Tag Archives: iTunes
Fry’s Planet Word, Belizean Creole and Steve Jobs’ global speech
Writer and actor Stephen Fry has made a documentary series for BBC TV. It’s a five-part history of language that draws on academic research but is intended for a general audience. Not unlike The World in Words. The pod features … Continue reading
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A grammar for cities, a dying Inuit dialect, and Frank Zappa’s lyrics
In South Korea, the grammar of urban organization is lacking a few key signifiers. I can attest to this. In 2002, I spent three weeks reporting there. Every day I got lost. Or rather, I would fail to reach my … Continue reading
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Does Banning Bilingual Education Change Anything?
Nine years after bilingual education was banned in Massachusetts, educators are still arguing over the effect on students’ language abilities. Massachusetts is among of several states, including California and Arizona, to ban bilingual education. The fear seems to be that … Continue reading
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From Cicero to Lynne Truss with Robert Lane Greene
As soon as I saw the new book by Robert Lane Greene You Are What You Speak, I know he and needed to speak. Not just because we both speak Danish (we didn’t even talk about that). It’s mainly because … Continue reading
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The vocoder, the linguistic robot and the Dead Rabbit
This is how it didn’t happen: Winston Churchill is at home tapping his toes to his favorite Afrika Bambaataa number. The robot-like distortion of the vocals means that Britain’s most famous cigar afficionado cannot make out the lyric. “Hmm,” he … Continue reading
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Language-learning in France and Ireland, and free speech in Tunisia
In France, the government is proposing that children start learning English at age three. It’s high time, they argue, that French educators face up to the fact that learning English gives you — and your country — an edge. Good … Continue reading
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At the BBC, fewer languages and less influence
Like millions of others, I grew up with the BBC. Today I work for a BBC co-production. I’m not a BBC employee, but I’m close to this story. And, um, that’s not me in the picture. I use a smaller … Continue reading
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Beautiful code, ugly fonts, and the architecture of diplomacy
In this podcast, we have a story from California-based freelancer Corey Takahashi on a new exhibit in Silicon Valley that traces the history of computers and their languages. When Corey and I talked about how to approach this story, we … Continue reading
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