In a Manner of Speaking
A podcast on the spoken word
Episodes
April 1, 2024 • 25 mins
For the April 2024 podcast, Paul explores loudness, or the lack thereof. Just as he examined extremes of pitch and speed in past episodes, Paul discusses extremes of volume, looking at world records for loudness while reflecting on the rarity of true silence.
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March 1, 2024 • 39 mins
Welcome to the March 2024 episode of "In a Manner of Speaking," in which Paul discusses folk linguistics with dialectologist Dennis Preston, professor emeritus at Oklahoma State University and former president of the American Dialect Society. To learn more about the topic and Professor Preston, and for extra, free content, visit the podcast episode page at PaulMeier.com/In-a-Manner-of-Speaking.
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February 1, 2024 • 47 mins
The February 2024 episode of "In a Manner of Speaking" is all about the American Dialect Society, which was founded in 1889 to study English and other languages in North America. Paul's guest is Betsy Evans, the new executive director of the society. For more info, visit Episode 73 at PaulMeier.com/In-A-Manner-Of-Speaking.
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January 1, 2024 • 41 mins
Paul begins 2024 with a discussion about the fundamental nature of the core topic of this podcast: the word. Specifically, he discusses the concept of the word itself, with Victor Boucher, professor of linguistics at the University of Montreal. For more information about Victor and this topic, visit the podcast page indexed at PaulMeier.com/In-A-Manner-Of-Speaking.
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December 1, 2023 • 34 mins
For the last podcast episode of 2023, Paul talks to Paul Saenger, curator of rare books, emeritus, at Chicago’s Newberry Library, about the history of silent reading and the evolution of inserting (or not inserting) spaces between words. For more information about this podcast, visit the December 2023 podcast page at PaulMeier.com/In-a-Manner-ofSpeaking.
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November 1, 2023 • 38 mins
In this, the 70th episode of Paul Meier's "In a Manner of Speaking" podcast, we learn what Colonial American English might have sounded like. Paul examines this fascinating and understudied topic with Karen Burgos, a freelance linguist, independent researcher, and founder of Ace Linguist. For extra free content on this topic and all of Paul's podcasts, refer to the main podcast page at PaulMeier.com/in-a-manner-of-speaking.
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October 1, 2023 • 40 mins
For the October 2023 episode of "In a Manner of Speaking," Paul Meier discusses the connection between orality and literacy with Professor Brian Ott, an expert in the field of rhetoric and media. They discuss many topics related to rhetoric and the oral tradition throughout human history.
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September 1, 2023 • 53 mins
The September 2023 episode of "In a Manner of Speaking" features a trip through time: a conversation between Paul and renowned linguist David Crystal about the history of the English language. David traces the development of English from the Roman occupation of Britain to the spread of Modern English around the world. Visit the podcast page at PaulMeier.com/In-a-Manner-of-Speaking for extra free content.
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August 1, 2023 • 35 mins
For the August 2023 episode of "In a Manner of Speaking," Paul talks to Jill Purce, the doyenne of harmonic overtone chanting, which is often called polyphonic overtone singing, or singing two or more notes at the same time. Paul and Jill discuss all aspects of this unique art. Visit the podcast page for this episode at PaulMeier.com/In-a-Manner-of-Speaking for lots of extra free content.
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July 1, 2023 • 25 mins
The July 2023 episode of "In a Manner of Speaking" is all about William Shakespeare. Paul dives deep into the Bard, from iambic pentameter, to scansion, to scoring, to metre, to Original Pronunciation. It's a fun exercise for scholars and professionals but also actors just beginning their Shakespeare journey.
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June 1, 2023 • 36 mins
For the June 2023 podcast, Paul interviews Namecoach founder and CEO Praveen Shanbhag. They discuss name pronunciation in general while talking about Namecoach itself, which allows people to record their own name and embed that recording in their e-mail or social-media account.
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May 1, 2023 • 45 mins
For the May 2023 episode, Paul and his guest, former BBC Pronunciation Adviser Graham Pointon, attempt to answer the popular question "What's in a Name?" They discuss how one decides on proper pronunciations of people and place names.
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April 1, 2023 • 40 mins
Welcome to the April 2023 episode of "In a Manner of Speaking." This month's guest is Dr. Catherine Sangster, executive editor of pronunciations at Oxford Languages. She has been in charge of the Oxford English Dictionary's pronunciations for 11 years.
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March 1, 2023 • 26 mins
For the March 2023 episode, Paul takes an in-depth look at speed talking and singing. He examines world records and introduces us to people who are called upon to talk or sing quickly -- from actors to auctioneers to debaters to people who simply enjoy speaking at high speeds. For the full clips excerpted in this episode, plus more free content, visit the episode 62 podcast page at https://www.paulmeier.com/in-a-manner-of-speaking/...
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February 1, 2023 • 18 mins
The Irish language is the podcast topic for February 2023, and Paul's guest is Professor Malachy O'Neill, Irish language scholar and director of Regional Engagement at Ulster University. Paul and Malachy discuss all aspects of the Irish language, including its history, dialects and status as an endangered language. For more information about Professor O'Neill, plus free content related to this topic, visit https://www.paulmeier.com...
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January 1, 2023 • 35 mins
For the first podcast of 2023, Paul discusses whistled speech with Julien Meyer, linguist, acoustician, and professor at the European Institutes for Advanced Study at the University of Lyon, France. For more information and free content related to this topic, visit the podcast page at PaulMeier.com.
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December 1, 2022 • 46 mins
Welcome to the December 2022 podcast, in which Paul and his guests, Enrique Pardo and Linda Wise of Pantheatre, discuss the legacy of the intriguing and often controversial actor and vocalist Roy Hart (1926-1975). Pardo and Wise have spent decades building on the legacy of Hart, who is known for his almost superhuman vocal range, avant-garde performances, and work with German singing teacher Alfred Wolfsohn. Visit PaulMeier.com/202...
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November 3, 2022 • 51 mins
For the November 2022 episode, Paul welcomes Gideon Burton, professor in the English Department at Brigham Young University in Salt Lake City, Utah, and creator of the website "Silva Rhetoricae: The Forest of Rhetoric." Paul and Gideon discuss Shakespeare's use of rhetoric, in addition to rhetoric in general, which is often defined as the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing. For more information on Gideon and this to...
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October 1, 2022 • 35 mins
How do babies learn to talk? That's the topic of the October 2022 episode of Paul's podcast. And to help answer that question, Paul welcomes Jenny Saffran, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an expert in cognitive and linguistic sciences. For more info (and complementary content) on the topics discussed in this and all of Paul's podcasts, visit PaulMeier.com/in-a-manner-of-speaking.
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September 1, 2022 • 50 mins
For the September 2022 episode of "In a Manner of Speaking," Paul welcomes back renowned linguist and author David Crystal for his fourth appearance on the podcast. They discuss various topics related to David's 2018 book, "Sounds Appealing," including pronunciation, phonetics, phoneticians, speech melody, intonation, stress patterning. For information on David, visit his website, DavidCrystal.com. And for more info (and lots of co...
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