podcast #7: jokes from near and far, and how one Finnish word sparked a global movement

The language of humor: is German humor really an oxymoron? Of course not, unless you don’t get the jokes. Germans are trying to break out of their unamusing — and unamused — past. They’re even making fun of the Nazis.  On the subject of horrifying but ridiculous regimes, are Soviet jokes still funny?  They certainly set the bar for dark. And why does the humor of say, The Office overcome language barriers while other comedies remain imprisoned within their own languages? Also this week, I take a look at how two video artists turned an obscure Finnish word meaning “complaints choir” into a worldwide phenomenon.  Listen to the podcast here.

podcast #6: cluster bombs, bomblets and Arizona’s language wars

As 111 nations agree to ban cluster bombs, we consider the meanings of term “cluster bomb.” Also, we begin an occasional series on Arizona’s noisy battles over language and immigration: English is the official language, but Spanish is washing across the border. We’ll hear from from undocumented high schoolers, and from Arizona writer Tom Miller. Listen to the podcast here.

words have their say in guatemala

My buddy Clark Boyd is on TV tonight. If you followed that link, sorry-  Clark will not be cooking under duress , or dancing, or singing (all that ended in whisky-soaked tears on the Night of a Thousand Kilts in deepest Vermont). But he will be sleuthing in Guatemala for PBS’s Frontline World.

Here’s the story: More than 200,000 people died or went missing during Guatemala’s 36 year civil war. In the countryside the targets were indigenous people, killed by soldiers. In the cities it was a different story: the victims were dissidents and activists, and the suspected perpetrators were Guatemala’s national police. Three years ago, the archives of the national police were discovered in a derelict police building in the middle of Guatemala City. Now, with the help of a Silicon Valley non-profit called Benetech, some 80 million documents are being cleaned, scanned, and analyzed. Prosecutions may follow. Here’s the original story Clark did for The World.

podcast #5: Americans’ language-learning adventures abroad and the linguistic sensitives of a Eurotrashy song contest

Citing national security, the Bush Administration now offers grants to Americans to study languages such as Arabic. We travel to Cairo where language schools are full of American students. Also, a conversation with self-described language fanatic Elizabeth Little. And we also take a journey through the linguistic politics - and just plain silliness - of the Eurovision Song Contest. Here’s an example of both the politics and the silliness:  the lyricists of Belgium’s official entry in the contest decided  to avoid either of the country’s two official languages.  Not surprising, given that the country is sharply divided along linguistic lines. But they also decided to reject every single one of the globe’s other 6,000 - 7,000 languages, in favor of a completely made-up language. Listen to the podcast here.

podcast #4: public radio cliché yes, but the obsessions of these people may be saving languages

It couldn’t last. I come from public radio. I just couldn’t resist putting out a podcast on endangered languages. And so after three good, honest attempts at tracking non-endangered global linguistic trends, I spoil it all with this offering.  Despite this moth-to-light obsession, podcast #4 probes some of the weirder aspects of language-saving. First we spend some time a Chilean teen has taught himself the dead language of  Selk’nam. Then we hear from two American linguists who have made it their life goal to travel the globe, documenting as many dying languages as they can. Then we travel to the southeastern United States where a small minority of people still speak - and promote - a creole known as Gullah. Pretty much everyone featured in this podcast is dedicated to language revivial or preservation. Dedicated to the point of obsession - but it’s an attractive obsession.

silvery-blossomed tree in bosnian

My friend and colleague Jeb Sharp is on assignment in Bosnia right now, prepping for a series that I’ll be editing this fall. I’m keeping up with her whereabouts by reading her blog. So, all you ex-Yugos: what’s the name (in English) of that silvery-blossomed tree on the road from Sarajavo to Goradze?

podcast #3: a linguist’s fantasy island and Seinfeldian diplomacy

In this edition of The World in Words, the stories of a couple of people who aimed just a little too high. Linguist Derek Bickerton talks about his lifelong love of creoles and his attempt to create a new language by importing a half-dozen families onto an uninhabited  desert island.  Bickerton’s memoir, Bastard Tongues, is a page-turner, and not just for story of the island experiment he conjured up.  Also in this cast former speechwriter Gregory Levey on how he almost got an Israeli prime minister to quote from a  Seinfeld episode.

podcast #2: putinology and don’t exaggerate on your resume

In this week’s podcast, the focus is on the Russian language.  There are those names of leaders: Putin, Stalin, Medvedev. They all mean - or at least connote - concrete things to Russians. (A lot of non-Russians, btw, have great trouble pronouncing Medvedev. ) Then we enter the linguistic world of outgoing president Vladimir Putin. The man likes to juice up his rhetoric with a mix of 19th century Russian poetry and hardcore street talk.  We end with the confessions of a hopelessly unqualified Israeli government speechwriter whose exaggerated claim of fluency in French is tested at the highest diplomatic levels.  Listen to the cast here.

amazonia

My colleague at The World Alex Gallafent is on assignment in the Brazilian rainforest right now. He’s blogging like a maniac, and he’s shot some video nasties of Amazonian creepy crawlies among other things. Alex has also indulged in some football/soccer trash talk. I emailed him earlier today to find out if Brazil’s news media have come up with anything as good as London’s The Sun on Brazilian star Ronaldo’s alleged encounter with three transvestite prostitutes.   

Another language blog + podcast #1

Just what the world needs, I know… 

This being a podcasty blog, the first post is to tell you listen to the world in words episode one. We have two reports on the words (or lack of words) in national anthems, and we end with an interview with travel writer Anna Brones on the pseudo-language of IKEA. Hear more about the idea of this podcast here.