The Vocal Fries

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

April 14, 2025 62 mins

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Carrie and Megan talk with Gabe Henry about his new book, Enough is enuf: Our failed attempts to make English eezier to spell.

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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. 

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February 17, 2025 45 mins

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Megan and Carrie talk with Massimiliano Canzanella about the Neapolitan language and how it is perceived in Italy.

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January 22, 2025 58 mins

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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.

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December 16, 2024 41 mins

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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:

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November 12, 2024 54 mins

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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. 


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October 14, 2024 50 mins

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 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.

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September 23, 2024 41 mins

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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.

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August 23, 2024 43 mins

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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.

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July 15, 2024 53 mins

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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.

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June 24, 2024 41 mins

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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.

 

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May 14, 2024 61 mins

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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.

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April 15, 2024 53 mins

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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

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March 12, 2024 57 mins

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Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Anne Curzan about her book Says Who? A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares About Words.

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February 12, 2024 47 mins

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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.

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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".

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December 11, 2023 54 mins

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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.

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November 20, 2023 58 mins

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Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Rebecca Roache about her book, For F*ck's Sake: Why Swearing is Shocking, Rude, and Fun

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October 16, 2023 60 mins

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Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Bryce McCleary, Lecturer in Linguistics at Rice University, about his paper “'We All Country': Region, Place, and Community Language among Oklahoma City Drag Performers".

Australia referendum

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September 11, 2023 49 mins

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Megan and Carrie talk with Poppy Mardall, the founder and chair of Poppy’s, about the Dead Good Words campaign around dehumanizing and euphemistic language about death.

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