Language
Breaking Babel
In a city as culturally diverse as Auckland, how is the Kiwi accent changing and evolving? Video, Audio
Breaking Babel
In a city as culturally diverse as Auckland, how is the Kiwi accent changing and evolving?
Video, AudioTrump Talk And Roman Rhetoric
Is Donald J Trump using the same techniques of populist rhetoric as exploited by politicians in ancient Rome? Kathryn Ryan talks to Otago University's Professor Jon Hall, an expert on the Roman orator… Audio
Former New Plymouth mayor responds to te reo jibe on Facebook
New Plymouth councillor, Murray Chong, is at the centre of a backlash over a Facebook post in which he says te reo Maori is "being kept alive on a respirator". The former mayor of New Plymouth, Andrew… Audio
Councillor faces backlash over te reo jibe
An outspoken New Plymouth councillor is at the centre of a backlash over a Facebook post in which he says te reo Maori is "being kept alive on a respirator". Audio
ERO - let children speak their native languages in pre-schools
NZEI president Lynda Stuart joins the discussion on ERO's suggestion that in early education children should speak their first languages. Audio
Conlanging: how to build a new language
Kathryn Ryan talks to Britton Watkins who's created a documentary about the people who create and speak constructed languages. Some of the most famous examples include Klingon from Star Trek and… Audio
Waitangi Rua Rautau Lectures 2017
The Honourable Dame Tariana Turia, former Cabinet Minister and founder of the Maori Party, and Dr Gareth Morgan, economist and founder of the Opportunities Party, present the 2017 Waitangi Rua Rautau… Audio
Jargon's creeping menace
Politics and the corporate world have long been guilty of egregious crimes against language, but this obfuscatory jargon is now creeping into everyday speech. Audio
Learning the lingo: migrants in NZ
For new migrants just getting a job is hard enough. But once they do, they also need to quickly get a grip on our metaphors, euphamisms, sayings and workplace culture.
Lynn Freeman visited Victoria… Audio, Gallery
Great Ideas - Part 2: 'Every Language is a World'
Megan Whelan looks at how language shapes – and is shaped by – our understanding of the world, with Dr Sasha Calhoun, Professor Paul Warren and Associate Professor Stephen Epstein. Audio
Policy speak poem
When The Weekend asked listeners to send us the words they didn't want to hear; the correspondence kept coming. 'Learnings' came in as a strong contender of a word people didn't want to hear, as did… Audio
Bats with Yossi Yovel
What are bats saying to each other? What does it all mean? Zoologist at Tel Aviv University and the head of the school's Bat Lab for Neuro-Ecology Yossi Yovel, is trying to figure out what they're… Audio
Greg O'Brien - the year in poetry
Painter, poet, curator and writer on the year in poetry - introducing several favourites, including Paekakariki poet Rob Hack. Audio
Public Address Word of the Year is...
"Post-truth" has come out trumps in the Public Address Word of the Year, leading a field of words prompted by international events. Russell Brown joins us to take us through the popular list. Audio
Speech and language development: busting the myths
Do talkative older siblings impact a younger child's language development? Do dummies cause speech delays? Speech and language therapist, Christian Wright, busts some myths. Audio
A career loving lexicology
If you've picked up an Oxford English Dictionary in the last 37 years, the chances are one of the definitions you read was written by John Simpson. Audio
60 percent of youth offenders have language difficulties
Courtrooms are intimidating places for anybody but what if you were on trial and had no idea what was going on. International research started here in New Zealand shows 60% of youth offenders have… Audio