Slate Debates
A feed from the Slate podcast network featuring episodes with enlightening conversations, opposing views, and plenty of healthy disputes. You'll get a curated selection of episodes from programs like What Next, The Waves, and the Political Gabfest, with deep discussions that go beyond point-counterpoint and shed light on the issues that matter most.
126
This Am a Minstrel Stereotype, Right?
A longstanding mystery of Black English may finally be solved.
52 min
127
When Jews Adapted Spanish
Languages of the Ottoman Empire, inspired by historian Alan Mikhail's new book God's Shadow.
44 min
128
Does English Have a Future?
49 min
129
Defund Karen
On the insults, acronyms and sloganeering of America's racial reckoning.
39 min
130
Beyond the Five Ws
The curious grammar of questions in languages around the world.
49 min
131
Tweety Bird and Toddlerspeak
Language acquisition is like magic—how do children do it?!
44 min
132
Coronavirus: Isolation and Aspiration
41 min
133
Our Indigenous Languages
A luxuriance of long words, baroque case endings and irregular everything—the Native American tongues!
58 min
134
I Just Can't!
Host John McWhorter shares some of his longstanding language peeves—yes, linguists have them too!
43 min
135
The Many Meanings of Too
Host John McWhorter finds linguistic inspiration in an 80-year-old musical performance of Rubber Dolly.
39 min
136
Sicko, Whacko, Weirdo
The -o suffix traces back to old comic strip characters with names like Knocko and Groucho. Neato!
40 min
137
Chinese Has No Grammar, Right? Wrong!
Mandarin might not have gender or case endings but there's more to grammar than conjugations.
47 min
138
From Uptalk to Vocal Fry, Women Are Prolific La...
Want to hear what English will sound like in the future? Talk to a woman.
46 min
139
In What Order Did Languages Arrive in Europe?
DNA analysis is revealing which speakers traveled where and when.
41 min
140
Digging Up the Past
Let's talk about how we talk about that which already occurred.
38 min
141
Verbs on the Move
Coming and going in languages around the world.
38 min
142
Does PROCESSES Rhyme with KNEES?
How our idea of formality can affect the way we say certain words.
44 min
143
A Bisl Yiddish
Add to German a large helping of Hebrew and a dollop of Slavic. Stir. Let marinate. Enjoy!
44 min
144
Private Parts
What does a rooster have to do with male genitalia anyway?
37 min
145
The Soft Power of Like
Terms such as "like" and "sort of" are ways for English speakers to sound more polite.
42 min
146
Men, Women and Children
What is it with people and animals and irregular plurals?
34 min
147
Zombie English
Long-dead elements of the language still haunt our everyday speech.
31 min
148
Let's Do Lunch
Come table-hopping as we discuss the linguistic quirks of some mealtime terms.
35 min
149
How to Think Like a Linguist
Never mind those 26 letters—the English language has 44 unique sounds.
34 min
150
Has English Gotten Less Complex?
English has shed many of its nuances over the centuries. Take pronouns, for example.
37 min