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In this week’s World in Words podcast, we take a trip inside the mind. Rhitu Chatterjee takes us through some of the recent research into the bilingual brain. Also, theoretical psychologist Nicholas Humphrey gives us his take on consciousness, and why language may be only a small part of it. Then we consider poetry, which offers a bridge between consciousness and language.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
In this week’s World in Words podcast: The French government is proposing that children start learning English at age three. Good idea, say some French intellectuals, but why English? In Ireland, the incoming government wants to end mandatory Irish learning in schools. And Anglo-Middle Eastern singer Natacha Atlas is singing about free speech in Egypt and beyond. Download MP3
Syrian poet Adonis has has been compared to both Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot in his modernist sensibility and influence — perhaps both in one person makes a better comparison.
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In this week’s World in Words podcast: why did British band Gang of Four name themselves after China’s notorious cultural revolutionaries? Also, was Hosni Mubarak Egypt’s last pharaoh? Or is that just a cute turn of phrase? And is Cantonese, once the lingua franca of Chinatowns around the world., imperiled by the steady march of Mandarin?Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
In this week’s World in Words podcast: a new book sparks a debate about how long English will rule the world. Also, Shakespeare’s plays will be performed in 38 languages next year in London, plus efforts to eradicate a Colonial-era pidgin still used by South African mineworkers, and to eradicate English words from Russian and Chinese.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
In this week’s World in Words podcast, new research suggests that hard-to-read typographical fonts may help us remember the ideas they spell out. Also, an exhibit in Silicon Valley traces the origins of the language of computer programming. And the architectural grammar of the U.N. Security Council: the design layout of the council’s chamber and adjourning rooms is considered so important that replicas have been constructed during refurbishment.
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In this week’s World in Words podcast: after the Tucson shootings, we hear from Dutch and German journalists about political discourse and violence in their countries. Also, Obama’s oratory in Tucson gets high marks from commentators on both left and right. Plus, an exploration of the term “blood libel.” If Sarah Palin had known exactly what it meant, would she still have used it?
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In this week’s World in Words podcast, the man behind a Teach Yourself book on ancient Babylonian. Also, lost medieval songs sung by Louisiana-based descendents of immigrants from the Canary Islands. Plus, the Squamish for a Vancouver park…and the Ashes: a story of cricket, Twitter, and babysitting.
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In this week’s World in Words podcast, we hear about an initiative in Mali to preserve the Tamasheq language, spoken by a dwindling number of the nomadic Tuareg people. Also, a conversation about the literary merits of the King James Bible, which turns 400 in 2011. And, the R word: rationing. which among some Americans is R-rated when it comes to health care. But in Britain, rationing is part of the national psyche: it got the country through two world wars, and its collectivist values are at the core of Britain’s government-run health service. Download MP3Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
In this week’s World in Words podcast: With budgets tight at American schools and colleges, and with a growing interest in Chinese, what happens to a language like Italian? Also, Latin America is livid with the Royal Spanish Academy, which has decided to remove two letters from the Spanish alphabet. And the relaunched online version of the Oxford English Dictionary: now with detailed word histories and sources.
As Ireland introduces its austerity budget today, we look at the fiscal crisis there through the eyes of the country’s artists: a painter who has created controversial images of Ireland as a third world country, as a post-apocalyptic land and as a people rising up in revolution; a stage performer/slash economist who has taken a one man show about the crisis on the road to huge acclaim and popularity. The World’s Laura Lynch reports.
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Scientists recently announced a potential breakthrough in the prevention of HIV. A pill normally used to treat HIV was found to protect gay men from becoming infected with the virus. Yet in Brazil — one of the countries involved in the study — it’s not clear when the pill will start being used. Solana Pyne reports from Rio de Janeiro. Download MP3Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
In this week’s World in Words podcast, Tibetans protest over the potential loss of their language in some schools. Also, Spain re-orders its family names (under the new rules General Franco might have been General Bahamonde). Plus, historical events that have shaped the development of the English language. And how do you know when you can speak a language?Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
China’s booming economy is powered mostly by coal. And the explosive growth in coal pollution is causing major problems both within China and for the planet. In a special four-part series on The World, Asia correspondent Mary Kay Magistad examines the impacts and some possible solutions to China’s addiction to dirty coal.
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