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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Vincentian Creole
Yesterday
Michael Rosen talks to linguist Teddy Mack about Vincy, a language spoken on St Vincent.
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Aphorisms: Sayings to Live By
Last Thursday
Michael Rosen talks to James Geary about aphorisms, AKA literature's hand luggage
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Can AI be our friend?
Thu 22 Jan 2026
Michael Rosen talks to Jennifer Cearns about the rise of AI companions.
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The Story of A-Z
Thu 8 Jan 2026
Michael Rosen journeys down the A-Z on an alphabetical odyssey with linguist Danny Bate.
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Julia Donaldson: A life in language
Thu 2 Oct 2025
The Gruffalo author tells Michael Rosen about her writing, reading, speaking and listening
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It's not what you say, it's how you say it
Thu 25 Sep 2025
Michael Rosen on clichés, pragmatics and how language is used to connect us beyond words.
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The Language of the Manosphere
Sun 21 Sep 2025
Michael Rosen hears how words are used as weapons against women
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Crash Bang Wallop: The Sound of Words
Thu 11 Sep 2025
Michael Rosen and Dr Catherine Laing discuss words that sound like their meanings.
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How to Persuade a Courtroom
Thu 4 Sep 2025
Michael Rosen talks to defence barrister Joanna Hardy-Susskind about courtroom language.
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Keeping My Family's Language Alive
Thu 28 Aug 2025
Michael Rosen asks Samantha Ellis about the language spoken by her mum and dad.
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Speech difficulties
Thu 21 Aug 2025
Michael Rosen asks what happens to people's sense of identity when speaking becomes hard.
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The Art of Listening
Thu 12 Jun 2025
Michael Rosen talks to Dr Haru Yamada about how we listen, and how we can do it better.
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Lists
Thu 5 Jun 2025
Michael Rosen and linguistics researcher Jo Nolan discuss the joy of making lists.
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The Welsh Language with Huw Stephens at the Hay Festival
Thu 29 May 2025
Michael Rosen talks to Welsh radio and TV presenter Huw Stephens about the Welsh language.
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The language that changed the world
Thu 22 May 2025
Michael Rosen hears about the origin of all Indo-European languages from Laura Spinney.
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The End of the Full Stop?
Thu 15 May 2025
Michael Rosen and Christian Ilbury discuss how online chat is changing how we punctuate.
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Street Names
Thu 8 May 2025
Michael Rosen talks to Philip Seargeant about where our street names come from.
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Old English, New English
Thu 20 Feb 2025
Michael Rosen on the Old English words used in daily life then and now, with Hana Videen.
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Talking Cockney
Thu 13 Feb 2025
Michael talks cockney with Andy Green and Saif Osmani from the Modern Cockney Festival.
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Creating Languages for Film and Television with Professor David Adger
Thu 6 Feb 2025
Michael Rosen asks a linguist how he invents new languages for TV series and films.
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Politeness with Louise Mullany
Thu 30 Jan 2025
Professor Louise Mullany talks politeness, and how it governs every sphere of our lives.
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Jackie Kay on the Scots language
Thu 23 Jan 2025
Jackie Kay has written a book in Scots and tells Michael about her love of the language.
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The Language of Genetics
Thu 16 Jan 2025
Adam Rutherford joins Michael to unpick the knotty language we use to talk about genetics.
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Susie Dent's World of Words
Thu 9 Jan 2025
Susie Dent joins Michael to talk about her lifelong fascination with words and languages.
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Social media language
Thu 3 Oct 2024
How language is used on platforms like Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter/X.
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How Animals Talk
Thu 26 Sep 2024
Michael hears about how animals communicate, and why, from zoologist Arik Kershenbaum.
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Former astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield on the language of Space exploration
Thu 5 Sep 2024
The Canadian former astronaut and author talks about communicating Space
Listen to Michael Rosen in conversation with The Open University
Hear Michael reveal his own language journey.
Explore the OU’s Cultural Idioms Guide
Explore how some cultural idioms entered the English Language.
Idioms Quiz
Explore why languages have idioms with The Open University’s 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 – how to communicate better online
We need to find new ways of talking to each other “virtually”.
Coinages that changed the world – and some that tried to...
Exploring the hidden histories of obscure words, and common buzz phrases.
Ittibitium, borborygmus, and Ba humbugi – 14 wonderful science words you’ve 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.
