What if I told you that it was ChatGPT, not I, who wrote each and every one of these scintillating episode descriptions? Well, you'd probably laugh uncontrollably at my hilarious joke. Robots can't use the word "scintillating" correctly—or can they? Whether we like it or not, linguistically conscious AI are becoming more and more prevalent. In light of the decline in actual writing, I thought it would be prudent to interview the brilliant, funny, talented computer scientist and computational linguist, Ellie Pavlick. In addition to teaching at Brown University, Professor Pavlick is a research scientist at Google AI. We talk about natural language processing, pre-trained models, the importance of training models to both understand language form (syntax) and language meaning (semantics), and all that's still unknown about the role of language in neural nets. Noam Chomsky gets a shoutout (how could he not?), as does ChatGPT, prejudice in pre-trained models, and a few different philosophical thoughts on how teaching and writing and learning will evolve in the wake of excellent natural language processing models. Curious about Ellie Pavlick's research? Check out the links below. Questions, comments, or suggestions for the podcast? Email [email protected]  

Ellie Pavlick's teaching profile 

Google Research Profile 

Measuring and Reducing Gendered Correlations in Pre-trained Models 

What Do Models of Natural Language "Understanding" Actually Understand 

AND does not mean OR: Using Formal Languages to Study Language Models’ Representations 

Colorless green ideas...

This is a truly interdisciplinary episode. Pressor Susan Blum (Notre Dame) is an anthropologist, a cultural, linguistical,  anthropologist. We talk about the intersections between linguistics, politics, legislation, food, semiotics, literary theory, pedagogy, as well as such icons as Saussure and CS Pierce. In other other words, this is a truly teleological episode, one that will teach you why and how linguistics applies to other disciplines and to the world around us. Listen, go read Professor Blum's books and articles, and then check out some of the resources below! 

Courtney Cazden

Elise Berman 

The Early Catastrophe by Hart and Risley

The Semiotic Perspectives of Peirce and Saussure: A Brief Comparative Study

Twenty Years after “Meaningful Differences,” It's Time to Reframe the “Deficit” Debate about the Importance of Children's Early Language Experience

 What is Semiotics? Ferdinand de Saussure’s Linguistic Revolution

Peirce’s Theory of Signs

Selling the Language Gap  

Chinese language and social justice

Tasty Talk, Expressive Food: An Introduction to The Semiotics of Food-and-Language

Ladies an gentleman...the director of Brown's Language and Thought Lab: Professor Roman Feiman!! Have you ever wondered about the intersection between psychology and linguistics? Well, wonder no more. Listen to this episode and learn about everything from psycholinguistics, to child language acquisition, to language and thought; semantics and pragmatics; descriptions vs. grammar when mapping words to the world; philosophy of the mind; marketing techniques enhanced by an understanding of linguistics; and language as an abstract object, as the most fascinating thing to ever exist. All that, plus an excellent defense for why to study linguistics in the first place. If you're looking to learn from a genius with a PhD, I recommend this episode. If you're interested in learning about interdisciplinary research and findings, I also recommend this episode. Really, this episode is for anyone who values curiosity. In the end, there are very few tidy answers to the colossal questions Professor Feiman asks everyday, or to the slightly less colossal questions I asked him. But that's the point. Check out the links below...

Roman Feiman's Research Profile

Mapping Words to the World: Adults Prioritize Grammar, but Children Prioritize Descriptions

Reference and Definite Descriptions (Keith Donnellan)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Professor Toni Cook is a genius. That's why I'm taking her Intro to Linguistics class at Pomona College. In this episode, Prof Cook and I tackle a lot: language as a tool for social control, the importance of understanding historical linguistics, intensive vs diminutive verb reduplication, various prestigious characteristics of dialects, linguistic colonial legacies, the relationship between world-view and language, and feminist semantics. Will you be bored? No. But you will learn a lot. You will guffaw. You might even tear up. If all goes according to plan, you'll stop, drop, and become a linguist. While you're at it, go ahead and investigate the research and publications of Prof Cook...

Prosodic evidence for syntactic phrasing in Zulu 

The inclusion of prefixal material in Zulu reduplication 

Adjectival Reduplication in Zulu 

Questions? Confessions? Email [email protected] 

AAAaand I'm back! I'm back with a banger of an episode and a smashing success of a guest: the fabulous Robin Danzak, a professor of Communication Studies at Emerson College. Join me as she takes us on the journey (pun intended) of her career. We'll talk about language and community, bilingualism, antiracist pedagogy, and so much more. We'll travel to Italy, Florida, and New England; we'll touch on power, identity, storytelling, politics, and the importance of education. Professor Danzak is one of the most passionate and curious people I've ever had the privilege to speak with, so settle in and enjoy the next 30 min. And after you listen, check out the resources below...

April Baker Bell 

Barbara Arfe

Elaine Silliman

Ofelia García 

Francois Grosjean 

What's the relationship between language and power? Why are dialects a gatekeeper? What exactly is sociolinguistics? Join me and Professor Heather Littlefield as we discuss the relationships between language and gender, race, ethnicity, economic opportunities, and power. Any study/paper/TedTalk/article/person she mentioned in the interview is linked below. Special thanks to Molly Herman, Lindsay Villone, Eleza Kort, and, of course, Heather Littlefield. 

Ted talk by John Baugh 

Further work by John Baugh 

Leaders with Lower Voices

Vershawn Young 

"Linguistic prejudice is one of the last widely socially acceptable ways to discriminate"

Bell Hooks on the Language of Power 

How do languages evolve? Why do dialects emerge and then fade? What happens if a language dies out? What does culture have to do with language? In this episode, Professor Luke Gorton answers all these questions and more. So please, sit back, relax, and welcome into your ears...an actual, real, linguist! 

Special thanks to Luke Gorton, Eleza Kort, and Jim Kernohan. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to email Prof Gorton at [email protected]. 

Welcome to episode 4, where my interviewees will answer question three: what sorts of privileges and/or limitations does your accent give you? Join me on this emotional journey as I, along with several fully grown adults, unpack our frustration over the fact that people don't talk about accents and dialects more often. Stay tuned for future episodes where I interview college professors! 

Historic milestone alert: this is the 3rd episode of Tomayto Tomahto. I know most of you must be squealing in excitement at the very thought of this podcast's longevity, and so I'll ask you to kindly pipe down so you can fully appreciate this episode in all its glory. In this tertiary episode, you'll hear from the interviewees as they answer question two: what does your accent mean to you and what does it signify about you? All that, plus three gripping commercials centered around the theme of style and types of clothing. The next 17 minutes will be full of laughter, analytical tension, and questionable audio quality. Enjoy! 

Welcome back to Tomayto Tomahto! For episode two, my interviewees answer question one: How do you define your accent and/or dialect? 

Special thanks to Phil Robson, John Lee, Sarah Jacobs, Kate Hamblet, Mark Connolly, Jeanine Bell, Patrice Jean-Baptiste, and Marisela Funes.