Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

I listen to several podcasts with a scientific bent. From time to time there will be a guest interviewed to talk about his or her work. The interviewer will say "tell us about the paper you will be giving at the big meeting." My wife is a research mathematician. When she goes to a conference she doesn't "give a paper" she "gives a talk." Does anyone know the history of these two ways of saying the same thing? Does usage vary with different scholarly communities—math vs. chemistry vs. English literature? If I'm not mistaken, Grant used the "give a paper" version on an AWWW show once.