The Vocal Fries
The monthly podcast about linguistic discrimination. Learn about how we judge other people's speech as a sneaky way to be racist, sexist, classist, etc. Carrie and Megan teach you how to stop being an accidental jerk. Support this podcast at www.patreon.com/vocalfriespod
Episodes
Carrie and Megan talk with Paulette van der Voet and Martina Terrazzano, PhD students at the University of Umea, about their class called “Linguistics and the Eurovision Song Contest”.
Contact us:
- Threads us @vocalfriespod
- Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social
- Email us at vocalfriespod@gmail.com
Thanks for listening and keep calm an...
We talk with Dr Lorna Gibb about her newest book, Rare Tongues: The Secret Stories of Hidden Languages.
Steven Pinker:
Contact us:
- Threads us @vocalfriespod
- Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social
- Email us at vocalfriespod@gmail.com
Thanks for listening and keep calm and fry on
Carrie and Megan talk with Drs Emily M. Bender, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Washington, and Alex Hanna, Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR), about their new book, The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want, out May 13, 2025.
Carrie and Megan talk with Gabe Henry about his new book, Enough is enuf: Our failed attempts to make English eezier to spell.
Contact us:
- Threads us @vocalfriespod
- Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social
- Email us at vocalfriespod@gmail.com
Thanks for listening and keep calm and fry on
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Gerald Roche, Lecturer in the Department of Languages and Cultures at La Trobe University, about his new book, The Politics of Language Oppression in Tibet, language oppression, solidarity, China and Tibet.
Contact us:
- Threads us @vocalfriespod
- Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social
- E...
Megan and Carrie talk with Massimiliano Canzanella about the Neapolitan language and how it is perceived in Italy.
Contact us:
- Threads us @vocalfriespod
- Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social
- Email us at vocalfriespod@gmail.com
Thanks for listening and keep calm and fry on
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Adam Benkato, Associate Professor in the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Berkeley, about Arabic.
- codeswitching in incarceration
Contact us:
- Threads us @vocalfriespod
- Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social
- Email us at vocalfriespod@gmail.com
Thanks for listening and keep calm and fry on
Megan and Carrie talk to Dr Ayala Fader, professor of anthropology at Fordham University, and Dr Mike Mena, Assistant Professor at Brooklyn College, CUNY, about their new project, the Demystifying Language Project, where academics and high school students work together to rewrite linguistic articles into more accessible versions.
First article: Speech or Silence
Intro from our patron René:
Carrie and Megan talk to Dr Leonard Cassuto, Professor of English at Fordham University, about his class called "Literature and Psychology of Disgust," which explores how language evokes emotional responses, particularly disgust, and his book Academic Writing as if Readers Matter, which was released in September.
Contact us:
- Threads us @vocalfriespod
- Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky....
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Elia Powers, Associate Professor of Journalism at Towson University, about his book Performing the News: Identity, Authority, and the Myth of Neutrality.
- 5 Podcasts for Word Nerds NY Times
- Why Does Trump Do That Weird Capitalization Thing? HuffPost (sometimes Gillon is misspelled as Gillion, as per uzh)
Contact us:
- Threads us @vocalfriespod
- Bluesky u...
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Laura C. Chávez-Moreno, assistant professor at UCLA in the Departments of Chicana/o and Central American Studies and Education, about her book How Schools Make Race: Teaching Latinx Racialization in America, coming out October 1.
Contact us:
- Threads us @vocalfriespod
- Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social
- Email us at vocalfriespod@gmail.com
Thanks for listening ...
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Robert Henderson, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Arizona, about his newest book (with Dr Elin Mccready), Signaling without Saying: The Semantics and Pragmatics of Dogwhistles.
Contact us:
- Threads us @vocalfriespod
- Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social
- Email us at vocalfriespod@gmail.com
Th...
Megan and Carrie talk with Tim Brookes about his newest book, Writing Beyond Writing, what writing is, his journey to caring about Endangered Alphabets and his favourite scripts.
Contact us:
- Threads us @vocalfriespod
- Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social
- Email us at vocalfriespod@gmail.com
Thanks for listening and keep calm and fry on
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Ross Perlin, co-director of the Manhattan-based non-profit Endangered Language Alliance, about his new book, Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York.
Contact us:
- Threads us @vocalfriespod
- Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social
- Email us at vocalfriespod@gmail.com
Thanks for l...
Megan and Carrie talk with Drs Kris Aric Knisley and Eric Louis Russell about their book Redoing linguistic worlds: Unmaking gender binaries, remaking gender pluralities, gender, critical linguistics, trans linguistics, and uneffing all things.
Contact us:
- Threads us @vocalfriespod
- Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social
- Email us at vocalf...
Carrie and Megan talk with Drs Rusty Barrett, Professor of Linguistics, Jennifer Cramer, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Kentucky, and Kevin B. McGowan, Associate Professor of Linguistics and Director of the University of Kentucky Phonetics Lab (all at at the University of Kentucky), about their book English with an Accent: Language, Ideology, and Discrimination in the United States.
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Anne Curzan about her book Says Who? A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares About Words.
Contact us:
- Threads us @vocalfriespod
- Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social
- Email us at vocalfriespod@gmail.com
Thanks for listening and keep calm and fry on
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Sheri Wells-Jensen, Associate Professor at Bowling Green State University, about her chapter Cognition, Sensory Input, and Linguistics : A Possible Language for Blind Aliens in the new book Xenolinguistics: Towards a Science of Extraterrestrial Language, blind aliens, how languages can be, and her appreciation of the movie Arrival.
Contact us:
- Threads us @vocalfriespo...
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Lee Moore about the linguistic situation in China, particularly the hostile environment towards Uyghurs.
He is also the author of "A dyslexic learning Chinese".
Contact us:
- Threads us @vocalfriespod
- Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social
- Email us at vocalfriespod@gmail.com
Thanks for listening and keep calm and fry on
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Suzanne Wertheim about her book, The Inclusive Language Field Guide: 6 Simple Principles for Avoiding Painful Mistakes and Communicating Respectfully.
Contact us:
- Threads us @vocalfriespod
- Bluesky us @vocalfriespod.bsky.social
- Email us at vocalfriespod@gmail.com
Thanks for listening and keep calm and fry...
Popular Podcasts
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.