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.
226
Lend Me Your Ears: Julius Caesar
Slate's new podcast miniseries Lend Me Your Ears explores how Shakespeare's works speak to our current political era.
0 min
227
Getting to Yes
The making of our compact, workaday affirmative.
33 min
228
The Story of P
The 16th letter of our alphabet is a fancy little thing.
36 min
229
English Spelling Is a Beautiful Mess
John McWhorter on why English spelling is so frustratingly idiosyncratic.
34 min
230
Did the Founding Fathers Have a British Accent?
What we know about what Washington, Franklin and Hamilton may have sounded like.
34 min
231
No-Uh!
John McWhorter on the rise of an exclamatory syllable in English.
32 min
232
The Inner Workings of Out
The rich complexities of a humble preposition.
31 min
233
Words, For Her
John McWhorter on the origin of woman, girl and other lady terms.
32 min
234
What's the Deal with Eleven?
John McWhorter on the etymology and pronunciation of English numbers.
42 min
235
There Are Two N-Words
Like gangster and gangsta, nigger and nigga have become two distinct words.
32 min
236
The Thing Is Is
The problem is, is that we sometimes say "is" twice. Why?
31 min
237
An Accidental Sanctity
Biblical scholar Mark Ward discusses his forthcoming book, Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible.
31 min
238
Thanksgiving Misnomers
Turkey? Pumpkin? Squash? They're all mistakes.
33 min
239
Sometimes Just Because
Language is often at the mercy of pure chance.
29 min
240
Against Strunk & White
It's time to permanently shelve the Elements of Style.
29 min
241
Whence Baby Mama?
John McWhorter answers questions from Lexicon Valley listeners.
34 min
242
Este No Es Parqueo
After parking in front of a garage, John received a note written in Spanish.
33 min
243
From Pidgins to Creoles
John McWhorter discusses the process by which some new languages are born.
34 min
244
Do Languages Simplify Over Time?
Old English was arguably more complicated than Modern English. Is that true of all languages?
28 min
245
Did Cavebabies Say Mama and Papa?
Languages across the world developed similar words for "mom" and "dad." How is that possible?
28 min
246
New Life for Dying Languages
The Language Conservancy's Wil Meya discusses the effort to revive Native American languages.
34 min
247
In the Negative
The history and evolution of "no" and "not."
28 min
248
Why Do Languages Have Contractions?
John McWhorter explains why we love shrinkage.
32 min
249
The Incredible Lightness of Being
John McWhorter considers the eccentric irregularity of the verb "to be."
26 min
250
Is There a Jewish Way of Talking?
John McWhorter interrupts the hosts of Unorthodox to discuss hallmarks and stereotypes of Jewish communication style.
35 min