Journeying into gender with Words for Granted!

Hot on the heels on my previous podcast appearance, I joined Ray from the popular and long-running etymology podcast Words for Granted to talk about grammatical gender – what it is, why it exists, where it comes from and how English managed to completely lose it!

You can listen to the episode in full here:

The Science and History of English Accents: Interview with Valerie Fridland – Words for Granted – An etymology and linguistics podcast

In this episode, Ray talks with linguist Valerie Friedland about accents—what they are, where they come from, and why everyone has one. They explore how accents begin in early childhood, how regional speech patterns change over time, and why certain pronunciations carry such strong social meaning. From accent bias to the myth of "accentless" speech, the conversation reveals how deeply language shapes identity and perception. Use this link to buy Valerie's new book, Why We Talk Funny: https://www.valeriefridland.com/  

1. The Science and History of English Accents: Interview with Valerie Fridland 46:20
2. The History of the Alphabet: Interview with Danny Bate 44:49
3. Lessons on Language with the Grammar Girl (Mignon Fogerty) 31:45
4. The Marvels of Translation: Interview with Keith Khan-Harris 37:50
5. The Power (and Omnipresence) of Rhetoric: Interview with Guy Doza 56:34

The recording experience was a real pleasure; Ray is a natural host, and asked good questions that gave me the chance to explore some big ideas and even sound half knowledgeable while doing so. Gender is a massive topic and a syntactic phenomenon that I’m personally fascinated by. I’m keen also to share some of it positives and to potray it in a good light, since this might go some way to counteracting a little of the mental pain that it causes learners.

I hope you give the episode a listen and support the show. Any questions, do let me know!