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.
176
Chinese Has No Grammar, Right? Wrong!
Mandarin might not have gender or case endings but there's more to grammar than conjugations.
47 min
177
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
178
In What Order Did Languages Arrive in Europe?
DNA analysis is revealing which speakers traveled where and when.
41 min
179
Digging Up the Past
Let's talk about how we talk about that which already occurred.
38 min
180
Verbs on the Move
Coming and going in languages around the world.
38 min
181
Does PROCESSES Rhyme with KNEES?
How our idea of formality can affect the way we say certain words.
44 min
182
A Bisl Yiddish
Add to German a large helping of Hebrew and a dollop of Slavic. Stir. Let marinate. Enjoy!
44 min
183
Private Parts
What does a rooster have to do with male genitalia anyway?
37 min
184
The Soft Power of Like
Terms such as "like" and "sort of" are ways for English speakers to sound more polite.
42 min
185
Men, Women and Children
What is it with people and animals and irregular plurals?
34 min
186
Zombie English
Long-dead elements of the language still haunt our everyday speech.
31 min
187
Let's Do Lunch
Come table-hopping as we discuss the linguistic quirks of some mealtime terms.
35 min
188
How to Think Like a Linguist
Never mind those 26 letters—the English language has 44 unique sounds.
34 min
189
Has English Gotten Less Complex?
English has shed many of its nuances over the centuries. Take pronouns, for example.
37 min
190
S#!t, Hell and Darn
Dissecting three common curse words.
33 min
191
This Family Speaks 1,200 Languages
From Madagascar to Easter Island, Austronesian tongues traveled far and wide with early seafarers.
42 min
192
Language vs. Dialect
The difference between a language and a dialect is mostly meaningless and entirely political.
39 min
193
The Internet Loves the Exclamation Point!!
A conversation with linguist Gretchen McCulloch about her new book, Because Internet.
35 min
194
Why Is "Ph" Pronounced That Way?
The answer is positively phantastic.
43 min
195
Does Language Affect Thought?
We revisit the popular notion that our language helps shapes our worldview.
44 min
196
A Fleeting Glance
The word "transient" reveals some enduring patterns in English pronunciation and etymology.
36 min
197
The Romance Languages
What an ancient, undecipherable manuscript says—and doesn't say—about Latin and its spawn.
41 min
198
Why Do Some Americans Say Warshed?
The letter R has a habit of intruding on spoken English. How come?
45 min
199
Flores Man vs. Sulawesi
A linguistic mystery in the Lesser Sunda Islands.
43 min
200
The Lingua Francas
A conversation with Gaston Dorren, author of Babel: Around the World in Twenty Languages.
33 min