Red Pen: A Grammar Podcast

Latest Episodes:

What. The. F*ck. Jul 10, 2024

Show notes

Prepare to be scandalized. Oh, your stars!
Questions/comments/ideas/snark go in the comments. We love you.
Thing 1: Ryan Davis
Thing 2: Mike Laws
Producer: Amanda Darrach
Find all your favorite Red Pen songs over on the Red Pen Official Playlist.
To use Red Pen chapters, swipe up on the Now Playing screen or click the top-right-corner Chapters button on Apple Podcasts for macOS.
Show Notes
The Science of Curse Words: Why The &@$! Do We Swear?, John-Erik Jordan, Babbel

Verily Varying Verbs Jun 04, 2024

Show notes

How to crack the attention economy? Coldcock your readers.
Questions/comments/ideas/snark go in the comments. We love you.
Thing 1: Ryan Davis
Thing 2: Mike Laws
Producer: Amanda Darrach
Find all your favorite Red Pen songs over on the Red Pen Official Playlist.
To use Red Pen chapters, swipe up on the Now Playing screen or click the top-right-corner Chapters button on Apple Podcasts for macOS.
Show Notes:
Breaking the Laws, Mike on Nabokov, Red Pen S2 E8
Dangler Untangler: Make those modifiers sing, Mike on dangling modifiers, Red Pen S1 E5

BONUS: Red Pen at the Movies May 01, 2024

Show notes

Come for the critical reappraisal of ‘Shakespeare in Love,’ stay for Mike’s shocking revelation. Anon, good nurse!
Questions/comments/ideas/snark go in the comments. We love you.
Thing 1: Ryan Davis
Thing 2: Mike Laws
Producer: Amanda Darrach
Find all your favorite Red Pen songs over on the Red Pen Official Playlist.
To use Red Pen chapters, swipe up on the Now Playing screen or click the top-right-corner Chapters button on Apple Podcasts for macOS.
Show Notes:
The Duchess of Malfi, John Webster
Tamburlaine the Great, Part I, Christopher Marlowe

Odds’n’Sods Apr 17, 2024

Show notes

Oh, boy, are the “stick to the topic” ppl gonna love this one.
Questions/comments/ideas/snark go in the comments. We love you.
Thing 1: Ryan Davis
Thing 2: Mike Laws
Producer: Amanda Darrach
Find all your favorite Red Pen songs over on the Red Pen Official Playlist.
To use Red Pen chapters, swipe up on the Now Playing screen or click the top-right-corner Chapters button on Apple Podcasts for macOS.
Show Notes:
Underworld podcast episode on Medellin
Vladimir Nabokov: Heat Seeker, Mike Laws, The Village Voice
A Brief Oral History of Wayne Barrett, the First Journalist to Doggedly Cover Donald Trump, Tricia Romano, Vanity Fair

Breaking the Laws Mar 29, 2024

Show notes

When, whether, and how often. With a little help from Humbert Humbert.
Questions/comments/ideas/snark go in the comments. We love you.
Thing 1: Ryan Davis
Thing 2: Mike Laws
Producer: Amanda Darrach
Find all your favorite Red Pen songs over on the Red Pen Official Playlist.
To use Red Pen chapters, swipe up on the Now Playing screen or click the top-right-corner Chapters button on Apple Podcasts for macOS.
Show Notes:
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov on Google Books
A Teen’s Fatal Plunge Into the London Underworld, Patrick Radden Keefe, The New Yorker

Finest Points Mar 06, 2024

Show notes

Or: How I learned to stop worrying and love nuance.
Questions/comments/ideas/snark go in the comments. We love you.

Thing 1: Ryan Davis

Thing 2: Mike Laws

Producer: Amanda Darrach
Find all your favorite Red Pen songs over on the Red Pen Official Playlist.
To use Red Pen chapters, swipe up on the Now Playing screen or click the top-right-corner Chapters button on Apple Podcasts for macOS.

Past, Perfect Feb 21, 2024

Show notes

You best believe we seen this trend.

Questions/comments/ideas/snark go in the comments. We love you.

Thing 1: Ryan Davis

Thing 2: Mike Laws

Top 5! Feb 02, 2024

Show notes

In which Mike finally reads the comments.
Questions/comments/ideas/snark go in the comments. We love you.
Thing 1: Ryan Davis
Thing 2: Mike Laws
Producer: Amanda Darrach
Find all your favorite Red Pen songs over on the Red Pen Official Playlist.
To use Red Pen chapters, swipe up on the Now Playing screen or click the top-right-corner Chapters button on Apple Podcasts for macOS.

Ergative Zones Jan 10, 2024

Show notes

How Padma Lakshmi schooled us all on the "middle voice."

Questions/comments/ideas/snark go in the comments. We love you.
Thing 1: Ryan Davis
Thing 2: Mike Laws
Producer: Amanda Darrach
Find all your favorite Red Pen songs over on the Red Pen Official Playlist.
To use Red Pen chapters, swipe up on the Now Playing screen or click the top-right-corner Chapters button on Apple Podcasts for macOS.
Show Notes:
"It eats salty": middle voice on "Top Chef," Language Log on "stimulus subject perception verbs"
The Grammar of Top Chef: What’s With "It Eats Salty"? Mental Floss on "gestalt verbs"