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.
301
What's the Deal with Translating Seinfeld?
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo talk to journalist Jennifer Keishin Armstrong about the classic American sitcom Seinfeld and why it falls flat in other cultures and languages.
41 min
302
LinguaFile XIII | Bozo
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a mystery word or phrase with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
24 min
303
The Pollyanna Hypothesis
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss what it means that language has a "positivity bias."
46 min
304
LinguaFile XII | Kibitz
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a mystery word or phrase with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
37 min
305
M'athchomaroon, Zhey Lajak Vezhven!
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo talk to conlanger David J. Peterson about the art and craft of creating languages for Game of Thrones.
41 min
306
LinguaFile XI | Seersucker
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss the origin of the word "seersucker" with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
32 min
307
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo don't know nuthin' about the double negative.
37 min
308
LinguaFile X | Pumpernickel
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss the origin of the word "pumpernickel" with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
35 min
309
And Infinitum
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss whether "try and" is an acceptable substitute for "try to."
36 min
310
LinguaFile IX | Carnival
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss the origin of the word "carnival" with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
26 min
311
Sex Workers
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss the authoress, the usherette, and the editrix with Anne Curzan, the lady professor.
32 min
312
LinguaFile VIII | Quiz
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a mystery word or phrase with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
24 min
313
The Many Lives of Anna Karenina
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo talk to journalist and author Masha Gessen about translating Tolstoy.
36 min
314
LinguaFile VII | Cockamamie
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a mystery word or phrase with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
31 min
315
Exposure to Vape Culture
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo are joined by Peter Sokolowski of Merriam-Webster, Katherine Martin of Oxford University Press, Jane Solomon of Dictionary.com, and Erin McKean of Wordnik.com to discuss their respective Words of the Year.
48 min
316
LinguaFile VI | Grog
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a mystery word or phrase with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
25 min
317
What Does It Mean to Sound Gay?
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo talk to speech scientist Benjamin Munson about the "gay voice."
36 min
318
LinguaFile V | Get One's Goat
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a mystery word or phrase with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
33 min
319
Number Theory
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo ask the question: How did we go from "four and twenty" to "twenty four"?
27 min
320
LinguaFile IV | Snark
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a mystery word or phrase with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
41 min
321
Man on the Street
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo talk to Jonathon Green, author of The Vulgar Tongue and Green's Dictionary of Slang, a 6,000-page, three-volume reference more than 20 years in the making.
38 min
322
LinguaFile III | Orange
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a mystery word or phrase with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
28 min
323
Demonstratively Speaking
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss Sarah Palin's use of demonstrative pronouns.
30 min
324
LinguaFile II | Lagniappe
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a mystery word or phrase with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
23 min
325
The Manic Pixie and the Magical Negro
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo talk to arts critic Nathan Rabin and journalist Christopher John Farley about the phrases they coined to identify two of Hollywood's most pernicious tropes.
30 min