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.
276
Away in a Penthouse, the Little Lord Jesus
When "hath" gave way to "has," the original meaning of "merry," and other insights from popular Christmas carols.
25 min
277
What "The Wizard of Oz" Can Tell Us About "Arri...
In "Arrival," Amy Adams plays a linguist who discovers that language can radically alter one's perception of reality. But is that true?
27 min
278
Black Like Us
Are the slang, sounds, and syntax of Black English a kind of lingua franca for America's youth?
30 min
279
Language Lessons of Past Presidents
What can we learn about English from Bill Clinton, the two Bushes, and other leaders of the free world?
29 min
280
Whither Didst Thou Go?
How our rich and complex system of second person pronouns got whittled down to just "you."
33 min
281
Why Do People Talk Like That in Old Movies?
What Bette Davis, FDR, and Ralph Kramden have in common when it comes to speech.
31 min
282
Billy and Me Went to the Store. Deal With It.
John McWhorter on what the intricacies of the future tense tell us about the unwritten rules of pronouns.
24 min
283
What Is a Dictionary, Really?
John Simpson, former editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, talks about life as a lexicographer.
22 min
284
The Invisible Language of Nursery Rhymes
What does "Hickory Dickory Dock" really mean? John McWhorter makes linguistic sense of seemingly arbitrary children's verse.
22 min
285
Word Sex
How Words Hook Up and Make New Ones
34 min
286
Should Shakespeare Get a Modern English Update?
John McWhorter talks with author Jack Lynch about the sacrilege of modified Shakespeare.
43 min
287
Are Emoji a Language?
Gretchen McCulloch talks to John McWhorter about the big meaning behind our favorite little pictograms.
37 min
288
Finding Life in a Dead Language
Ann Patty, author of "Living With a Dead Language: My Romance With Latin," talks about her transformative experience of learning Latin.
25 min
289
Rules Are Made to Be Spoken
Rules Are Made to Be Spoken
28 min
290
The Tragedy of English Spelling
Etymologist and poet Anatoly Liberman says that English is one of the most difficult languages to spell. But we can change that.
25 min
291
Your Brain on Profanity
Benjamin K. Bergen, author of the upcoming What the F: What Swearing Reveals About Our Language, Our Brains, and Ourselves, discusses the science of cursing.
31 min
292
Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot!
How an American Revolutionary War figure spawned a new name for a very old game.
25 min
293
The Blaccent: What Does It Mean to Sound Black?
Linguist John McWhorter argues that it makes perfect sense for the speech of black and white Americans to have subtle differences.
26 min
294
A Wild Goose Chase that Stinks from Fish
How did Clupea harengus come to signify a diversionary tactic?
22 min
295
Defecation Presentation
The earliest known citation for “shit show” is from an English-language translation of a 1970s criminal trial in Germany. But what was the word or phrase being translated?
27 min
296
Take This Episode with a Grain of Salt
A phrase with roots in Ancient Rome has confounded English speakers for centuries.
29 min
297
The Full, Firm, Valiant, and Heavy-Hearted Trump
Donald Trump calls people (and publications) he doesn’t like sad. When did that word become an insult?
28 min
298
A British Insult Fit for Trump
A peculiar insult from the north of England has the Oxford English Dictionary stumped.
32 min
299
They Had a Good Year
A pronoun that English borrowed from its Scandinavian neighbors gets new life as a gender neutral alternative to he and she.
35 min
300
The Curious Case of a Conspiratorial Coinage
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo talk about a mystery word or phrase with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
36 min