How accurate are scientific metaphors?

Is gravity really like a bowling ball on a sheet? Michael Rosen on scientific metaphors.

• 28 mins

Talking Terrorism

It's a word that can start a war. Michael Rosen explores the meaning of 'terrorist'.

• 28 mins

Creating Characters

Michael Rosen talks to writers about how character is created through language.

• 28 mins

Journalese

Michael Rosen on the necessary evil of journalistic cliché.

• 28 mins

Social Register

Do we change the way we speak according to the person we are speaking to?

• 28 mins

Scots

Michael Rosen goes to Glasgow to hear about the Scots language with Sanjeev Kohli.

• 28 mins

Time

Michael Rosen asks what time is and explores the words we use to talk about it.

• 28 mins

Words That Wound

Words can be abusive, cruel and cause offence. Which is worse: online or face-to-face?

• 28 mins

Reader, I Marinated Him - the language of food

Michael Rosen and guests debate the language of food, from Oliver's 'more' to cannibalism.

• 28 mins

Weighing Your Words

Chris Ledgard investigates three situations where precise use of words is crucial.

• 28 mins

Message in a Bottle

Chris Ledgard uncorks the subject of messages in a bottle.

• 28 mins

Newspeak

Chris Ledgard explores Orwell's dystopian vision of the future of language - Newspeak.

• 28 mins

How the Telephone Rewired Us

Chris Ledgard explores the impact of the telephone.

• 28 mins

The Online Me

Are we different online than in real life? Gemma Cairney asks Nick Grimshaw and friends.

• 28 mins

Talking About Cancer

The writer Graham Joyce with a personal take on the ways in which we talk about cancer.

• 28 mins

Is the Double Entendre in Rude Health?

Arthur Bostrom examines the origins, colourful history and new era of the double entendre.

• 28 mins

Speaking, Listening and the English GCSE

Chris Ledgard host a discussion on speaking and listening skills and the English GCSE.

• 28 mins

First Words: How do children develop language?

Michael Rosen on the first sounds and words that babies learn.

• 28 mins

Ebola: How should we talk about it?

Michael Rosen talks to Oxfam's media officer on how we should speak about Ebola.

• 28 mins

Why do we laugh?

Michael Rosen finds out why we laugh and why we cry, with neuroscientist Sophie Scott.

• 28 mins

How Is English Going to Change in the future?

Michael Rosen looks ahead, with the help of linguists Bas Aarts and Laura Wright.

• 28 mins

Philip Pullman and Michael Rosen talk about language and writing

Philip Pullman and Michael Rosen talk in depth about language and writing.

• 28 mins

Are you really Somali? Using language to determine country of origin

Michael Rosen on the use of language analysis to judge asylum seekers' country of origin.

• 28 mins

Prof Tanya Byron on the language parents use to talk to their children

Tanya Byron and Michael Rosen discuss the language parents use to talk to their children.

• 28 mins

Landscape Language

Michael Rosen on the evocative words used to describe features of the British landscape.

• 28 mins

The Pedant

What is a pedant, and where does pedantry come from? Michael Rosen talks to Oliver Kamm.

• 28 mins

A Language Without Words

Michael Rosen asks Julian Barratt and Steve Oram about creating a language without words.

• 28 mins

Naming Family Relationships - Step, Half or 'Blended'?

Michael Rosen and Laura Wright look at the names people give to family relationships.

• 28 mins

Colour Words

Michael Rosen and Laura Wright on colour words, how they vary and how they have changed.

• 28 mins

Young Women as Linguistic Innovators

Michael Rosen and Laura Wright discuss the role of young women in language innovation.

• 28 mins