Bonus 113: Czeching out…the Voynich Manuscript? Deleted scenes from Danny Bate & Claire Bowern

Learning languages and solving linguistic puzzles: two great topics that we’re always interested in a new angle on!

In this bonus episode, Lauren and Gretchen get enthusiastic about some of our favourite deleted bits from recent interviews that we didn’t quite have space to share with you. First, an excerpt from our interview with Danny Bate, host of the podcast A Language I Love Is… about a language he loves: Czech! We talk about learning languages through in-laws, stock phrases, and hidden etymological parallels, and Danny attempts to teach Gretchen the most uniquely Czech sound (ř, the voiced alveo-palatal fricative trill). Second, more from Claire Bowern about the mysterious Voynich Manuscript, including a peek inside her super multidisciplinary class on the topic (which draws on related fields from medieval studies to information theory) and the story of World War II codebreakers who worked on the manuscript in between solving lightning-fast crossword puzzles and the Enigma Machine.

Listen to this episode about some of our favourite deleted bits from recent interviews, and get access to many more bonus episodes by supporting Lingthusiasm on Patreon.

Bonus 107: Swifties, amorch, Melbin, and bloopers! - Deleted Scenes from Adam Aleksic, Miguel Sánchez Ibáñez, and the advice episode

We’ve interviewed lots of great people on Lingthusiasm, and sometimes there’s a story or two that we just don’t have space for in the main episode, so here’s a bonus episode with our favourite recent outtakes! Think of it as a special bonus edition DVD from the past year of Lingthusiasm with director’s commentary and deleted scenes.

In this bonus episode, Lauren and Gretchen get enthusiastic about some of our favourite deleted bits from recent interviews that we didn’t quite have space to share with you. First, an excerpt from our interview with Adam Aleksic about tiktok and how different online platforms give rise to different kinds of communication styles. Second, a return to our interview with Miguel Sánchez Ibáñez for a bit about Spanish internet slang, -och, and why “McCulloch” looks like a perfect name for an author of a book about internet linguistics. Finally, deleted scenes from our advice episode, in which we reveal some Lingthusiasm lore about pronouncing “Melbourne” and imitating each other’s accents and answer questions about linguistics degrees and switching languages with people.

Plus, by popular request: bloopers!

Listen to this episode about some of our favourite deleted bits from recent episodes, and get access to many more bonus episodes by supporting Lingthusiasm on Patreon.

Bonus 95: Crochet vocal tract, grammar is a team sport, gifs, and soy sauce - Deleted scenes from Jacq Jones, Emily M. Bender, and Tom Scott team interviews

We’ve interviewed lots of great people on Lingthusiasm, and sometimes there’s a story or two that we just don’t have space for in the main episode, so here’s a bonus episode with our favourite recent outtakes! Think of it as a special bonus edition DVD from the past year of Lingthusiasm with director’s commentary and deleted scenes.

In this bonus episode, Lauren and Gretchen get enthusiastic about some of our favourite deleted bits from recent interviews that we didn’t quite have space to share with you. First, we go back to our interview with phonetician Jacq Jones, previously seen talking about how binary and non-binary people talk, to speculate about crocheting a model of the vocal tract (PLEASE send us pics if you make one) and a fun diagnostic test you can try right now to figure out which of the two English R sounds you make! (Yes, there are two tongue positions, it’s okay, they sound the same.) Then, we return to computational linguist Emily M. Bender to talk about how Emily’s students made a computational model of Lauren’s grammar of Lamjung Yolmo and how linguistics is a team sport. Finally, we return to our group interview with the team behind Tom Scott’s Language Files to talk about sneaky Icelandic jokes and the unedited behind-the-scenes version of the gif/gif joke. Plus: Lauren tests Gretchen’s lateral thinking about soy sauce versus tomato sauce (utterly failing to disprove the myth that linguists know all the etymologies).

Listen to this episode about some of our favourite deleted bits from recent interviews, and get access to many more bonus episodes by supporting Lingthusiasm on Patreon.

Bonus 83: Themself, Basque ergativity cartoons, and bad swearing ideas - Deleted scenes from Kirby Conrod, Itxaso Rodriguez-Ordoñez, and Jo Walton and Ada Palmer

We’ve interviewed lots of great people on Lingthusiasm, and sometimes there’s a story or two that we just don’t have space for in the main episode, so here’s a bonus episode with our favourite recent outtakes! Think of it as a special bonus edition DVD from the past year of Lingthusiasm with director’s commentary and deleted scenes.

In this bonus episode, Lauren and Gretchen get enthusiastic about some of our favourite deleted bits from recent interviews that we didn’t quite have space to share with you. First, we go back to our online liveshow with fan-favourite guest Kirby Conrod, previously seen talking about singular they and other language and gender topics, about reflexive pronouns (themself vs themselves) and people who use multiple pronouns in fiction and real life. Then we go back to Itxaso Rodriguez-Ordoñez, previously talking about Basque language revival, about how Basque people feel about the famed ergativity (hint: there are cartoons!). Finally, we go back to authors Jo Walton and Ada Palmer, previously talking about swearing in science fiction, fantasy, and history, about bad swearing ideas in fiction and why acronymic etymologies should be viewed with deep suspicion.

Listen to this episode of deleted scenes from recent interviews, and get access to many more bonus episodes by supporting Lingthusiasm on Patreon.

Bonus 71: Parrots, art, and what even is a word - Deleted scenes from Kat Gupta, Lucy Maddox, and Randall Munroe interviews

We’ve interviewed lots of great people on Lingthusiasm, and sometimes there’s a story or two that we just don’t have space for in the main episode, so here’s a bonus episode with our favourite recent outtakes! Think of it as a special bonus edition DVD from the past two years of Lingthusiasm with director’s commentary and deleted scenes.

In this bonus episode, Lauren and Gretchen get enthusiastic about some of our favourite deleted bits from previous interviews that we didn’t quite have space to share with you. First, we go back to Kat Gupta, previously seen talking corpus linguistics, about what interacting with their parrot has taught them about consent. Then we go back to Lucy Maddox, previously talking about combining linguistics and art, about how she balances the art that feeds you with the art that feeds your brain. Finally, we go back to Randall Munroe, previously asking us absurd hypothetical questions about linguistics, to ask him about the linguistics-related question that didn’t quite make the cut for the pages of What If? 2.

Listen to this episode with our favourite recent outtakes and get access to many more bonus episodes by supporting Lingthusiasm on Patreon.