Word of Mouth Podcast
Series exploring the world of words and the ways in which we use them
Episodes to download
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Romance Fraud
Tue 20 Apr 2021
Dr Elisabeth Carter talks to Michael about the language used by romance fraudsters.
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Alphabetical Order
Tue 6 Apr 2021
Michael Rosen and historian Judith Flanders talk categories and more.
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LGBTQIA+ slang
Tue 16 Feb 2021
Chloe Davis, creator of The Queen's English dictionary of LGBTQIA+ slang, talks to Michael
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Hilary Mantel in conversation with Michael Rosen
Tue 9 Feb 2021
Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall, talks to Michael Rosen about her life in language.
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Bulls and Bears: animal metaphors in business language
Tue 2 Feb 2021
Michael Rosen asks why there are so many terms related to animals in the business world.
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Adam Bradley: The Poetry of Pop
Tue 26 Jan 2021
Adam Bradley joins Michael from Los Angeles and talks about the poetry of pop
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How to Disagree
Tue 12 Jan 2021
Michael Rosen and Darren Chetty explore ways of disagreeing that could help to unite us.
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Protest Slogans
Tue 25 Aug 2020
Sabrina Mahfouz talks about protest slogans with Siana Bangura and Zoe Buckman.
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Black masculinity and language
Tue 18 Aug 2020
Jeffrey Boakye on the language of black masculinity in a post-colonial world.
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Talking to Strangers
Tue 11 Aug 2020
Professor Tanya Byron sitting in for Michael Rosen on talking to strangers.
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Othering through the centuries: Translation to acronyms
Tue 4 Aug 2020
Sabrina Mahfouz talks to Tobi Kyeremateng and Katherine Harloe about othering in language.
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Words Used About Women
Tue 28 Jul 2020
From hussy to bossy, spinster to slut, Professor Deborah Cameron on words used about women
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The language of power and inequality in education and leadership
Tue 21 Jul 2020
Jeffrey Boakye talks with Iesha Small on the language of power and inequality in education
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The Language of the Pandemic
Tue 14 Jul 2020
Professor Tanya Byron examines the language of Covid-19 with author Mark Honigsbaum.
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The power of telling stories
Tue 18 Feb 2020
Michael Rosen talks to storyteller Clare Muireann Murphy about the wonder of stories.
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Real Talk
Tue 4 Feb 2020
Michael Rosen talks to conversation analyst Elizabeth Stokoe about the science of talk.
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NHS language use
Tue 28 Jan 2020
Michael Rosen on how the NHS chooses words on its website and in consultants' letters.
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Lying
Tue 21 Jan 2020
Michael Rosen talks to Professor Dawn Archer about how we might tell when someone is lying
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Communicating Climate Change
Tue 14 Jan 2020
Michael Rosen talks to George Marshall about how best to communicate climate change.
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Metaphors
Tue 7 Jan 2020
Michael Rosen returns to explore how metaphors shape our lives with author James Geary.
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Gabriel Gbadamosi
Tue 13 Aug 2019
Michael Rosen meets London-born writer Gabriel Gbadamosi, to talk Dickens and dialect.
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Philosophy in English
Tue 6 Aug 2019
Michael Rosen looks at philosophy in English, from John Locke to corporate slogans.
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Glyn Maxwell
Tue 23 Jul 2019
Michael Rosen explores the sound and rhythm of English with poet Glyn Maxwell.
Explore the OU鈥檚 Cultural Idioms Guide
Explore how some cultural idioms entered the English Language.
Idioms Quiz
Explore why languages have idioms with The Open University鈥檚 quiz.
From blunk to brickfielder: our wonderful words for weather
Exploring creative descriptions for wind, rainfall and sunny spells from around the world
Digital body language 鈥� how to communicate better online
We need to find new ways of talking to each other 鈥渧irtually鈥�.
Coinages that changed the world 鈥� and some that tried to...
Exploring the hidden histories of obscure words, and common buzz phrases.
Ittibitium, borborygmus, and Ba humbugi 鈥� 14 wonderful science words you鈥檝e never heard of
Michael Rosen puts the language of science under the microscope.
Download this programme
Subscribe to this programme or download individual episodes.
Keywords for Our Time
Series of programmes examining key phrases in public debate.
Smiley face: Seven things you didn't know about emoji
Some facts about emoji - possibly the world's first truly global form of communication.
The funny words that kids invent
Have a look at some of the fantastic words that children invent and reimagine.
