Gesture is everywhere. We wave our hands when we talk, even if we're alone. Signed languages are, of course, full languages that use gesture. And it could even be argued that emoji are the online equivalent of gesture. It's inescapable. And why would we want to do without it, when it's so useful? So we're talking about gesture and language with Dr Lauren Gawne, author of Gesture: A Slim Guide.

Our chat with Lauren is available on video, so you can see all the gestures! Link: https://youtu.be/kHPgyXhl8Kk

Timestamps

Intros: 0:19
News: 7:42
Related or Not: 23:20
Interview with Lauren Gawne: 44:18
Words of the Week: 1:33:01
The Reads: 1:48:17

It's Eurovision season! We love to talk about what we can learn about language from this international song contest, but even we didn't realise that there was so much to learn. Language choice, language policy, language and gender and metaphor — and all of this has been packed into a unit at Umeå University: Linguistics and the Eurovision Song Contest. Paulette van der Voet and Solveig Bollig are heading up the course, and they're here to tell us all about it… and nerd out with Hedvig besides.

Timestamps

• Cold open: 0:00
• Intros: 0:39
• News: 7:39
• Related or Not: 26:41
• Interview with Paulette and Solveig: 38:53
• Words of the Week: 1:30:08
• Comment from John: 1:49:18
• The Reads: 1:53:53
• Outtakes: 2:02:25

Artificial intelligence (so-called) is typified by its boom and bust cycles, and we're in a boom now. But as more and more money pours in with decreasing returns, we're going to see a shakeout, and hype is rushing in to stoke the enthusiasm. In other words, the con is on.

Dr Emily M. Bender and Dr Alex Hanna are co-hosts of the podcast Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, and the authors of The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want. They join us for this episode.

Video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/wxGeXMzlwng

If you repeat something twice, how many times did you do it? Can more than one dinner be "the perfect dinner"? And what does "every other" mean?

We are once again fixing English, in a live episode in which we pile all our friends into a room and vote on vexing semantic questions. These results are binding on English-speakers throughout time and space, because that's how language works. By committee!

Timestamps

• Cold open: 0:00
• Intros: 0:55
• News: 4:12
• Related or Not: 31:06
• Fixing English: 47:59
• Words of the Week: 1:13:44
• The Reads: 1:34:00
• Outtakes: 1:42:40

Spelling reform in English: a constant failure? Or a secret success? Waves upon waves of optimists have tried to make English spelling reflect its sound and escape its etymological origins, but have never seen their vision fully realised. Author Gabe Henry has chronicled the attempts, and he joins us on this episode.

Gabe is the author of Enough Is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Easier to Spell, available from Dey Street Books.

Timestamps

• Cold open: 0:00
• Intros: 1:44
• News: 9:50
• Related or Not: 32:21
• Interview with Gabe Henry: 49:23
• Words of the Week: 1:33:41
• Comment: 1:50:50
• The Reads: 1:53:57
• Outtakes: 2:03:28

First words and last words get a lot of attention. But how did words get to have such a place of prominence? What would we see if we focused on interaction instead? A new book looks at words, gestures, and silence at the beginning and end of life. Daniel has a chat with the author of Bye Bye I Love You, Dr Michael Erard.

Timestamps

• Cold open: 0:00
• Intros: 1:05
• News: 6:59
• Related or Not: 35;54
• Interview with Michael Erard: 47:56
• Words of the Week: 1:33:32
• Comment: 1:45:46
• The Reads: 1:49:43
• Outtake: 1:56:01

Breaking news: The president of the United States intends to sign an executive order designating English the official language of the USA. Is this a big deal? Why was this necessary, and what happens now? Dr Carmen Fought joins us on this episode.

Timestamps

• Theme and intros: 0:00
• Discussing the executive order with Carmen: 0:56
• Thanks and reads: 47:38

What really goes on behind the scenes at the biggest Word of the Year vote in linguistdom? Are we really going to stick with sanewashing for our word? And which words did we miss? We lock in and crash out with New Words Data Czar Dr Kelly Wright.

Timestamps

• Open: 0:00
• Intros: 0:57
• Words: 6:54
• Related or Not: 59:22
• Comments: 1:19:19
• The Reads: 1:24:00
• Outtake: 1:32:39