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Tri-Transitive Structures: A Mystery for Linguistic Theory Join us as Brooklyn sits down with Dr. Maria Cristina Cuervo, an Associate Professor of Spanish and Linguistics at the University of Toronto. Dr. Cuervo tells us about exciting research on something called “tri-transitive” structures and why their existence is so shocking to many theories of language!

Can machines tell when we’re being sarcastic? In this episode, Brooklyn sits down with Andi — a high school student at Webber Academy — to talk about her year-long linguistics research project about automatically identifying sarcasm in speech. In this project, Andi teamed up with our faculty and graduate students to investigate what make something sound sarcastic and if we can teach a computer to use these cues to identify sarcasm.

Layers of Language: The Hidden Structure of Words and Sentences In this episode, Brooklyn sits down with the incredible Dr. Elizabeth (Betsy) Ritter — a syntactician from the University of Calgary. In this interview, Betsy tells us all about her career journey and why we think languages have a hidden hierarchical structure.

Discovering How Kids Learn to Talk: Inside the Developmental Psycholinguistics Lab Ever wonder how children develop language? Us too! Join us with Dr. Angeliki Athanasopoulou as we learn about the developmental psycholinguistics lab at the University of Calgary — what they study, why it matters, and what we know (or don’t know!) about how young minds acquire language.

Language in Humans and Machines with Dr. Julie Sedivy What would it mean for machines to understand language the way humans do? In this episode, we dive deep into the fascinating intersection of linguistics, cognition, and artificial intelligence with psycholinguist, Dr. Julie Sedivy. We explore topics covered in the course “Language in Humans and Machines” (LING 302), being offered in Fall 2026. Plus, stick around to hear about a free public talk from Dr. Brian Dillon on the same topic at Contemporary Calgary on June 16th, 2026.

From linguistics to lesson plans: Insights in language curriculum development In this episode, Tanna Butlin shares her path from studying linguistics to working in curriculum development with the Tsuut’ina Nation. She discusses what curriculum development involves in practice, how linguistic training informs the creation of language-learning materials, and how this work supports broader efforts in language revitalization.

When one word makes a difference: Designing experiments to explore grammar Guest host Jesse Weir speaks with Dr. Keir Moulton (University of Toronto) about his path in linguistics and how subtle sentence contrasts like “I love that…” versus “I love it that…” reveal deeper insights into how language is represented and processed in the mind.

What’s your mouth doing right now?: The scientific study of speech sounds Brooklyn sits down with Dr. Stephen Winters - the University of Calgary's phonetician who walks us through how speech sounds are made, why languages sound so different from one another, and how phonetics plays a role in speech recognition, language learning, and speech therapy.

Melody meets grammar: How sentence structure and prosody interact across different languages PhD student Jesse Weir talks with Dr. Anja Arnhold about the relationship between prosody and syntax, her path into linguistics, and how different languages shape the way structure and melody work together.

From Linguistics to Epidemiology (Part 2): Humanities in a Data-Driven World Continuing our conversation with Dr. Hracs, we explore how linguistics and epidemiology intersect, and how humanities scholars can move into data-driven fields like public health research.

From Linguistics to Epidemiology (Part 1): Patterns in Language and Health Dr. Lindsay Hracs shares her journey from linguistics to leading data science in the Kaplan epidemiology lab, highlighting surprising parallels between the two fields and the cutting-edge research shaping her lab at the University of Calgary.

The World in a Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism with James Geary In this episode, Brooklyn sits down with James Geary - author of "The World in a Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism" to chat about the newly released second edition of this book. James tells us what aphorisms are, how he came to love them, and how this early form of language and literature persists in the digital age today of social media and AI chatbots! James Geary is also the author of "Wit's End: What Wit Is, How It Works, and Why We Need It" (W.W. Norton), "I Is an Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor and How It Shapes the Way We See the World" (HarperCollins), and "Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists" (Bloomsbury). He is an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, the former deputy curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, and the former editor of the European edition of Time magazine.

More Than Words: Inferences Beyond Language with Dr. Lyn Tieu In this episode, guest host Jesse Weir sits down with Dr. Lyn Tieu (University of Toronto) to talk about how we make meaning from more than just words. From gestures to emojis, Dr. Tieu’s research explores the surprising ways people draw inferences from non-linguistic cues. Tune in to rethink what counts as "language" in communication!

The Secrets of Sarcasm: Exploring Voice Pitch and Perception Want to learn the secrets behind sarcasm? In this episode, Brooklyn talks about her ongoing research on the perception of sarcasm. Specifically, she talks about a study where she had speakers vary the pitch of their voice in a very systematic way, and then asked listeners to rate how sarcastic it sounded to better understand what it is in someone’s voice that makes them sound sarcastic or not!

From Bengali to English: The Sounds That Challenge Our Ears with Sazzad In this episode, Brooklyn sits down with Syed Sazzad Alam, a PhD student at the University of Calgary that studies phonetics - the study of speech sounds. In this interview, Sazzad talks about some of his research on how native English speakers perceive unfamiliar sounds from his own native language, Bengali!