The Alphabet

Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright take us through the A-Z of the alphabet.

• 28 mins

Gorilla gorilla gorilla: Latin names for animals and plants

Michael Rosen explores the wonderful Latin names used to describe animals and plants.

• 28 mins

Language Evolution: A Gene for Language?

Neuroscientist Dr Frederique Liegeois joins Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright.

• 28 mins

Slang

What is slang? Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright thrash it out with Jonathon Green.

• 28 mins

How Shakespeare Spoke

Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright discover how Shakespeare spoke.

• 28 mins

The Top 20 Words in English

Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright guide listeners through the 20 most commonly used words.

• 28 mins

Taking Turns in Conversation

Michael Rosen and Laura Wright discuss how we take it in turns to talk, in conversation.

• 28 mins

Mouthpiece: Turning the Spoken Word into Songs

Michael Rosen hears about a project to turn interviews recorded in Parliament into songs.

• 28 mins

Talking or Texting?

Michael Rosen on research into the emotional effects of different kinds of communication.

• 28 mins

Tip of the Tongue

Michael Rosen on one of the most frustrating language states: tip of the tongue.

• 28 mins

Steven Pinker on Language

Steven Pinker joins Michael Rosen to talk about his love of, and life in, language.

• 28 mins

House Names

Michael Rosen talks to Dr Laura Wright about her new research on popular house names.

• 28 mins

Metaphors for the Past: From Dinosaurs to Victorian Values

Michael Rosen on how we talk about historical eras in order to define how we live now.

• 28 mins

PR - How Not To Do It

Michael Rosen on the words used in PR that have been rated as the most annoying. Iconic...

• 28 mins

Roald Dahl's Language

Michael Rosen on a new Roald Dahl dictionary collecting the amazing words he invented.

• 28 mins

Snuck and Sung: Irregular Verbs

Michael Rosen explores the verbs that are called irregular, and how they came to be.

• 28 mins

Andrew Graham-Dixon on the naming of art movements

Michael Rosen and Andrew Graham-Dixon on the naming of art movements and what it tells us.

• 28 mins

Punctuation

Michael Rosen talks to Keith Houston about punctuation symbols and how they came to exist.

• 28 mins

Break Ups and Brexit

The language of making and breaking relationships.

• 28 mins

Lost Words and Secret Connections

Michael Rosen on discovering lost words and finding hidden linguistic connections.

• 28 mins

Directions: North South East and West

Michael Rosen uncovers how people talk and think about directions in different languages.

• 28 mins

Small Talk

Michael Rosen talks to psychotherapist Philippa Perry about the importance of small talk.

• 28 mins

Snotrils and Jumpolines: Kids' Invented Words

Michael Rosen on the creative use and misuse of language by children.

• 28 mins

Reading: The Science and the Pleasure

BBC LovetoRead campaign: Michael Rosen on the pleasure of and the science behind reading.

• 28 mins

Susie Dent on Language

Michael Rosen talks to Countdown's Susie Dent about her love of words and language.

• 28 mins

Words Roadshow in Birmingham

Michael Rosen discusses interesting family words and phrases with listeners in Birmingham.

• 28 mins

Pet or Pest? The revealing words we use about animals, and dog names

Michael Rosen on the language we use to talk about animals - and the names we give dogs.

• 28 mins

Intonation: The Music of Speaking

Michael Rosen explores the tunes we sing when we are speaking, without even realising it.

• 28 mins

Emoji: The Future of Language?

Is emoji really the world's fastest-growing language? Michael Rosen finds out.

• 28 mins

Like, Totally Awesome: The Americanisation of English

Michael Rosen on the Americanisation of English, with Lynne Murphy and Matthew Engel.

• 28 mins