NPR’s Code Switch and great linguistics episodes

I have been critical of NPR’s Code Switch program in the past (in the very distant past, before Corona times). But I have to say that they have really stepped up their game when it comes to episodes about language. (Their other episodes are good as always, but I’m a language scholar so I can judge those ones better)

Here are a few of their recent-ish episodes that discuss language. They have interesting guests and they discuss language in a nuanced way. But they still manage to stay focused on the topic at hand – something I definitely struggle with when talking about language.

https://www.npr.org/2026/03/21/nx-s1-5755013/what-trumps-language-has-in-common-with-cult-language

https://www.npr.org/2025/10/22/nx-s1-5546796/racist-slurs-naughty-words-and-how-dictionary-editors-define-them

https://www.npr.org/2024/03/27/1197956092/in-lakota-nation-people-are-asking-who-does-a-language-belong-to

Check them out!

Song lyrics and culture

An article in the Sunday Times crossed my eyeballs this week. It’s called “Can song lyrics tell us how society is changing?” and the obvious answer is

But there’s a bit of linguistics in here (and no, it’s not good), so let’s dig in.

Continue reading “Song lyrics and culture”