Martha reviews the new book, Dreaming in Hindi by Katherine Russell Rich, a memoir about setting out to learn a second language in mid-life. Rich spent a year in India to learn Hindi, and became so fascinated with the process that she went on to...
voice writing n.— «In the US, court reporters have abandoned stenotype machines, whose keyboards use chord-like combinations to represent sounds, for a technique called voice writing. The “writer”—really a speaker—repeats...
Humorist Roy Blount Jr. sits down with Grant for a conversation about the controversy over writers’ rights, the Amazon Kindle 2, Roy’s recent book, Alphabet Juice, “sonicky” words, and noodling for catfish. He also clears up...
unison calling n.— «The breeding adults are noisiest now during the mating ritual, when pairs are engaged in what is known as “unison calling.” They throw their heads back and unleash a stream of songs and rattles, turning...
silent stinker n.— «“There’s a filing deadline when legislative sponsors can propose new legislation,” said Harper. “In order to get around the filing deadline, they can file a shell bill, which is like a placeholder, that they can fill...
A few episodes back, Grant and Martha discussed what linguists call “creaky voice.” Many of you wrote to ask for more examples of this curious speech trait. This is part of a complete episode.