We’ve All Heard It Before

We’ve All Heard It Before

Michael Fragomeni and Peter Woods are two linguists trying to make sense of the current political situation.

Episodes

January 23, 2026 24 mins

In this (Non-Political) bonus episode, Mike and Peter discuss the pronunciation of German loanwords into English. When is it appropriate to hyper-articulate the German sound system and when is it just too much? When is the English pronunciation more appropriate? And at what point is a lazy English pronunciation just butchering the word, leading to a lack of comprehension?   

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History ...

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In this second part of a two part episode, Mike and Peter discuss Aristotle's Politics in the context of the "No Kings" (peaceful) protests, and the reality that MAGA would actually be okay with a King.  

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD in Germanic Linguistics both from UC Berkeley.

Peter Woods earned his BA in international affairs of Russia and Eastern Europe from George Wash...

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In this first part of a two part episode, Mike and Peter discuss Aristotle's Politics in the context of the "No Kings" (peaceful) protests, and the reality that MAGA would actually be okay with a King.  

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD in Germanic Linguistics both from UC Berkeley.

Peter Woods earned his BA in international affairs of Russia and Eastern Europe from George Washi...

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October 16, 2025 31 mins

In this episode, Mike and Peter discuss mispronunciation and other forms of misspeaking. They insist that there are degrees of mistakes in a hierarchical order, driven by context, distinctiveness, and commonality. 

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD in Germanic Linguistics both from UC Berkeley.

Peter Woods earned his BA in international affairs of Russia and Eastern Europe from G...

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October 10, 2025 38 mins

In this episode, Mike and Peter do a deep dive into the field of Semiotics and apply it to Pam Bondi, Trump, and MAGA, with some pop-cultural references along the way.

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD in Germanic Linguistics both from UC Berkeley.

Peter Woods earned his BA in international affairs of Russia and Eastern Europe from George Washington University and his MA and PhD ...

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September 18, 2025 27 mins

In this episode, Mike and Peter discuss the differences between mimicry and mockery and how they're being used in today's political landscape. 

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD in Germanic Linguistics both from UC Berkeley.

Peter Woods earned his BA in international affairs of Russia and Eastern Europe from George Washington University and his MA and PhD in Germanic linguistics ...

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In this episode, Mike and Peter welcome Bajun Mavalwalla whose son was arrested by the FBI for peacefully protesting ICE actions in Spokane, WA. This story has far-reaching implications for every American citizen.   

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD in Germanic Linguistics both from UC Berkeley.

Peter Woods earned his BA in international affairs of Russia and Eastern Europe from...

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September 8, 2025 16 mins

In this episode, Mike and Peter discuss the influence that professional sports, and primarily the NFL, have had on politics and the American voting psyche.  

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD in Germanic Linguistics both from UC Berkeley.

Peter Woods earned his BA in international affairs of Russia and Eastern Europe from George Washington University and his MA and PhD in Germani...

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September 4, 2025 18 mins

In this episode, Mike and Peter discuss critical thinking and why it's a diminishing skill in American society.  

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD in Germanic Linguistics both from UC Berkeley.

Peter Woods earned his BA in international affairs of Russia and Eastern Europe from George Washington University and his MA and PhD in Germanic linguistics from UC Berkeley

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August 29, 2025 10 mins

In this third and final episode on the pronoun "they", Mike and Peter compare its potential capitalization with other languages that capitalize similar pronouns. 

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD in Germanic Linguistics both from UC Berkeley.

Peter Woods earned his BA in international affairs of Russia and Eastern Europe from George Washington University and his MA and PhD in Ge...

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August 22, 2025 17 mins

In this second of three episodes, Mike and Peter discuss the many uses of the pronoun "they", as well as the controversy of potentially standardizing its capitalization when used to refer to trans and nonbinary people.

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD in Germanic Linguistics both from UC Berkeley.

Peter Woods earned his BA in international affairs of Russia and Eastern Europe fr...

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August 14, 2025 13 mins

In this first of three episodes, Mike and Peter discuss the many uses of the pronoun "they", as well as the controversy of potentially standardizing its capitalization when used to refer to trans and nonbinary people.

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD in Germanic Linguistics both from UC Berkeley.

Peter Woods earned his BA in international affairs of Russia and Eastern Europe fro...

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In this episode, Mike and Peter introduce the concept of the sympathetic "You" and how it can be interpreted when analyzing one of Trump's most notable statements.  

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD in Germanic Linguistics both from UC Berkeley.

Peter Woods earned his BA in international affairs of Russia and Eastern Europe from George Washington University and his MA and PhD in...

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July 15, 2025 20 mins

In this episode, Mike and Peter analyze a few weird interviews, like the Ted Cruz/Tucker Carlson interview, through the lens of Pragmatics.   

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD in Germanic Linguistics both from UC Berkeley.

Peter Woods earned his BA in international affairs of Russia and Eastern Europe from George Washington University and his MA and PhD in Germanic linguistics f...

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July 5, 2025 14 mins

In this second of a two-part episode, Mike and Peter ask the question, "Is It Propaganda?" 

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History and his PhD in Germanic Linguistics both from UC Berkeley.

Peter Woods earned his BA in international affairs of Russia and Eastern Europe from George Washington University and his MA and PhD in Germanic linguistics from UC Berkeley

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June 30, 2025 18 mins

In this first of a two-part episode, Mike and Peter ask the question, "Is It Propaganda?" 

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD in Germanic Linguistics both from UC Berkeley.

Peter Woods earned his BA in international affairs of Russia and Eastern Europe from George Washington University and his MA and PhD in Germanic linguistics from UC Berkeley

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June 27, 2025 11 mins

In this episode, Mike and Peter apply a semiotic analysis to the act of flag burning.

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD in Germanic Linguistics both from UC Berkeley.

Peter Woods earned his BA in international affairs of Russia and Eastern Europe from George Washington University and his MA and PhD in Germanic linguistics from UC Berkeley

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In their debut episode, Mike and Peter discuss the meaning of the word "Privilege" and how it applies to the Writ of Habeas Corpus in the dark shadow of Stephen Miller's (Donald Trump's Deputy Chief of Staff) public comments on the potential suspension of Habeas Corpus.

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD in Germanic Linguistics both from UC Berkeley.

Peter Woods earned his BA in i...

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June 24, 2025 13 mins

In this episode, Mike and Peter analyze a recent interview of JD Vance, in which he relies on fallacies to strengthen his argument.

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD in Germanic Linguistics both from UC Berkeley.

Peter Woods earned his BA in international affairs of Russia and Eastern Europe from George Washington University and his MA and PhD in Germanic linguistics from UC Berk...

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June 20, 2025 7 mins

In this episode, Mike and Peter discuss the Republican strategy of using the word "Democrat", instead of "Democratic".

Michael Fragomeni earned his Bachelor of Arts in History (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD in Germanic Linguistics both from UC Berkeley.

Peter Woods earned his BA in international affairs of Russia and Eastern Europe from George Washington University and his MA and PhD in Germanic linguistics from UC Berkeley

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