Word of Mouth Episodes Episode guide
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How Shakespeare Spoke
Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright discover how Shakespeare spoke.
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Slang
What is slang? Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright thrash it out with Jonathon Green.
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Language Evolution: A Gene for Language?
Neuroscientist Dr Frederique Liegeois joins Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright.
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Gorilla gorilla gorilla: Latin names for animals and plants
Michael Rosen explores the wonderful Latin names used to describe animals and plants.
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The Alphabet
Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright take us through the A-Z of the alphabet.
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Inventing Brand Names
Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright look into how new commercial brand names are invented.
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Romance and Romanticism
Michael Rosen and Professor John Mullan talk romance, Romantic poets and romanticism.
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Reading: Print v eBooks
Michael Rosen examines the differences between reading print books and reading eBooks.
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Number Words
Michael Rosen and Laura Wright look at how numbers are understood - and misunderstood.
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Non-Verbal Communication
Michael Rosen and Laura Wright discuss non-verbal communication with Prof Steven Connor.
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Food Connections Festival
Michael Rosen and guests perform poems, songs and stories about food.
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Young Women as Linguistic Innovators
Michael Rosen and Laura Wright discuss the role of young women in language innovation.
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Colour Words
Michael Rosen and Laura Wright on colour words, how they vary and how they have changed.
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Naming Family Relationships - Step, Half or 'Blended'?
Michael Rosen and Laura Wright look at the names people give to family relationships.
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A Language Without Words
Michael Rosen asks Julian Barratt and Steve Oram about creating a language without words.
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The Pedant
What is a pedant, and where does pedantry come from? Michael Rosen talks to Oliver Kamm.
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Landscape Language
Michael Rosen on the evocative words used to describe features of the British landscape.
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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.
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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.
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Philip Pullman and Michael Rosen talk about language and writing
Philip Pullman and Michael Rosen talk in depth about language and writing.
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How Is English Going to Change in the future?
Michael Rosen looks ahead, with the help of linguists Bas Aarts and Laura Wright.
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Why do we laugh?
Michael Rosen finds out why we laugh and why we cry, with neuroscientist Sophie Scott.
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Ebola: How should we talk about it?
Michael Rosen talks to Oxfam's media officer on how we should speak about Ebola.
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First Words: How do children develop language?
Michael Rosen on the first sounds and words that babies learn.
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Speaking, Listening and the English GCSE
Chris Ledgard host a discussion on speaking and listening skills and the English GCSE.
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Is the Double Entendre in Rude Health?
Arthur Bostrom examines the origins, colourful history and new era of the double entendre.
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Talking About Cancer
The writer Graham Joyce with a personal take on the ways in which we talk about cancer.
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The Online Me
Are we different online than in real life? Gemma Cairney asks Nick Grimshaw and friends.
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How the Telephone Rewired Us
Chris Ledgard explores the impact of the telephone.
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Newspeak
Chris Ledgard explores Orwell's dystopian vision of the future of language - Newspeak.