Why Do We Baby Talk?

Listener Ben couldn’t stand baby talk — until he had a baby of his own. Now he can’t stop talking in a cutesy wootsy voice. Why did he go googoo for his baby, and is this something people do all over the world? Baby talk researcher Cody Moser breaks it down, and ecologist Mirjam Knörnschild tells us about another animal that talks to its young in a special widdle way. An earlier version of this episode misidentified one of the languages spoken. We've corrected the error. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices