Which episode should I listen to first?  

Lingthusiasm episodes are designed so that they can be listened to in any order, so feel free to browse through the episodes by topic list and pick something that sounds intriguing! 

Or try our ✨Super Scientific ✨ Which Lingthusiasm Episode Are You? quiz for a personal recommendation. 

How can I listen to Lingthusiasm? Are you on Spotify? 

Pick an episode and hit play! 

And yes, we’re on all the podcast apps. Here are some handy links: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, YouTube, Overcast, Pocket Casts, rss, other apps via episodes.fm

When do Lingthusiasm episodes come out? 

New episodes of Lingthusiasm come out once a month on the third Thursday, twice a month for patrons (on the first Thursday). 

How long is a Lingthusiasm episode? 

A bit over half an hour, generally around 32-38 minutes. 

You mentioned something in an episode that I’m curious to know more about, do you have any links for further info? 

Every episode has a shownotes page with a short description, link to full transcript, any announcements, and links to references and further reading from topics that came up that episode. Browse previous shownotes by topic here. 

I’m not actually much of an audio person, do you have transcripts? 

Yes! And they’re well edited by humans. You can browse a full list of episodes and transcripts here.

I don’t want to forget about new episodes, can I get an email when they come out? 

Yup! Put your email address here to get an email once a month when a new episode comes out, which also contains the shownotes and links to further reading! 

Can I follow you on social media?

To chat with us on a more-often-than-monthly basis or tag us in your favourite quotes, we’re on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Bluesky, Mastodon, and LinkedIn! 

Can I get more Lingthusiasm episodes like, now, please? 

You can listen to monthly bonus episodes, get access to our entire back catalogue of bonus episodes, hang out in our linguistics fan discord server, and help us continue to exist ad-free by supporting us on Patreon. (Bonus episodes also all have transcripts!)

What ages is Lingthusiasm for?

Most of our listeners are adults, but we’ve heard from some very enthusiastic teen and pre-teen listeners! Welcome! 

(If you’re a parent or teacher thinking about assigning or putting on Lingthusiasm around younger people, note that all episodes are swear-free and don’t contain alcohol references, except for a handful of very clearly marked bonus episodes which are about the linguistics of those topics.) 

I don’t know any linguistics. Will I still understand Lingthusiasm?

Yup, that’s the point! Non-linguists from our friend’s 10 year old kid to a New York Times reviewer have told us that they’re enjoying Lingthusiasm! 

I already have a degree or several in linguistics. Will Lingthusiasm still be interesting for me?

If you’re doing linguistics all day every day, we totally understand if you want to relax with a cooking show or a fantasy novel in the evenings instead. That said, some linguists still listen to Lingthusiasm to get fun examples and metaphors for teaching, or if they now have a job involving less linguistics and want to stay connected to the field. We hope to be a podcast that you can recommend with confidence to your non-linguist friends and family if they’re curious about what you do. 

What is the linguistics background of the Lingthusiasm team?

Gretchen has a Bachelor’s and a Master’s in linguistics, and Lauren has a PhD and teaches at a university. Our producer Claire does not have any linguistics degrees and ruthlessly cuts us when we get boring or confusing :)

I’ve listened to all the Lingthusiasm episodes and now I think linguistics is super cool, how can I get even more linguistics in my life? 

Depending on what you’re looking for, here are some suggestions: 

• More Lingthusiasm episodes → Bonus episodes on Patreon
• Other podcasts → List of Linguistics and Language Podcasts
• Books → A very long list of pop linguistics books and lingfic
• Videos/activities → Crash Course Linguistics
• People to talk with about linguistics → Lingthusiasm Discord

Do you have Lingthusiasm merch?

Yes! We have scarves and t-shirts and mugs and more, with both subtle and funny linguistics-themed designs on them.  

Do I have to pay money to listen to Lingthusiasm?

The main episodes and main episode transcripts are completely free and always will be, and if you listen to all of them and find you still can’t get enough, you can support the show and get access to bonus episodes and their transcripts on Patreon.

Can I assign my students to listen to Lingthusiasm as a class assignment?

Yes! We’re delighted that many instructors have expressed interest in assigning Lingthusiasm in the classroom or told us about how you’re already doing so! See our teaching page for more details on how we can support you and your students. 

How can I support the continued existence of Lingthusiasm?

We’re so glad you asked! You can listen to monthly bonus episodes, get access to the Lingthusiasm patron Discord server, and help us stay ad-free by supporting us on Patreon. We also have Lingthusiasm merch, which makes a great gift for the linguistics enthusiast in your life.

Finally, we super appreciate it when existing fans recommend Lingthusiasm to someone you think might enjoy it (or on your social media more broadly). Most people still find podcasts through word of mouth, so a rec from a real person with what you like about the show really does count for a lot. 

What’s in the Lingthusiam banner image? Specifically, what is that sandwich cookie slash biscuit and how can I eat one?

Most of the items in the Lingthusiasm cover photo that you’ll see on our homepage and assorted social media sites are Lingthusiasm merch items plus a sneaky jacketless Because Internet, but the treats are called yo-yo biscuits, consisting of passionfruit buttercream sandwiched between two shortbread biscuits. We have no plans to enter the yo-yo biscuit making business, but this should be enough information to google your way to various recipes for this Australian treat, and if you happen to be in Montreal, we can vouch for the ones at a shop called Ta Pies :)  

I made a meme/art/baked good/costume inspired by something in a Lingthusiasm episode! Do you want to see it?

UM YES PLEASE. Please tag us @lingthusiasm on whichever social network you favour so we can make sure other lingthusiasts see it too. 

What’s the etymology of…?

You probably want to bookmark etymonline, which is a handy free etymology website we use a lot! If you want to look words up in the full Oxford English Dictionary (relatable), many public libraries have OED subscriptions so check your local library because you might already be able to access it for free! 

What does the Lingthusiasm logo stand for? Is it a question mark? A human ear? A glottal stop? 

All three! We like polysemy! The glottal stop is the sound in “uh-oh” and you can hear us talk about it in the episode when nothing means something.

What are the official Lingthusiasm colours?

Our colours are bright green #26b14c with secondary colours white #ffffff and midnight blue #051458. 

In your credits, it says “our theme song is Ancient City by The Triangles” - does that mean that there’s a whole song that the theme music is from? Can I listen to it?

Yup! The Triangles were an indie pop band from Melbourne and Ancient City was on their 2007 album Seventy-Five Year Plan. You can listen to the full-length version of Ancient City here via SoundCloud or read the lyrics here. 

I’ve written a book/started a business that I think might be relevant for your podcast! Can I tell you about it?

For books, your best bet is to offer us a copy as early as possible before the book comes out (contact æt lingthusiasm.com). We don’t run very many interview episodes and they’re usually scheduled far in advance, but there are lots of other contexts (social media, our blogs, as one part of a longer episode, etc) in which we talk about linguistics-related books of interest to a general audience and we like to be able to have informed opinions about what’s coming out soon. Unfortunately, we are not able to review academic or self-published books.

For startups, we are satisfied with our existing tech setup and not looking to transfer to new platforms. Thanks anyway!

I’m involved with a podcast/radio show/youtube channel and we’d like to bring one or both of you on to talk about linguistics! Would you be interested in an interview or collaboration?

Quite possibly, schedules and so on permitting! We’ve enjoyed doing crossover episodes and appearances on Slate’s Spectacular Vernacular podcast, NPR Ask Me Another, ABC Melbourne, and consulted for Crash Course Linguistics and Tom Scott’s Language Files on youtube, among others. Email contact æt lingthusiasm.com.

Where is Lingthusiasm recorded? 

Most episodes are recorded with Gretchen at home in Montreal, Canada and Lauren at home in Melbourne, Australia, and then stitched together through humans and technology. But sometimes we record at conferences or other locations, especially for interviews.

Hang on, is your website on…tumblr? Does that mean I can follow you on tumblr slash use tags to navigate? 

Yup, Lingthusiasm’s website is hosted by tumblr, which may come as a bit of a surprise! We’ve written a long post about how and why we did that. 

This also means that the tumblr url tag syntax also totally works!

So, for example, you can browse Lingthusiasm episodes from oldest to newest or from newest to oldest, transcripts likewise from oldest to newest or from newest to oldest, and bonus Patreon episodes from oldest to newest or newest to oldest. You can also see each episode, its transcript, and any other posts related to it using the episode tag pages, such as this page for episode 1. 

How can I listen to Lingthusiasm if I’m, like, a really dedicated podcast nerd? 

An mp3 of each episode can also be downloaded via SoundCloud if you prefer to organize your audio files manually. If there’s some other podcast app that you use and can’t find us in, please let us know! 

For bonus episodes, patrons have access to a dedicated audio rss feed for bonus episodes that you can copy-paste into your podcast app of choice, and all bonus episodes also have full-text, human-made transcripts linked to from each episode’s post description. Go to patreon.com/lingthusiasm while logged in as a Ling-thusiast or above patron to see your personal url.

There are two shapes, a spiky one and a rounded one. One is called bouba, the other kiki. Which is which?