One of the really nifty things about stories is how they can explore striking and unexpected ways that communication could be different from what we're used to, whether that's communicating with alien life forms or across space and cultures.
In this bonus episode, Lauren and Gretchen get enthusiastic about some of the linguistically interesting fiction we've been reading lately! We talk about the challenges of communicating with sentient plants (from the plant's perspective) in Semiosis by Sue Burke, communicating with aliens by putting babies in pods (look, it was the 1980s) in Suzette Haden Elgin's classic Native Tongue, communicating with humans on a sailing ship using a sorta 19th century proto-internet in Courtney Milan's The Devil Comes Courting, and taking advantage of the difficulty of translation in communicating poetry across cultures in A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine.
Warning: this episode may make you want to read some books! We don't spoil major plot points, but we do discuss setup premises and tiny worldbuilding details; if you're someone who likes to go into a book wholly ignorant, check out the books before listening!
Listen to the quirky communication in lingfic episode, and get access to 53 more bonus episodes by supporting Lingthusiasm on Patreon.