Linguistics After Dark
Episodes
Episode 20: The Ghost of Language Past
18 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we play language games.Jump right to:12:47 Linguistics Thing Of The Day: Language games37:07 Question 1: Could y’all talk about how your und...
Episode 19: Voiced Glottal Stop 2k25
06 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we are pro-winter until approximately February 15.Jump right to:4:38 Linguistics Thing Of The Day: Allophones26:50 Question 1: Why do we say “...
Episode 18: Can't Say "Teeth" Without Teeth
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we are not professionals.Jump right to:4:44 Language Thing of the Day: The short scale vs the long scale21:38 Question 1: Why do we use 'on' t...
LxAD @ CrossingsCon Announcement
22 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Linguistics After Dark will be live next month! Come see us at CrossingsCon in Philadelphia, August 15th–17th. More details at crossingscon.orgtrans...
Episode 17: The Vibes Are Iffy
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we learn how to learn how to read.Jump right to:4:53 Linguistics Thing Of The Day: Existential “be” versus straight copula16:32 Topic of t...
Episode 16: SOUTHWYIGHTCKPQRFML
20 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we guess that’s part of our grammar now.Jump right to:6:16 Linguistics Thing Of The Day: Vowel shifts44:23 Question 1: Why do British people...
Episode 15: Mr. White Is On Blast
07 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we enjoy swearing, big lakes, and ambiguity more than most people.Jump right to:6:25 Linguistics Thing Of The Day: Swearing26:10 After marryin...
Episode 14: SNUBA (Snail Tuba)
29 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we have an actual disagreement on the podcast! Jump right to: 2:42 Linguistics Thing Of The Day: Ways to Make Words! 42:18 Is it possible t...
Episode 13: A-blade-ive
06 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we shove things away (with knives). Jump right to: 0:37 Is there a word in some language for “responding to the literal words and not the s...
Episode 12: Dead Language Power
03 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we are not warful. Jump right to: 3:36 A slight correction about the etymology of “magic” 5:55 Linguistics Thing Of The Day: Verb voice, ...
Episode 11: The Axiom of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
30 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we are not already in textbooks. Jump right to: 2:25 Linguistics Thing Of The Day: Ergativity 25:50 Some people would say “historic mome...
Episode 10: Voiceless Alvie
27 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we finally post this collection of tangents in a trenchcoat. Jump right to: 15:09 Sneaky Question 0: As my high school-aged daughter starts...
Episode 9: You Can't Live A Dangerous Banana
27 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we finish the podcast in under four hours! Jump right to: 5:43 Language Thing Of The Day: Transitivity 34:55 Question 1: Are accents predicta...
Episode 8: No Linguist Can Afford That House
22 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we KISS-FIST linguistics. Jump right to: 3:15 Linguistics Thing Of The Day: Garden path sentences 25:05 How do [in/formal] registers change...
Episode 7: The Fax Machine of Gondor
10 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we spin a shitpost question into linguistics gold. Jump right to: 0:58 Mailbag; revisiting our treatment of linguistic typology 12:14 Langu...
Episode 6: Hamburger. Hamburger? Hamburger!
11 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we find an excuse to recommend a bunch of music to you.Jump right to:2:26 Language Thing of the Day: Filler words14:17 Question 1: How did we ...
Bonus Episode: LxAD LIVE @ CrossingsCon 2022 (full video with audio description at the end)
23 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we #GiveLinguistsSwords. (Please note that this recording cut out a lot of background noise and claps/cheers, so if there is a weird volume ju...
Bonus Episode: LxAD LIVE @ CrossingsCon 2022
03 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we #GiveLinguistsSwords. (Please note that this recording cut out a lot of background noise and claps/cheers, so if there is a weird volume ju...
Bonus Episode: LxAD LIVE @ CrossingsCon 2021
07 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We've gone live for #CrossingsCon! ...two years ago. And before we fell further into our unintended hiatus, we forgot to post this episode anywhere be...
LxAD @ CrossingsCon Announcement
28 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Hello, and welcome to Linguistics After Dark! I'm Sarah, and this not really an episode—it's another teaser for next week's live show at Crossin...
Bonus Episode: LxAD LIVE @ #LingFest
02 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Check out the events from #LingFest 2021 at https://lingcomm.org/lingfest/, and get hype for CrossingsCon 21: Slipping Sideways, running from August 1...
Announcement: Linguistics After Dark LIVE!
09 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Hi everyone! We have two big Linguistics After Dark announcements for you. The first announcement is: we're still here! We have two episodes that are ...
Episode 5: Schwa de Vivre
03 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we talk a LOT. Jump right to: 1:50 The International Phonetic Alphabet 30:59 Corrections 36:08 Question 1: Computer languages: Are they langu...
Episode 4: The HOA of Francophones
16 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we frequently get off topic and get angry at Les Immortels. Jump right to: 1:08 Things Sarah Is Mad About Once She Did the Show Notes 3:39 ...
Episode 3: The Gospel of the Wug
02 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we make wugability happen and invoke rule three. Jump right to: 3:40 The Part Where We Say The Title 20:22 Are clicks consonants? 30:22 Wh...
Episode 2: Juno's Geese
13 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Wherein we discuss how linguistics is everywhere but linguists are nowhere, and introduce the concept of the unsolicited etymology swear jar. Jump rig...
Episode 1: Batman's Batsman
24 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Our very first episode, answering real language questions from real listeners! And boy do we live up to our no-research policy. (What is the truth abo...