The Vocal Fries

Two linguists tell you to stop being so judgy mcjudgepants. Find us at https://www.patreon.com/vocalfriespod

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The Vocal Fries turned 9 today!

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I see your True Color(s)

Listen on buzzsprout! Send us Fan Mail Carrie and Megan talk with Kory Stamper, about her newest book, True Color: The Strange and Spectacular Quest to Define Color from Azure to Zinc Pink. Out March 31, 2026! Chatbots and bias Support the show Contact us: Threads us @vocalfriespod Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social Email us at [email protected] Thanks for listening and keep…

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Stop Protecting Chomsky

Listen on buzzsprout Send a text Carrie and Megan talk about the Epstein emails and Chomsky’s correspondence with him. Carrie swears more than usual. Support Tim Brookes Kickstarter Support the show Contact us: Threads us @vocalfriespod Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social Email us at [email protected] Thanks for listening and keep calm and fry on Transcript Carrie Gillon: Hey,…

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WOTY 2025

Listen on buzzsprout Send a text Carrie and Megan talk about the American Dialect Society’s Word of the Year. TACO Support the show Contact us: Threads us @vocalfriespod Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social Email us at [email protected] Thanks for listening and keep calm and fry on Transcript Carrie: Hi, and welcome to The Vocal Fries Podcast, the podcast about linguistic…

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By Hand

Listen on buzzsprout Send a text Carrie and Megan talk with Tim Brookes about his newest book, By Hand, about the importance of handwriting. NBER report Current Affairs WOTY:  6-7 rage bait parasocial vibe coding AI slop maple washing Support the show Contact us: Threads us @vocalfriespod Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social Email us at [email protected] Thanks for…

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Trapped in Makaton

Listen on buzzsprout Send a text Carrie and Megan talk about Makaton, an artificial sign-based system, particularly Sara Novič’s article about it. Support the show Contact us: Threads us @vocalfriespod Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social Email us at [email protected] Thanks for listening and keep calm and fry on Transcript Carrie Gillon: Hi and welcome to the Vocal Fries…

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Scary Words for a Scary World

Listen on buzzsprout Send a text Carrie and Megan talk about random words that are scary or scary-adjacent. facsism eldritch ghost vampire Support the show Contact us: Threads us @vocalfriespod Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social Email us at [email protected] Thanks for listening and keep calm and fry on Transcript Carrie Gillon: Hi, and welcome to The Vocal Fries Podcast,…

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Peven Stinker

Listen on buzzsprout Send a text We have a few things to say about Pinker. Part of the War on Science The Language Instinct Pinker on Race Realism Co-authored paper on overregularization The Open Letter to the LSA The article that Carrie was interviewed for, but not named, about the Open Letter Our episode on dogwhistling The Harper’s Letter Guardian on his appearance on…

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Algospeak

Listen on buzzsprout Send a text Carrie and Megan talk with Adam Aleksic about his new book, Algospeak: How Social Media is Transforming the Future of Language. Bromism and ChatGPT Support the show Contact us: Threads us @vocalfriespod Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social Email us at [email protected] Thanks for listening and keep calm and fry on Transcript Carrie: Hi, and…

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A history of like

[Listen on buzzsprout] Send us a text Carrie and Megan talk with Megan C. Reynolds, Dwell magazine editor, about her  book, Like: A History of the World’s Most Hated (and Misunderstood) Word. Putin and Russian Support the show Contact us: Threads us @vocalfriespod Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social Email us at [email protected] Thanks for listening and keep calm and fry…

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Serving Language Ideologies

[Listen on buzzsprout] Carrie and Megan talk with Paulette van der Voet and Martina Terrazzano, PhD students at the University of Umea, about their class called “Linguistics and the Eurovision Song Contest”. Top 20 Eurovision songs Malta and Estonia Support the show Contact us: Threads us @vocalfriespod Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social Email us at [email protected] Thanks for…

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Rare Tongues

[Listen on buzzsprout] We talk with Dr Lorna Gibb about her newest book, Rare Tongues: The Secret Stories of Hidden Languages. Steven Pinker: Harvard Derangement Syndrome vs. LSA Jews and IQ Support the show Contact us: Threads us @vocalfriespod Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social Email us at [email protected] Thanks for listening and keep calm and fry on Transcript Megan…

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The AI Con

[Listen on buzzsprout] Carrie and Megan talk with Drs Emily M. Bender, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Washington, and Alex Hanna, Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR), about their new book, The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want, out May 13, 2025. Virtual Book Launch May 8, 2025, 2-4 PDT Bender v. Bubeck Inventing…

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Enough is Enuf

[Listen on Buzzsprout] Carrie and Megan talk with Gabe Henry about his new book, Enough is enuf: Our failed attempts to make English eezier to spell. Puerto Rico and English as an Official Language Support the show Contact us: Threads us @vocalfriespod Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social Email us at [email protected] Thanks for listening and keep calm and fry…

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Language Oppression in Tibet

[Listen on buzzsrpout] Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Gerald Roche, Lecturer in the Department of Languages and Cultures at La Trobe University, about his new book, The Politics of Language Oppression in Tibet, language oppression, solidarity, China and Tibet.  LSA’s response to the EO on English as the Official Language of the US Support the show Contact us: Threads us…

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The Italian N-Word

[Listen on buzzsprout] Megan Figueroa: Hi, and welcome to the Vocal Friars Podcast, the podcast about linguistic discrimination. Carrie Gillon: I’m Carrie Gillon. Megan: And I’m Megan Figueroa. Oh, Carrie, are we supposed to be enemies now? Carrie: Yeah. Well, as far as I can tell, yes, we are in the beginning of a trade war. Possibly more than that at some point. Megan: 0h my God. Carrie:…

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matkunsh 7mar

[Listen on buzzsprout] Carrie Gillon: Hi, and welcome to the Vocal Fries podcast. The podcast about linguistic discrimination. Megan Figueroa: I’m Megan Figueroa. Carrie: And I’m Carrie Gillon. Megan: You’re bundled up. I’m bundled up. It’s actually winter. Carrie: It’s definitely winter. Yep. Still haven’t had any snow yet, this fall to winter, but it might maybe come soon. I don’t…