Science

Lingthusiasm - A podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics

by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne

Science

Share this ranking Is this your show? Claim it

Listen on Apple Podcasts Pocket Casts Support on Patreon RSS feed

Chart positions today · United States

Not on the United States charts we track today.

If you like Lingthusiasm - A podcast that's…, try…

Particles of Thought

Also in Science

NOVA Presents

Also in Science

Desi Academia Podcast

Also in Science

PNAS Science Sessions

Also in Science

Kindred

Also in Science

Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea

Also in Science

Ranking history · United States

Science · History only

Latest daily rankings: Oct 27. New rankings will appear after the next update.

Recent history only — this show has no current ranking on the Science chart. These are recorded positions from the last 14 days, not current rankings.

Position on the Science combined chart over the last 14 days. Toggle platforms to compare their positions. Lower rank numbers are better.

Episode releases

View as table

Date	Combined Rank	Apple Podcasts
Oct 27	—	—
Oct 26	#181	#168
Oct 25	#162	#148
Oct 24	#192	#179
Oct 23	#171	#157
Oct 21	#171	#158
Oct 20	#145	#129
Oct 19	#145	#129
Oct 18	#141	#121
Oct 17	#128	#106
Oct 16	—	#192
Oct 15	—	#187

Latest episodes

121: Vampires, ghosts, imposters and more linguistic monsters

October 15, 2026 · 42 min

Vampires, werewolves, witches, ghosts, zombies, imposters, and frankenstein have something in common: they're all possessed by the spirit of linguistics! In this silly spooky episode, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch get…
120: How (not) to kill a language - Interview with Sophia Smith Galer

September 18, 2026 · 41 min

Narratives about smaller languages often focus on the death and endangerment sides of the story. There's generally less on the social and political reasons why some languages are favoured at the expense of others, and how community members…
119: Irregularity is all over the place

August 21, 2026 · 46 min

Talk, talked. Walk, walked. Go...went? In this episode, your hosts Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne get enthusiastic about the many ways that languages are irregular in their patterns! We talk about sound and spelling irregularity…
118: Using tech to chat with bonobos, dogs, and whales

July 17, 2026 · 46 min

Can we teach dogs to express their needs better by pressing buttons? What about the studies trying to teach bonobos and other primates to communicate through buttons or signs? What have we learned about whale communication from the…
117: What makes for beautiful writing, scientifically speaking - Interview with Julie Sedivy

June 19, 2026 · 49 min

Sometimes, a phrase seems to leap off the page and lodge into your mind, crisp and shining like a precious jewel. Other times, you're reading something and it just won't stick, your eyes wandering away no matter how hard you try. In this…

Show 7 more episodesShow fewer episodes

116: Cross-cultural communication (in space!)

May 22, 2026 · 32 min

Sometimes, you're talking with someone and you just seem to click. Other times, you just can't seem to get comfortable: they're standing too close or too far away for comfort, making too much or too little eye contact, touching or not…
115: The long shadow of Daisy Bates with This Guy Sucked

April 17, 2026 · 1 hr 1 min

What do you do when the only records that remain of a language were made by someone who had absolutely horrendous views of the people who spoke it? In this episode, your host Lauren Gawne gets enthusiastic about a crossover episode with…
114: Begonia, average coral, and sea pink - Defining colour terms with Kory Stamper

March 20, 2026 · 54 min

begonia: a deep pink that is bluer, lighter, and stronger than average coral (see ‘coral’ 3B), bluer than fiesta, and bluer and stronger than sweet William, called also ‘gaiety’. In this episode, your hosts Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren…
113: Why "it's a diglossia!" explains so many social dynamics

February 20, 2026 · 49 min

In some communities, everyone regularly uses two languages or varieties according to the social situation, with one of them being more prestigious (and more likely to be written down) than the other. This particular kind of multilingualism…
112: When language become-s(3SG) linguistic example-s(PL)

January 15, 2026 · 49 min

Language is all around us. This sentence right here, is language! But between the raw experience of someone saying something and a linguistic analysis of what they've said, there are certain steps that make it easier for that analysis to…
111: Whoa!! A surprise episode??? For me??!!

December 19, 2025 · 51 min

Wait, surprise is associated with a particular intonation!? Oh, you can see surprise by measuring electricity from your brain!? Hang on, some languages have grammatical marking for surprise!? In this episode, your hosts Lauren Gawne and…
110: The history of the history of Indo-European - Interview with Danny Bate

November 20, 2025 · 1 hr 1 min

Before there was English, or Latin, or Czech, or Hindi, there was a language that they all have in common, which we call Proto-Indo-European. Linguists have long been fascinated by the quest to get a glimpse into what Proto-Indo-European…

Full episode archive on Apple Podcasts →

About the show

A podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne. "A fascinating listen that will change the way you see everyday communications." –New York Times. "Joyously nerdy" –Buzzfeed. Weird and deep half-hour conversations about language on the third Thursday of the month. Listened to all the episodes here and wish there were more? Want to talk with other people who are enthusiastic about linguistics? Get bonus episodes and access to our Discord community at www.patreon.com/lingthusiasm Shownotes and transcripts: www.lingthusiasm.com