Subtitle Podcast

FAIN: TR-280393-21

Linguistic Society of America (Washington, DC 20007-2631)
Alyson Reed (Project Director: January 2021 to present)

Production of a twenty-episode podcast season of Subtitle, a series on language and linguistics.

This grant would support 20 original podcasts, each with a duration of 20-25 minutes, culminating in a mini-series of three episodes tracing the history of African American English. In addition, the nationally-distributed radio program, The World (PRX/GBH) would broadcast shorter versions (3-7 minutes) of most of the podcast episodes. The grant would also support Subtitle’s online activity, with particular emphasis on social media conversations aimed at engaging a general audience.

Associated Products

Once upon a hyphen (Blog Post)
Title: Once upon a hyphen
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: A history of the hyphen, from its Latin origins to its many uses today. This episode is told with the help of Iranian-born hyphenated American, Pardis Mahdavi.
Date: 12/15/21
Primary URL: https://subtitlepod.com/once-upon-a-hyphen/

Teach me your song (Blog Post)
Title: Teach me your song
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: Is it easier to sing than speak in another language? Taiwanese-American artist Wen-hao Tien puts that idea to the test by inviting people from around the world to teach her a song in their mother tongue.
Date: 1/5/22
Primary URL: https://subtitlepod.com/teach-me-your-song/

A mother tongue reclaimed (Blog Post)
Title: A mother tongue reclaimed
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: When Julie Sedivy was four, her Czech family emigrated to Canada. Sedivy became estranged from her native Czech, only to rediscover it decades later after the death of her father, and after she became a linguistics professor.
Date: 1/19/22
Primary URL: https://subtitlepod.com/a-mother-tongue-reclaimed/

Why some words are just funny (Blog Post)
Title: Why some words are just funny
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: Why do so many of us laugh at a word like ‘poop’ but not at, say, ‘treadmill’? Psycholinguist Chris Westbury set out to discover the answer. Assisted by an inventive computer, Westbury dreamed up a bunch of non-words (like “snunkoople”), and tested them on the public.
Date: 2/2/22
Primary URL: https://subtitlepod.com/why-some-words-are-just-funny/

‘Manifesting’ the language of self-help (Blog Post)
Title: ‘Manifesting’ the language of self-help
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: Over its long history, self-help has acquired its own lexicon, often repurposing words. This episode delves into the past and present of the linguistic world that has brought us ‘setting boundaries,’ ‘gratitude practice’ and ‘manifesting.’
Date: 2/16/22
Primary URL: https://subtitlepod.com/manifesting-the-language-of-self-help/

The Speechways of the folk (Blog Post)
Title: The Speechways of the folk
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: Since 1929, the Linguistic Atlas Project has been documenting lexical changes in American English. This episode tells the story of the Project, from its early days of interviewing retired male farmers, through its initially clumsy attempts to engage Black Americans, to today’s demographically diverse approach.
Date: 3/2/22
Primary URL: https://subtitlepod.com/the-speechways-of-the-folk/

The language of the outside people (Blog Post)
Title: The language of the outside people
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: For decades, Radio Haiti broadcast news and cultural programming in both French and Haitian Creole (Kreyòl). The Creole-language programs communicated directly with the rural poor—the ‘outside people’—popularizing issues of inequity and corruption. Helping tell this story are Michèle Montas, widow of Radio Haiti’s assassinated owner Jean Dominique, and archivist Laura Wagner.
Date: 3/16/22
Website: https://subtitlepod.com/the-language-of-the-outside-people/

When did comedians start saying ‘punching up’ and ‘punching down’? (Blog Post)
Title: When did comedians start saying ‘punching up’ and ‘punching down’?
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: The terms ‘punching up’ (targeting the rich and powerful) and ‘punching down’ (mocking the oppressed and vulnerable) are on the lips of many comedians. With assists from linguist and journalist Ben Zimmer and British comedian Richard Herring, this episode traces the migration of these expressions from sports to cable news to comedy.
Date: 3/30/22
Website: https://subtitlepod.com/when-did-comedians-start-saying-punching-up-and-punching-down/

Will climate change wipe out French in Louisiana? (Blog Post)
Title: Will climate change wipe out French in Louisiana?
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: For hundreds of years, people living in Louisiana’s bayou country have spoken French. But rising sea levels are submerging entire communities, forcing people to abandon their homes. Will the language survive in this most French of American states?
Date: 4/13/22
Website: https://subtitlepod.com/will-climate-change-wipe-out-french-in-louisiana/

The rare joys of learning Finnish (Blog Post)
Title: The rare joys of learning Finnish
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: Co-host Kavita Pillay, who recently moved to Finland, seeks guidance from other immigrants with varying degrees of Finnish mastery. Among them, an opera singer who finds melody in verb conjugations, and an Iraqi-born linguistics major whose fluent Finnish is sometimes questioned by locals.
Date: 5/11/22
Website: https://subtitlepod.com/the-rare-joys-of-learning-finnish/

Ukraine’s linguistic patriotism (Blog Post)
Title: Ukraine’s linguistic patriotism
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: For centuries, Russians have called the Ukrainian language ‘Little Russian’ and sought to suppress it. This episode traces how Ukrainian survived and now thrives, with University of Washington linguist Laada Bilaniuk, the American-born daughter of Ukrainian parents.
Date: 5/25/22
Website: https://subtitlepod.com/ukraines-linguistic-patriotism/

How the Ojibwe language survived the pandemic (Blog Post)
Title: How the Ojibwe language survived the pandemic
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: How do you keep your language alive while also protecting the health of elders? That’s been the quandary facing many Native American educators during the pandemic. Leah Lemm of Minnesota’s Mille Lacs Ojibwe band relates how she and others continued learning while also ensuring the well-being of teaching elders like her own father.
Date: 6/8/22
Website: https://subtitlepod.com/how-the-ojibwe-language-survived-the-pandemic/

Hello, Goodbye (Blog Post)
Title: Hello, Goodbye
Author: 6/22/22
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: Steve Jobs’ last words reportedly were, ‘Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.’ However, the way most of us part company with language at the end of our lives is more halting and gradual. This episode includes stories from a hospice nurse, journalists covering mental health and internet culture, and language writer Michael Erard who is writing a book about last words and their relationship to first words.
Date: 6/22/22
Website: https://subtitlepod.com/hello-goodbye/

Learning to love apostrophes (Blog Post)
Title: Learning to love apostrophes
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: In New York’s Central Park and elsewhere, Ellen Jovin fields questions from passers-by about commas, semicolons and weird-sounding neologisms. In this episode, Jovin describes her word-obsessed childhood, her love of hyphens, and why a Jehovah’s Witness who once approached the Grammar Table, ‘was not fully there for the apostrophes.’
Date: 7/6/22
Website: https://subtitlepod.com/learning-to-love-apostrophes/

Latin, the undead language (Blog Post)
Title: Latin, the undead language
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: If Latin is dead, why are there meetups of people speaking it? Why is a group of scholars and lexicographers working on what has become a century-spanning Latin dictionary project? This episode seeks answers to these and other questions about Latin, very much a living language.
Date: 9/7/22
Website: https://subtitlepod.com/latin-the-undead-language/

A brief history of death threats (Blog Post)
Title: A brief history of death threats
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: Until recently, issuing a death threat required some effort. Today, anyone with a phone can make or receive a threat. The result is a ‘golden age’ for the dark realm of personal threats. Forensic linguist Tanya Karoli Christensen and forensic psychologist Lisa Warren help trace the history of death threats from eloquently penned letters to casually written social media posts.
Date: 9/21/22
Website: https://subtitlepod.com/a-brief-history-of-death-threats/

Where did African American English come from?: (Blog Post)
Title: Where did African American English come from?:
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: Are the roots of Black American English mainly African? Or English? Or are they found in Caribbean-based creole languages? Over time, each of these theories has risen briefly to prominence. Most linguists believe there is just not enough conclusive evidence for any single theory. Part One of Subtitle’s series on African American English.
Date: 10/5/22
Website: https://subtitlepod.com/where-did-african-american-english-come-from/

How music has shaped African American speech (Blog Post)
Title: How music has shaped African American speech
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: Guest host Ciku Theuri and music writer Jordannah Elizabeth explore the intimate relationship between music and Black American speech, from Cab Calloway’s Hepster Dictionary to Drake. Part Two of Subtitle’s series on African American English
Date: 10/19/22
Website: https://subtitlepod.com/how-music-has-shaped-african-american-speech/

The future sound of Black English (Blog Post)
Title: The future sound of Black English
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: African American English increasingly influenced by Black voices beyond US shores thanks to a combination of migration and social media. This episode considers where Black American English may be heading, with Guyana-born NYU linguistics professor Shondel Nero. This is the third and final part of Subtitle’s series on African American English
Date: 11/2/22
Website: https://subtitlepod.com/the-future-sound-of-black-english/

The precious secrets of Udi (Blog Post)
Title: The precious secrets of Udi
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: Most people have never heard of Udi, one of more than 50 languages spoken in the Caucasus. But when it comes to endangered languages, it is something of a poster child. The history of the Udi people and their language includes an ancient kingdom, an exodus to escape persecution, the creation of a bespoke alphabet and a unique grammar.
Date: 11/16/22
Website: https://subtitlepod.com/the-precious-secrets-of-udi/

The tiny but mighty hyphen: Does it unite or divide? (Blog Post)
Title: The tiny but mighty hyphen: Does it unite or divide?
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: We re-versioned this episode for national radio broadcast on The World public radio program.
Date: 12/23/21
Website: https://theworld.org/stories/2021-12-23/tiny-mighty-hyphen-does-it-unite-or-divide

Learning through singing: This artist wants you to teach her a song in your native language (Blog Post)
Title: Learning through singing: This artist wants you to teach her a song in your native language
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: We re-versioned this episode for national radio broadcast on The World public radio program.
Date: 12/27/21
Website: https://theworld.org/stories/2021-12-27/learning-through-singing-artist-wants-you-teach-her-song-your-native-language

‘Memory speaks’: How to reclaim your mother tongue without having to relearn it from scratch (Blog Post)
Title: ‘Memory speaks’: How to reclaim your mother tongue without having to relearn it from scratch
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: We re-versioned this episode for national radio broadcast on The World public radio program.
Date: 7/29/22
Website: https://theworld.org/stories/2022-07-29/memory-speaks-how-reclaim-your-mother-tongue-without-having-relearn-it-scratch

Radio Haiti finds a new home with a trilingual archive at Duke University (Blog Post)
Title: Radio Haiti finds a new home with a trilingual archive at Duke University
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: We re-versioned this episode for national radio broadcast on The World public radio program.
Date: 5/5/22
Website: https://theworld.org/stories/2022-05-05/radio-haiti-finds-new-home-trilingual-archive-duke-university

Storms and rising sea levels threaten to wipe out French language in Louisiana’s bayou country (Blog Post)
Title: Storms and rising sea levels threaten to wipe out French language in Louisiana’s bayou country
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: We re-versioned this episode for national radio broadcast on The World public radio program.
Date: 8/29/22
Website: https://theworld.org/stories/2022-08-29/storms-and-rising-sea-levels-threaten-wipe-out-french-language-louisiana-s-bayou

Udi, a dying language with its own alphabet, sees a revival in this small Georgian town (Blog Post)
Title: Udi, a dying language with its own alphabet, sees a revival in this small Georgian town
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: We re-versioned this episode for national radio broadcast on The World public radio program:
Date: 12/15/22
Website: https://theworld.org/stories/2022-12-15/udi-dying-language-its-own-alphabet-sees-revival-small-georgian-town

‘It’s never too late’: How learning Finnish taught me to embrace vulnerability (Blog Post)
Title: ‘It’s never too late’: How learning Finnish taught me to embrace vulnerability
Author: Subtitle
Abstract: We re-versioned this episode for national radio broadcast on The World public radio program.
Date: 1/3/23
Website: https://theworld.org/stories/2023-01-03/it-s-never-too-late-how-learning-finnish-taught-me-embrace-vulnerability

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