan talk with Maureen Kosse, linguistics PhD student at University of Colorado Boulder, about her paper “Ted Cruz Cucks Again”, the origins and meaning of “cuck”, white supremacy, antisemitism, and the alt-right.
Sexism
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.
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
Learning to Love Like Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Alexandra D’Arcy Associate Professor at the University of Victoria, Director of the Sociolinguistics Research Lab and author of “Discourse-Pragmatic Variation in Context: Eight Hundred Years of like” about the many guises of “like”. Learn why “like” is useful and older than you think it is.
Keep Calm and Fry On Megan and Carrie discuss their first year of podcasting, what they’ve learned from the experience, and how vocal fry will haunt them forever.
Choice is Good; Justice is Better Carrie and Megan talk with Mary-Caitlyn Valentinsson, PhD student at the University of Arizona, about the language around reproductive rights, reproductive justice and abortion.
Word Slut Megan and Carrie talk with Amanda Montell about her new book wordslut: a feminist guide to taking back the english language.
Cheaper Than Therapy Megan and Carrie chat with Dr Anna Marie Trester, founder of Career Linguist, about the importance of linguistics to the workplace. (Employers: you need us!)
What’s in a Name Carrie and Megan talk to Dr Laurel MacKenzie, Assistant Professor at NYU, about all things names.
All Your Meme Are Belong To Us Megan and Carrie talk to Dr. Sylvia Sierra about her new book, Millennials Talking Media: Creating Intertextual Identities in Everyday Conversation, intertextuality, memes, and the tropes embedded in internet memes.
Mara Effin Wilson Carrie and Megan talk with Mara Wilson about her voice, her neurodivergence, and the IPA.
John Mary Bill Sue Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Hadas Kotek, a linguist at Apple, about two of her papers: Gender bias in linguistics textbooks: Has anything changed since Macaulay & Brice 1997? and Gender bias and stereotypes in linguistic example sentences.
The Duct Tape of Language Carrie and Megan talk with Sarah Marshall about bimbos, vocal fry, the word “like” and many other things.
Southern American English
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.
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.
Everybody Wants to Rural the World Carrie and Megan talk to Jeff Zentner, author of The Serpent King (among others), about his YA books set in Appalachia, why he doesn’t use eye-dialect, and why representation matters.
Swearing
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
The Moist Towelette of Podcasts Megan and Carrie talk with Kory Stamper, lexicographer extraordinaire, about lexicography, her experience on the History of Swear Words, and her favourite swear word.
The UK
Calling London Carrie and Megan talk with Issa Wurie, cohost of the Young Free and Coupled podcast, about South London dialects and slang.
Your Language Sounds Like it has a Drawbridge Carrie and Megan talk to Dr Sadie Ryan, host of the Accentricity podcast, the podcast that examines the eccentricities of language and identity and how the way we talk connects to who we are.
Trans Linguistics
They/Them/Theirs Carrie and Megan talk with Kirby Conrod, doctoral student at University of Washington, about trans language, including pronoun usage and singular they.
Lal-apolooza Megan and Carrie talk to Dr Lal Zimman, Assistant Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, about trans voices and vocal fry.
Racists and Transphobes and Scaredy Cats, oh my Carrie and Megan discuss Yamiche Alcindor‘s “ungrammatical sentences” and Latinx/Latine supposedly ruining Dem’s electoral chances.
Use People’s Pronouns Carrie and Megan talk with Ártemis López about queer and trans translation and interpretation, indirect and direct non-binary language and Spanish non-binary morphemes.
Vocal Fry
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.
Keep Calm and Fry On Megan and Carrie discuss their first year of podcasting, what they’ve learned from the experience, and how vocal fry will haunt them forever.
Salt Fat Acid SHADE Megan and Carrie answer your questions about jerk linguists, the alt right and vocal fry.
Beyoncé, Hoodies and Obama Linguistics Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Nicole Holliday, Assistant Professor of Linguistics and Cognitive Science at Pomona College about Black English, biracial language, vocal fry, intonation, and the field of Obama linguistics.
Everybody Hertz Megan and Carrie talk to Dr Lisa Davidson, Professor of Linguistics at New York University, about the terms used by journalists to describe language and accents (and why they are so often problematic).
The Duct Tape of Language Carrie and Megan talk with Sarah Marshall about bimbos, vocal fry, the word “like” and many other things.
White Supremacy
Dismantling White Supremacy Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Anne Charity Hudley, Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, about how to dismantle white supremacy in linguistics.
Sounds about White Megan and Carrie talk with JPB Gerald, host of Unstandardized English, a podcast about language teaching, race, and whiteness, EdD student and adult educator about whiteness in language education.
Jamaalapalooza Megan and Carrie talk with Jamaal Muwwakkil, PhD candidate in Linguistics at the University of Santa Barbara about African American English and racial justice in university and community college.
The Language of Love Megan and Carrie talk with Natalyn Daniels, Clery Liaison at the University of California, Berkeley, and Dr. Rose Wilkerson, lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, about growing up on the Navajo Nation, transferring to Berkeley from community college, sociolinguistics, academic English, standard language ideology and the language of love.
Cruz Control Carrie and Megan talk with Maureen Kosse, linguistics PhD student at University of Colorado Boulder, about her paper “Ted Cruz Cucks Again”, the origins and meaning of “cuck”, white supremacy, antisemitism, and the alt-right.
Whiteness
Sounds about White Megan and Carrie talk with JPB Gerald, host of Unstandardized English, a podcast about language teaching, race, and whiteness, EdD student and adult educator about whiteness in language education.
The Evil Sorting Hat of Whiteness Megan and Carrie talk with Dr JPB Gerald, host of Unstandardized English, a podcast about language teaching, race, and whiteness, about his new book Antisocial Language Teaching: English and the Pervasive Pathology of Whiteness.
Cruz Control Carrie and Megan talk with Maureen Kosse, linguistics PhD student at University of Colorado Boulder, about her paper “Ted Cruz Cucks Again”, the origins and meaning of “cuck”, white supremacy, antisemitism, and the alt-right.
Word of the Year
Abso-2020-lutely Carrie and Megan discuss the nominations and winners of the American Dialect Society’s Word of the Year for 2020.
The Vocal Fries Pod 