Little Green Men: the secret rules of word order

Michael explores the mysterious rules of word order with linguist Dr Laura Bailey.

• 28 mins

How babies learn language

Professor Julian Pine on how babies learn language.

• 28 mins

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.

• 28 mins

Former astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield on the language of Space exploration

The Canadian former astronaut and author talks about communicating Space

• 28 mins

Fine Distinctions

Eli Burnstein talks about fine distinctions between words.

• 28 mins

A Poet Writing in Three Languages

Poet Nabeela Ahmed on being multilingual.

• 28 mins

How Animals Talk

Michael hears about how animals communicate, and why, from zoologist Arik Kershenbaum.

• 28 mins

Social media language

How language is used on platforms like Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter/X.

• 28 mins

Susie Dent's World of Words

Susie Dent joins Michael to talk about her lifelong fascination with words and languages.

• 28 mins

The Language of Genetics

Adam Rutherford joins Michael to unpick the knotty language we use to talk about genetics.

• 28 mins

Jackie Kay on the Scots language

Jackie Kay has written a book in Scots and tells Michael about her love of the language.

• 28 mins

Politeness with Louise Mullany

Professor Louise Mullany talks politeness, and how it governs every sphere of our lives.

• 28 mins

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.

• 28 mins

Talking Cockney

Michael talks cockney with Andy Green and Saif Osmani from the Modern Cockney Festival.

• 28 mins

Old English, New English

Michael Rosen on the Old English words used in daily life then and now, with Hana Videen.

• 28 mins

Street Names

Michael Rosen talks to Philip Seargeant about where our street names come from.

• 28 mins

The End of the Full Stop?

Michael Rosen and Christian Ilbury discuss how online chat is changing how we punctuate.

• 28 mins

The language that changed the world

Michael Rosen hears about the origin of all Indo-European languages from Laura Spinney.

• 28 mins

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.

• 28 mins

Lists

Michael Rosen and linguistics researcher Jo Nolan discuss the joy of making lists.

• 28 mins

The Art of Listening

Michael Rosen talks to Dr Haru Yamada about how we listen, and how we can do it better.

• 28 mins