Dominic Fifield explains how football clubs got their names. Read more
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Football Club Names
Dominic Fifield explains how football clubs got their names.
Disaster Dialogue
Professor Lucy Easthope explains why language is important in the aftermath of a disaster.
The Irish Language
What the Irish language tells us about the world
Language When There Are No Words
Joshua Reno talks about how Charlie, his non verbal-autistic son, communicates with him.
Word of Mouth with Michael Morpurgo at the Hay Festival
In conversation with Michael Morpurgo at the Hay Festival.
Little Green Men: the secret rules of word order
Michael explores the mysterious rules of word order with linguist Dr Laura Bailey.
How babies learn language
Professor Julian Pine on how babies learn language.
The words we use about getting older and why they matter
How we talk about getting older can affect how we age. Michael hears from Dr Lucy Pollock.
Former astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield on the language of Space exploration
The Canadian former astronaut and author talks about communicating Space
Fine Distinctions
Eli Burnstein talks about fine distinctions between words.
A Poet Writing in Three Languages
Poet Nabeela Ahmed on being multilingual.
How Animals Talk
Michael hears about how animals communicate, and why, from zoologist Arik Kershenbaum.
Social media language
How language is used on platforms like Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter/X.
Susie Dent's World of Words
Susie Dent joins Michael to talk about her lifelong fascination with words and languages.
The Language of Genetics
Adam Rutherford joins Michael to unpick the knotty language we use to talk about genetics.
Jackie Kay on the Scots language
Jackie Kay has written a book in Scots and tells Michael about her love of the language.
Politeness with Louise Mullany
Professor Louise Mullany talks politeness, and how it governs every sphere of our lives.
Creating Languages for Film and Television with Professor David Adger
Michael Rosen asks a linguist how he invents new languages for TV series and films.
Talking Cockney
Michael talks cockney with Andy Green and Saif Osmani from the Modern Cockney Festival.
Old English, New English
Michael Rosen on the Old English words used in daily life then and now, with Hana Videen.
Street Names
Michael Rosen talks to Philip Seargeant about where our street names come from.
The End of the Full Stop?
Michael Rosen and Christian Ilbury discuss how online chat is changing how we punctuate.
The language that changed the world
Michael Rosen hears about the origin of all Indo-European languages from Laura Spinney.
The Welsh Language with Huw Stephens at the Hay Festival
Michael Rosen talks to Welsh radio and TV presenter Huw Stephens about the Welsh language.
Lists
Michael Rosen and linguistics researcher Jo Nolan discuss the joy of making lists.
The Art of Listening
Michael Rosen talks to Dr Haru Yamada about how we listen, and how we can do it better.