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.
201
Chinese Has No Grammar, Right? Wrong!
Mandarin might not have gender or case endings but there's more to grammar than conjugations.
47 min
202
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
203
In What Order Did Languages Arrive in Europe?
DNA analysis is revealing which speakers traveled where and when.
41 min
204
Digging Up the Past
Let's talk about how we talk about that which already occurred.
38 min
205
Verbs on the Move
Coming and going in languages around the world.
38 min
206
Does PROCESSES Rhyme with KNEES?
How our idea of formality can affect the way we say certain words.
44 min
207
A Bisl Yiddish
Add to German a large helping of Hebrew and a dollop of Slavic. Stir. Let marinate. Enjoy!
44 min
208
Private Parts
What does a rooster have to do with male genitalia anyway?
37 min
209
The Soft Power of Like
Terms such as "like" and "sort of" are ways for English speakers to sound more polite.
42 min
210
Men, Women and Children
What is it with people and animals and irregular plurals?
34 min
211
Zombie English
Long-dead elements of the language still haunt our everyday speech.
31 min
212
Let's Do Lunch
Come table-hopping as we discuss the linguistic quirks of some mealtime terms.
35 min
213
How to Think Like a Linguist
Never mind those 26 letters—the English language has 44 unique sounds.
34 min
214
Has English Gotten Less Complex?
English has shed many of its nuances over the centuries. Take pronouns, for example.
37 min
215
S#!t, Hell and Darn
Dissecting three common curse words.
33 min
216
This Family Speaks 1,200 Languages
From Madagascar to Easter Island, Austronesian tongues traveled far and wide with early seafarers.
42 min
217
Language vs. Dialect
The difference between a language and a dialect is mostly meaningless and entirely political.
39 min
218
The Internet Loves the Exclamation Point!!
A conversation with linguist Gretchen McCulloch about her new book, Because Internet.
35 min
219
Why Is "Ph" Pronounced That Way?
The answer is positively phantastic.
43 min
220
Does Language Affect Thought?
We revisit the popular notion that our language helps shapes our worldview.
44 min
221
A Fleeting Glance
The word "transient" reveals some enduring patterns in English pronunciation and etymology.
36 min
222
The Romance Languages
What an ancient, undecipherable manuscript says—and doesn't say—about Latin and its spawn.
41 min
223
Why Do Some Americans Say Warshed?
The letter R has a habit of intruding on spoken English. How come?
45 min
224
Flores Man vs. Sulawesi
A linguistic mystery in the Lesser Sunda Islands.
43 min
225
The Lingua Francas
A conversation with Gaston Dorren, author of Babel: Around the World in Twenty Languages.
33 min