Lexicon Valley

What misspeaking might reveal about the way our mental dictionary is organized.

Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 319: "Here's to You Mrs. Malaprop." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

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One man's quest to dub Disney's "The Lion King" into the indigenous Quechuan language; an interview with filmmaker Augusto Zegarra, director of the documentary "Runa Simi."

Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 318: "Mufasa, Simba, Fercho and Dylan." With Bob Garfield. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

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In Part II of our interview with author Sophia Smith Galer, "shared language erosion" — when members of an immigrant family can no longer communicate fluently with each other — and the true cost of letting a language die.

Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 317: "How to Kill a Language, Part II." With Bob Garfield. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

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From Ukraine to Maori to Emilian, a conversation with author Sophia Smith Galer about language suppression, revitalization and death.

Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 316: "How to Kill a Language, Part I." With Bob Garfield. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

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An investigation into the nuclear origins of "bang for the buck." Plus, we get buck-naked!

Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 315: "Bang for the Buck." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

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An interview with science-fiction author S.L. Huang, whose experience learning languages informed their most recent novella, ⁠⁠The Language of Liars⁠⁠.

Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 314: "The Language of Liars." With Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

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Was Perry Como the original Mr. Nice Guy? And who again was Perry Como? Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield explain.

Visit ⁠⁠Lexicon Valley⁠⁠. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 313: "No More Mr. Nice Guy." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

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What does a cement mixer and a 1948 Cosmopolitan magazine article have to do with the phrase Nice Guys Finish Last? Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield explain.

Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 312: "Nice Guys Finish Last." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

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In a bonus segment for all listeners, John McWhorter talks about "arter," a word from Jim's dialect in Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 311: "Happily Ever Arter." With John McWhorter. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

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John McWhorter on the truth behind "am" in Black English.

Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 310: "Grand Am." With John McWhorter. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.

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