Acclaimed Australian linguist Professor Nick Enfield has come to the conclusion that language is good for lawyers, for the purposes of persuasion, but bad for scientists who seek to accurately represent reality. It's a fascinating idea he explores in his new book Language vs Reality. What can language describe and where does it fail? Presenter Michael Rosen explores this with him in an in-depth conversation.
Producer Beth O'Dea

What is language actually good for?

Series exploring the world of words and the ways in which we use them

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Professor Lucy Easthope explains why language is important in the aftermath of a disaster, why some words are useful and some can be damaging. Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Sally Heaven

Disaster Dialogue

Dominic Fifield explains how football clubs got their names, uncovering a fascinating social history behind the Wanderers, Wednesdays and Villas. Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Sally Heaven

Football Club Names

"If you want to hide something in the 21st century world, you don't need to create a James Bond style plot. Just cover it in acronyms".  Gillian Tett is a columnist at the Financial Times, but she initially trained as a cultural anthropologist, studying  marriage rituals in Tajikistan.  She joins Michael Rosen to discuss how the study of language has been vital to her work, who continues to see the world through the lens of an anthropologist. The pair talk about the etymology of words like 'company', 'office', and 'bank', why we should all speak more like the Dutch, how Brits in the workplace are more similar to the Japanese, and why it would be useful for all of us to think more like an anthropologist.   Gillian Tett is the author of Fool's Gold, The Silo Effect, and Antho-Vision.  Producer: Eliza Lomas, BBC Audio Bristol.

How to Think Like an Anthropologist, with Gillian Tett

Michael shares listeners' stories about the words and phrases passed down in their families that they keep using, and what they mean to them. With Rob Drummond, Professor of Sociolinguistics at Manchester Met University, and author of You’re All Talk: why we are what we speak. 
Producer Beth O'Dea, BBC Audio Bristol

Family Sayings

Michael Rosen talks to neuroscientist Dr Julia Ravey about whether we think and act differently when speaking a non-native language. More and more people are finding themselves speaking multiple languages in our cross-cultural societies. But when we communicate in a different tongue, do we become a different person? From the decisions we make to the memories we form, research in neuroscience and psychology has begun exploring this fascinating area, which not only offers insights into the linguistic brain, but also calls into question if our ‘core self’ is a as stable as we like to think it is… Producer: Becky Ripley

What is language actually good for?

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