66 episodes

Language unites and divides us. It mystifies and delights us. Patrick Cox and Kavita Pillay tell the stories of people with all kinds of linguistic passions: comedians, writers, researchers; speakers of endangered languages; speakers of multiple languages; and just speakers—people like you and me.

Subtitle Quiet Juice

    • Society & Culture
    • 4.8 • 173 Ratings

Language unites and divides us. It mystifies and delights us. Patrick Cox and Kavita Pillay tell the stories of people with all kinds of linguistic passions: comedians, writers, researchers; speakers of endangered languages; speakers of multiple languages; and just speakers—people like you and me.

    The Irish language renaissance

    The Irish language renaissance

    Irish is among Europe's oldest languages. It's a near miracle that anyone speaks it today. Patrick talks with online Irish teacher Mollie Guidera whose students include a Kentucky farmer who speaks Irish to his horses; also with Irish scholar Jim McCloskey who developed a love of the language when he spent a summer living with Irish speakers. Irish is changing fast, with far more of its speakers learning it as a second language, while the native-speaker population declines.



    Music by Elliot Holmes, Zorro,Hugo Paquette, Medité, and Fleurs Douces. Photo courtesy of Mollie Guidera.



    Read a transcript of this episode, with more photos here. And sign up for Subtitle’s newsy, nerdy, fortnightly newsletter here.

    • 34 min
    From linguistic shame to pride

    From linguistic shame to pride

    Israel Jesus used to be ashamed of being from the Mexican state of Oaxaca and speaking the local indigenous tongue, Triqui. When he moved to Salinas, California, a kid in his high school told Jesus he was destined to work in the fields nearby. But it was his knowledge of Triqui that sent him on a different path. A hospital in Salinas recruited Jesus to interpret for the increasing number of Triqui-speaking patients. It's part of an effort in California and beyond to expand medical interpretation to Mexico's many indigenous languages.



    This episode was reported by Nina Porzucki. Music by Alexander Boyes, Blue Dot Sessions, Grupo Sin Control, Medité, and Podington Bear. Photo of Israel Jesus by Nina Porzucki. Read a transcript, with many more photos, here. And sign up for Subtitle’s newsy, nerdy, fortnightly(ish) newsletter here.

    • 32 min
    Easing into multilingualism

    Easing into multilingualism

    Mastering six languages sounds like a slog, right? But in some corners of Europe, it happens—maybe not effortlessly, but more easily than in, say, Ohio. Gaston Dorren grew up speaking Limburgish at home, and Dutch at school. He fell in love in German and picked up Spanish in Latin America, all the while keeping English and French in his back pocket. He tells Patrick about his love of verbing nouns, and Dutch people's unconsciously sexist choice of pronouns. Also, Gaston is a fabulous multilingual (of course) singer.



    Gaston Dorren has written several books including two translated into English. The photo shows him in in a typically multilingual moment on vacation in Turkey. He is reading the German translation of book originally written in English: A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka. (Photo credit: Marleen Becker)



    Music in this episode by Medité, Magnus Ringblom, Podington Bear and Trabant 33. Read a transcript here. Sign up for Subtitle’s newsy, nerdy, fortnightly(ish) newsletter here.

    • 20 min
    How the brain of an improv performer works

    How the brain of an improv performer works

    Does the brain of an improv comedian or freestyle rapper function in a particular way? Is it processing language faster than a regular, lower-improvising brain?  Or is something else also going on, something to do with how we judge ourselves?  We asked our pal Ari Daniel to look into this. He found a group of researchers and a group of professional improvisers working together on some of these questions. 



    Photo of Dutch-based comedy improv group Easy Laughs by Robin Straaijer. Music in this episode by Fleslit, Magnus Ringblom and Trabant 33.



    Read a transcript here. Sign up for Subtitle’s newsy, nerdy, fortnightly(ish) newsletter here.

    • 24 min
    Sugar Sammy’s multilingual comedy

    Sugar Sammy’s multilingual comedy

    A conversation with comedian with Samir Khullar who grew up speaking Punjabi, Hindi, English and French. He does standup in all those languages, sometimes mixing them up. He has toured more than 40 countries, but audiences in his native Québec perhaps see the best of him. That's where he performs a bilingual French/English show called You're Gonna Rire (and now, You're Gonna Rire 2). As a Quebecer/Québécois, Sugar Sammy's comedy exposes the absurdity of language politics while also celebrating multilingualism and difference.



    Photo of Sugar Sammy by Charles William Pelletier/Creative Commons. Check out Sugar Sammy's tour dates here.



    Music in this episode by Jules Gaia, Josef Falkensköld, Stationary Sign, and August Wilhelmsson. Read a transcript here. Sign up for Subtitle's newsy, nerdy, fortnightly(ish) newsletter here.

    • 20 min
    Is Mx here to stay?

    Is Mx here to stay?

    When a word first enters the language, it sounds weird to some, radical to others and comforting to just a few. Only later does it seem 'natural.' So it was with the honorific Ms in the 20th century. So it may be with the non-binary Mx. Today, British banks and utilities routinely give customers the option to use Mx. Will American companies follow suit? And what might Shakespeare have thought? His gender-neutral 'master-mistress,' is arguably more poetic than Mx, but it might be a bit of a mouthful for our times.



    This episode was reported by Leo Hornak and Nina Porzucki. Music by Stationary Sign, The Freeharmonic Orchestra, Podington Bear, Josef Falkensköld and Silver Maple. The photo of performer Justin Vivian Bond, who uses Mx, is by Rhododendrites via Creative Commons. Read a transcript of the episode here.



    Sign up for the Subtitle newsletter here.

    • 29 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
173 Ratings

173 Ratings

cadelarge ,

If you are interested in, or a fan of, linguistics, this podcast is the one!

For the linguists, professional and amateur, among us, this podcast is a must listen. The hosts do a nice job of covering a broad variety of topics and cases in this field of inquiry. As a lover of language, I have really enjoyed how these discussions have deepened and expanded my own understanding, and appreciation of human language. I recommend this for anyone who is like-interested.

Anotherchessaddict ,

Yes please more!

I love this pod and its earlier incarnation, The World in Words. I’ve recommended it to many friends and coworkers too. Among all the important things to learn from the pod is the healthy reset of my view of the linguistic center, as a native english speaker from the USA. But it’s good storytelling and humor too. So very good. Thank you Patrick Cox and Kavita Pillay.

Douglas210 ,

So much fun!

I’ve recommended this podcast to quite a few folks. Listen to a couple of episodes and you will be hooked.

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