David Bellos, professor of Comparative Literature at Princeton University, joins host Krys Boyd for a history lesson on how copyrights came to be, and what happens now that generative A.I. has entered the picture.
Read moreWhy dyslexia gets overlooked
Education journalist Sarah Carr joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the outdated methods being used to diagnose dyslexia — which rely on I.Q. scores before help is given – and the ways students of color are often left behind.
Read moreThe beauty of the bilingual brain
Washington Post columnist Theresa Vargas and Sarah Phillips, a postdoctoral neurology scholar at Georgetown, join host Krys Boyd to discuss bilingualism in our culture and the neurological pathways that allow language switching to flow so freely.
Read moreIt’s giving linguistics: How young people slay English
Linguistics professor Valerie Fridland discusses why she thinks we should embrace our changing language — slang, vocal fry, and all — and celebrate its ingenuity.
Read moreWhat’s a fishwife, anyway? A history of words about women
Jenni Nuttall teaches medieval literature at the University of Oxford, and she joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how words have influenced how we view female roles in society.
Read moreDo animals talk to each other?
Professor and bioacoustics expert Nicholas Mathevon discusses how animals use sound to intimidate, mate, emote and more.
Read moreNever let a story get in the way of good facts
New Yorker staff writer Parul Sehgal discusses why narrative style is so attractive to contemporary readers, and what we must look out for if we want to see the whole story.
Read moreWant to strengthen your brain? Learn another language
Viorica Marian is a professor of psychology at Northwestern University. She explains why she believes we all have the capacity to be multilingual and how that affects the ways we perceive the world.
Read moreTranslating trauma for asylum seekers
Immigrant justice advocate Alejandra Oliva discusses her work as a translator on the border, how it relates to her life as a Mexican-American woman, and what it takes to actually become a U.S. citizen.
Read moreIt’s giving linguistics: How young people slay English
Linguistics professor Valerie Fridland discusses why she thinks we should embrace our changing language — slang, vocal fry, and all — and celebrate its ingenuity.
Read moreWe can all use a little help with our grammar
Ellen Jovin discusses her travels around the nation answering grammar questions, why people are so keen to reveal what they don’t know and don’t understand, and how written language connects us all.
Read moreHow alphabetical order made the modern world
We take alphabetization for granted, but it’s a relatively new way to classify the things we hold dear.
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