Slate Debates

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**Slate Debates**

A feed from the Slate podcast network featuring episodes with enlightening conversations, opposing views, and plenty of healthy disputes. You’ll get a curated selection of episodes from programs like What Next, The Waves, and the Political Gabfest, with deep discussions that go beyond point-counterpoint and shed light on the issues that matter most.

Latest Episodes:

What Is a Dictionary, Really? Sep 20, 2016

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John Simpson, former editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, talks about life as a lexicographer.

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The Invisible Language of Nursery Rhymes Sep 06, 2016

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What does "Hickory Dickory Dock" really mean? John McWhorter makes linguistic sense of seemingly arbitrary children's verse.

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Word Sex Aug 23, 2016

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How Words Hook Up and Make New Ones

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Should Shakespeare Get a Modern English Update? Aug 08, 2016

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John McWhorter talks with author Jack Lynch about the sacrilege of modified Shakespeare.

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Are Emoji a Language? Jul 26, 2016

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Gretchen McCulloch talks to John McWhorter about the big meaning behind our favorite little pictograms.

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Finding Life in a Dead Language Jul 12, 2016

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Ann Patty, author of "Living With a Dead Language: My Romance With Latin," talks about her transformative experience of learning Latin.

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Rules Are Made to Be Spoken Jun 29, 2016

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Sali Tagliamonte, author of Making Waves: The Story of Variationist Sociolinguistics, talks about the underlying disorder of the English Language.

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The Tragedy of English Spelling Jun 14, 2016

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Etymologist and poet Anatoly Liberman says that English is one of the most difficult languages to spell. But we can change that.

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Email: lexiconvalley@slate.com

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Your Brain on Profanity May 31, 2016

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Benjamin K. Bergen, author of the upcoming What the F: What Swearing Reveals About Our Language, Our Brains, and

Ourselves, discusses the science of cursing.

Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.com

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Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot! May 17, 2016

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How an American Revolutionary War figure spawned a new name for a very old game. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.com

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