How to Kill a Language, Part I

What misspeaking might reveal about the way our mental dictionary is organized. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 319: "Here's to You Mrs. Malaprop." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One man's quest to dub Disney's "The Lion King" into the indigenous Quechuan language; an interview with filmmaker Augusto Zegarra, director of the documentary "Runa Simi." Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 318: "Mufasa, Simba, Fercho and Dylan." With Bob Garfield. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Part II of our interview with author Sophia Smith Galer, "shared language erosion" — when members of an immigrant family can no longer communicate fluently with each other — and the true cost of letting a language die. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 317: "How to Kill a Language, Part II." With Bob Garfield. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Ukraine to Maori to Emilian, a conversation with author Sophia Smith Galer about language suppression, revitalization and death. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 316: "How to Kill a Language, Part I." With Bob Garfield. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An investigation into the nuclear origins of "bang for the buck." Plus, we get buck-naked! Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 315: "Bang for the Buck." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An interview with science-fiction author S.L. Huang, whose experience learning languages informed their most recent novella, ⁠⁠The Language of Liars⁠⁠. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 314: "The Language of Liars." With Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Was Perry Como the original Mr. Nice Guy? And who again was Perry Como? Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield explain. Visit ⁠⁠Lexicon Valley⁠⁠. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 313: "No More Mr. Nice Guy." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does a cement mixer and a 1948 Cosmopolitan magazine article have to do with the phrase Nice Guys Finish Last? Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield explain. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 312: "Nice Guys Finish Last." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a bonus segment for all listeners, John McWhorter talks about "arter," a word from Jim's dialect in Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 311: "Happily Ever Arter." With John McWhorter. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John McWhorter on the truth behind "am" in Black English. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 310: "Grand Am." With John McWhorter. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices