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.
251
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
252
Getting to Yes
The making of our compact, workaday affirmative.
33 min
253
The Story of P
The 16th letter of our alphabet is a fancy little thing.
36 min
254
English Spelling Is a Beautiful Mess
John McWhorter on why English spelling is so frustratingly idiosyncratic.
34 min
255
Did the Founding Fathers Have a British Accent?
What we know about what Washington, Franklin and Hamilton may have sounded like.
34 min
256
No-Uh!
John McWhorter on the rise of an exclamatory syllable in English.
32 min
257
The Inner Workings of Out
The rich complexities of a humble preposition.
31 min
258
Words, For Her
John McWhorter on the origin of woman, girl and other lady terms.
32 min
259
What's the Deal with Eleven?
John McWhorter on the etymology and pronunciation of English numbers.
42 min
260
There Are Two N-Words
Like gangster and gangsta, nigger and nigga have become two distinct words.
32 min
261
The Thing Is Is
The problem is, is that we sometimes say "is" twice. Why?
31 min
262
An Accidental Sanctity
Biblical scholar Mark Ward discusses his forthcoming book, Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible.
31 min
263
Thanksgiving Misnomers
Turkey? Pumpkin? Squash? They're all mistakes.
33 min
264
Sometimes Just Because
Language is often at the mercy of pure chance.
29 min
265
Against Strunk & White
It's time to permanently shelve the Elements of Style.
29 min
266
Whence Baby Mama?
John McWhorter answers questions from Lexicon Valley listeners.
34 min
267
Este No Es Parqueo
After parking in front of a garage, John received a note written in Spanish.
33 min
268
From Pidgins to Creoles
John McWhorter discusses the process by which some new languages are born.
34 min
269
Do Languages Simplify Over Time?
Old English was arguably more complicated than Modern English. Is that true of all languages?
28 min
270
Did Cavebabies Say Mama and Papa?
Languages across the world developed similar words for "mom" and "dad." How is that possible?
28 min
271
New Life for Dying Languages
The Language Conservancy's Wil Meya discusses the effort to revive Native American languages.
34 min
272
In the Negative
The history and evolution of "no" and "not."
28 min
273
Why Do Languages Have Contractions?
John McWhorter explains why we love shrinkage.
32 min
274
The Incredible Lightness of Being
John McWhorter considers the eccentric irregularity of the verb "to be."
26 min
275
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