Talk the Talk: Homophobia Out of Sport

Last Friday, 17 May, was International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO), and I noticed a story about AFL stars speaking out against gay slurs. We're always up for a story about language change, especially on LGBT issues, so here it is.

There's also some trivia about Ben, and about the show. And if you listen carefully, you can hear the thumping sound of the music from the Full Frequency show, which was going on next door. It's all going on!

One-off show: Here
Subscribe via iTunes: Here
Show notes: Here

Show tunes:

'Fight for Everyone' by The Leisure Society
from the album Alone Aboard the Ark



'Children Play Well Together' by Caribou
from the album Start Breaking My Heart

Talk the Talk: Ultraconservative Words (featuring Luisa Miceli)

When I get sent the same article from seven different people, it has a way of bumping its way to the front of the Talk the Talk schedule. And so it was with this one. People really seem to like the idea that certain words have remained unchanged for 15,000 years, and that if you said them to people back then, they might understand you.

Which leads me to a question: Whenever something about language ignites people's interest and imagination, why does it always have to be wrong? Why don't people ever like anything right? And this is wrong. It's not just wrong; it's shriekingly wrong (to borrow a phrase from Larry Trask [PDF]). It cannot be right. And if it is right, the authors of this paper don't know it's right. It's a failure of peer review at PNAS, and an even worse failure of the always-hopeless science reporting crew.

As you can guess, my job on this podcast is to hose down a popular notion. But I'm not alone — there's also the talented Luisa Miceli to provide some finer details.

One-off show: Here
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Show notes: Here

Show tunes:

'Give Me Some Good Luck' by the Panics
from the album A House on a Street in a Town I'm From



'Black Swan' by Thom Yorke
from the album The Eraser

Talk the Talk: Navajo

As language preservation efforts go, I think this one's a keeper. Star Wars is getting the Navajo treatment. Or should I say Diné? because that's what its speakers call it.

But there's something even better than Star Wars — there's also verbs. Yeah, there's some really intense verb stuff going on. And then to round everything out, I bring up the Code Talkers. A fun show.

One-off show: Here
Subscribe via iTunes: Here
Show notes: HereShow tunes:

'El Caminos in the West' by Grandaddy
from the album Sumday



'Western Eyes' by Portishead
from the album Portishead

Pareidolia of the Daylia: God moves in eggplanty ways

It's not just Christians and Muslims who imagine religious images in food. Now Hindus are getting in on the act.

Believers are flocking to a Leicestershire temple to pray twice a day to a vegetable that looks like a Hindu god.

The divine aubergine was discovered among a box from a wholesalers and has been worshipped by more than 80 people so far.

Hindus: Behold your god!

I'm sure that many Hindus would think this is silly, just as many Christians think that Toast Jesus is silly. But according to the article, about 80 people have come to the restaurant to pray. For every one of those people, their religion has short-circuited the part of their brain that helps them realise that it's stupid to venerate an eggplant. And that's a terrible thing.

The danger is that, by worshipping an eggplant, they might accidentally be paying homage to the Eggplant God, and that'd really piss Ganesha off. Tramplings would ensue. You don't want to make Ganesha mad — he never forgets.

Talk the Talk: Rise of the Robo-Markers

Not much time for this post because I'm busy marking essays. I guess it's not a coincidence that I chose this topic, then, because it's about getting computers to do the marking.

I love this topic because it's so counter-intuitive. The things we think make a good essay are nothing close to what computers think makes a good essay. And yet, computers make judgments that match human markers to a T.

And hey, marking turns professors into mindless robots, so why not skip the intermediary?

One-off show: Here

Subscribe via iTunes: Here

Show notes: Here

Show tunes:

'Tulpa Ovi' by Robag Wruhme

from the album  Thora Vukk 

'Train Station Lullaby' (Lullatone Remix) by I Am Robot and Proud

from the album Uphill City Remixes & Collaborations

Don't take the candy

I met this Jesus guy while waiting for a train.

Lots more cartoons here.

Talk the Talk: Downton Anachrony

Which phrase was too early for Downton Abbey in the 1920s?

"That's for sure!" or "I'm bushed!"

Well, just click on the links, and you'll find yourself at Google's fabulous Ngram Viewer, which has scads of information about books over hundreds of years.

There are some other resources you can use though, and some people have even taken it pro. It's all in the podcast. As Violet Grantham would have said, "Check it out, dudes."

One-off show: Here
Subscribe via iTunes: Here
Show notes: Here

Show tunes:

'Out of Time' by Blur
from the album Think Tank



'Weekend' by Ladytron
from the album Witching Hour

Talk the Talk: John Gumperz

John Gumperz was someone whose work I remember reading waaaaay back in my Linguistics study, back when I first became aware of sociolinguistics. Since he's passed away, I thought it would be good to take a look at what he started. Interactional sociolinguistics, metaphorical code-switching — it's all here.

The most interesting part about this podcast for me was how easy it was for Ben and me to come up with examples of all of the above. It's just a part of our lives. Very relevant. See if you don't agree.

One-off show: Here
Subscribe via iTunes: Here
Show notes: Here

Show tunes:

'Nicotine and Gravy' by Beck
from the album Midnite Vultures



'Too Nice to Talk To' by the English Beat
from the album What Is Beat?

Talk the Talk: Word Aversion

When we start talking about the most hated words in English, things are bound to get out of hand.



One-off show: Here
Subscribe via iTunes: Here
Show notes: Here

Show tunes:

'Even If You're Missing Fingers, You Can Make a Fist' by The Barons of Tang
from the album Knots and Tangles



'Do You Remember the First Time?' by Pulp
from the album His 'n' Hers

Okay, for some people even having a gay son doesn't work.

Well, I was pretty critical of Ohio senator Rob Portman, who changed his mind about gay marriage when it affected him personally. But it should be noted that some people aren't even able to get that far. Meet Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Arizona).

SALMON: I don’t support the gay marriage… My son is by far one of the most important people in my life. I love him more than I can say… I’m just not there, as far as believing in my heart that we should change 2,000 years of social policy in favor of a redefinition of the family. I’m not there.

Salmon the Elder is a nice piece of work:

Salmon’s son, Matt, talked to the Phoenix New Times back in 2010 about his sexuality and explained that his father is not nearly as loving or respectful as he may claim. Matt’s been with his boyfriend Kent Flake for over 10 years, but his family doesn’t allow Flake to be around, and Matt’s siblings defriended him on Facebook for promoting gay rights. He endured years of ex-gay therapy, but has since left the Mormon Church.

I suppose I didn't have to mention that Salmon is a Mormon. There's something about enrobing yourself in layers of pious priesthood sanctimony that makes everything you do all right, no matter how repellent. Any absolutist ideology can turn you into a hateful dickbag, but religion is especially good at subverting a normal person's better tendencies. What a shame, for both father and son.

Which is why that quote from David O. McKay is so very wrong:

“The purpose of the church is to make bad men good and good men better.”

In fact, religion makes normal people worse if they really believe it, while good people can still be decent if they don't take it too seriously.

You can quote me on that.