With Gen. David H. Petraeus, Max Boot, Ian Bremmer, Elizabeth Economy, Noah Feldman, and David Shambaugh
50 Min
Sep 20, 2017
John McWhorter discusses the process by which some new languages are born.
34 Min
Sep 19, 2017
Old English was arguably more complicated than Modern English. Is that true of all languages?
28 Min
Sep 5, 2017
One Nation Undecided: A Conversation with Peter Schuck
20 Min
Aug 30, 2017
Languages across the world developed similar words for "mom" and "dad." How is that possible?
28 Min
Aug 22, 2017
Are you willing to change your mind on abortion? What about immigration? Education?
31 Min
Aug 9, 2017
The Language Conservancy's Wil Meya discusses the effort to revive Native American languages.
Former Congressman Mickey Edwards and Host John Donvan discuss the lost art of democratic debate in Congress.
John McWhorter interrupts the hosts of Unorthodox to discuss hallmarks and stereotypes of Jewish communication style.
John McWhorter talks to Ben Zimmer about the Vietnam Graffiti Project and other slangy topics.
John McWhorter discusses the near-futile impulse to determine what is, and what is not, a word.
John McWhorter discusses communication styles with linguist Deborah Tannen, author of You're the Only One I Can Tell: Inside the Language of Women's Friendships.
John McWhorter talks to linguist Neal Whitman about the mash-up of "hey" and "yo."
John McWhorter talks to sociolinguist Alexandra D'Arcy about the spike in our use of like.
John McWhorter discusses the subject of his new book, Talking Back, Talking Black: Truths About America's Lingua Franca.
Mark Seidenberg, author of Language at the Speed of Sight: How We Read, Why So Many Can’t, and What Can Be Done About It, discusses the fallout from the so-called reading wars.
When "hath" gave way to "has," the original meaning of "merry," and other insights from popular Christmas carols.
In "Arrival," Amy Adams plays a linguist who discovers that language can radically alter one's perception of reality. But is that true?
Are the slang, sounds, and syntax of Black English a kind of lingua franca for America's youth?
What can we learn about English from Bill Clinton, the two Bushes, and other leaders of the free world?
How our rich and complex system of second person pronouns got whittled down to just "you."
What Bette Davis, FDR, and Ralph Kramden have in common when it comes to speech.
John McWhorter on what the intricacies of the future tense tell us about the unwritten rules of pronouns.
John Simpson, former editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, talks about life as a lexicographer.
What does "Hickory Dickory Dock" really mean? John McWhorter makes linguistic sense of seemingly arbitrary children's verse.
John McWhorter talks with author Jack Lynch about the sacrilege of modified Shakespeare.
Gretchen McCulloch talks to John McWhorter about the big meaning behind our favorite little pictograms.
Ann Patty, author of "Living With a Dead Language: My Romance With Latin," talks about her transformative experience of learning Latin.
In this final episode of the podcast series, final words of advice are offered to college-bound students.
Etymologist and poet Anatoly Liberman says that English is one of the most difficult languages to spell. But we can change that.
Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and Parke Muth of the University of Virginia, answer listener questions.
Benjamin K. Bergen, author of the upcoming What the F: What Swearing Reveals About Our Language, Our Brains, and Ourselves, discusses the science of cursing.
Listener mail about application pressure, teacher recommendations, and a lower GPA after a head injury.
How an American Revolutionary War figure spawned a new name for a very old game.
Our college-bound seniors talk about what they’re most excited about in the year ahead.
The podcast breaks down the differences between the SAT and ACT, and how to decode the scores
Linguist John McWhorter argues that it makes perfect sense for the speech of black and white Americans to have subtle differences.
Listener questions about AP classes, college counselors, and finding the best fit.
An admissions expert weighs in on how school districts factor into college acceptance
High school seniors share their joys and disappointments during college acceptance letter season.
The earliest known citation for “shit show” is from an English-language translation of a 1970s criminal trial in Germany. But what was the word or phrase being translated?
Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and Getting In expert Steve LeMenager hear an update from Getting In senior Jordana Meyer and they answer listener questions.
The podcast offers tips to parents who want to help their college bound kids help themselves
A phrase with roots in Ancient Rome has confounded English speakers for centuries.
Financial aid, scholarship strategies, plus an update from Getting In senior August Graves
Donald Trump calls people (and publications) he doesn’t like sad. When did that word become an insult?
Senior year course selection, forming relationships with teachers who could serve as references, and more.
Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and expert Amy Young react to the criticism that's bubbled up around the Harvard report proposing sweeping changes to college admissions.
A peculiar insult from the north of England has the Oxford English Dictionary stumped.
A pronoun that English borrowed from its Scandinavian neighbors gets new life as a gender neutral alternative to he and she.
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo talk about a mystery word or phrase with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo talk to editors at Oxford, Merriam-Webster, and Dictionary.com about their picks for Word of the Year.
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss the early 20th-century origins of a bizarre food-industry code with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a word that was popularized during the 1940s folk movement with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss the etymological quirkiness of the word "pussy."
With Dr. Eben Alexander, Sean Carroll, Dr. Raymond Moody, and Dr. Steven Novella