Best Spectrogram Podcasts (2025)

Linguistic research has its highs and lows: from staging a traditional wedding to learn about ceremonial words to having your efforts to found a village school disrupted by civil war. Linguistic research can also be about highs and lows: in this case, looking at how high and low tones in Babanki words affect their meaning. In this episode, your hos…

1
Week 37, 2025 7:24

Play Pause

15d ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 37, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 36, 2025 7:24

22d ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 36, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 35, 2025 7:24

29d ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 35, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 34, 2025 7:24

1M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 34, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
107: Urban Multilingualism 39:16

1M ago39:16

39:16

When we try to represent languages on a map, it's common to assign each language a zone or a point which represents some idea of where it's used or where it comes from. But in reality, people move around, and many cities are host to hundreds of languages that don't show up on official records. In this episode, your hosts Gretchen McCulloch and Laur…

1
Week 33, 2025 7:24

1M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 33, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 32, 2025 7:24

2M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 32, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 31, 2025 7:24

2M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 31, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 30, 2025 7:24

2M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 30, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 29, 2025 7:24

2M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 29, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
106: Is a hotdog a sandwich? The problem with definitions 33:32

2M ago33:32

33:32

We asked you if a burrito was a sandwich, and you said 'no'. We asked you if ravioli was a sandwich and you said 'heck no'. We asked you if an ice cream sandwich was a sandwich and things...started to get a little murky. This isn't just a sandwich problem: you can also have similar arguments about what counts as a cup, a bird, a fish, furniture, ar…

1
Week 28, 2025 7:24

3M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 28, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 27, 2025 7:24

3M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 27, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 26, 2025 7:24

3M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 26, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 25, 2025 7:24

3M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 25, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
105: Linguistics of TikTok - Interview with Adam Aleksic aka EtymologyNerd 43:47

3M ago43:47

43:47

TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts are an evolving genre of media: short-form, vertical videos that take up your whole screen and are served to you from an algorithm rather than who you follow. This changes how people talk in them compared to earlier forms of video, and linguists are on it! In this episode, your host Gretchen McCulloch get…

1
Week 24, 2025 7:24

4M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 24, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 23, 2025 7:24

4M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 23, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 22, 2025 7:24

4M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 22, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 21, 2025 7:24

4M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 21, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 20, 2025 7:24

4M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 20, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
104: Reading and language play in Sámi - Interview with Hanna-Máret Outakoski 47:57

5M ago47:57

47:57

When we talk about language reclamation, we often think about oral traditions. But at this point, many Indigenous languages also have considerable written traditions, and engaging with writing as part of teaching these languages to children is important for all of the same reasons as we teach writing in majoritarian languages. In this episode, your…

1
Week 19, 2025 7:24

5M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 19, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 18, 2025 7:24

5M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 18, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 17, 2025 7:24

5M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 17, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 16, 2025 7:24

5M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 16, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
103: A hand-y guide to gesture 48:02

5M ago48:02

48:02

Gestures: every known language has them, and there's a growing body of research on how they fit into communication. But academic literature can be hard to dig into on your own. So Lauren has spent the past 5 years diving into the gesture literature and boiling it down into a tight 147 page book. In this episode, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen…

1
Week 15, 2025 7:24

6M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 15, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 14, 2025 7:24

6M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 14, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 13, 2025 7:24

6M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 13, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 12, 2025 7:24

6M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 12, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
102: The science and fiction of Sapir-Whorf 51:19

6M ago51:19

51:19

It's a fun science fiction trope: learn a mysterious alien language and acquire superpowers, just like if you'd been zapped by a cosmic ray or bitten by a radioactive spider. But what's the linguistics behind this idea found in books like Babel-17, Embassytown, or the movie Arrival? In this episode, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch ge…

1
Week 11, 2025 7:24

7M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 11, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 10, 2025 7:24

7M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 10, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 9, 2025 7:24

7M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 9, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 8, 2025 7:24

7M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 8, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
101: Micro to macro - The levels of language 48:36

7M ago48:36

48:36

When we first learn about nature, we generally start with the solid mid-sized animals: cats, dogs, elephants, tigers, horses, birds, turtles, and so on. Only later on do we zoom in and out from these charismatic megafauna to the tinier levels, like cells and bacteria, or the larger levels, like ecosystems and the water cycle. With language, words a…

1
Week 7, 2025 7:24

8M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 7, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 6, 2025 7:24

8M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 6, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 5, 2025 7:24

8M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 5, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 4, 2025 7:24

8M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 4, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
Week 3, 2025 7:24

8M ago7:24

7:24

A summary of the sounds generated by Minute/Year during week 3, 2025By Kata Kovács and Tom O’Doherty

1
100: A hundred reasons to be enthusiastic about linguistics 41:16

9M ago41:16

41:16

This is our hundredth episode that's enthusiastic about linguistics! To celebrate, we've put together 100 of our favourite fun facts about linguistics, featuring contributions from previous guests and Lingthusiasm team members, fan favourites that resonated with you from the previous 99 episodes, and new facts that haven't been on the show before b…