Tomayto Tomahto  podcast

Tomayto Tomahto

I say tomayto, but you say tomahto. Why? What cognitive, economic, racial, or social factors led you to say tomahto and I tomayto? How did you acquire the ability to produce and perceive coherent sentences? These are some questions that linguists attempt to answer scientifically. Led by Talia Sherman, a Brown University undergrad, this podcast explores language: what it is, how it works (both cognitively and in practice), and its relationship to politics, history, law, pedagogy, AI, neuroscience, psychology, anthropology, critical theory, and more!

I say tomayto, but you say tomahto. Why? What cognitive, economic, racial, or social factors led you to say tomahto and I tomayto? How did you acquire the ability to produce and perceive coherent sentences? These are some questions that linguists attempt to answer scientifically. Led by Talia Sherman, a Brown University undergrad, this podcast explores language: what it is, how it works (both cognitively and in practice), and its relationship to politics, history, law, pedagogy, AI, neuroscience, psychology, anthropology, critical theory, and more!

 

#33

Listening, Semiotics, and So Much More w/ Michael Berman

In language-centric fields we privilege the speaker. Linguistics looks at spoken or signed... more

30 Nov 2025

1 HR 14 MINS

1:14:20

30 Nov 2025


#32

The Modern Dictionary w/ Stefan Fatsis

We’re in a paradoxical time for dictionaries, claims Stefan Fatsis. On the one hand, we’re... more

11 Oct 2025

59 MINS

59:45

11 Oct 2025


#31

Language Ideologies w/ Savithry Namboodiripad

“And that’s what ideologies are: the air that you’re breathing, something that feels like ... more

26 Jul 2025

58 MINS

58:44

26 Jul 2025


#30

The AI Con w/ Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna

The AI Con may as well be the answer to the question: what happens when a linguist and a s... more

19 May 2025

1 HR 06 MINS

1:06:46

19 May 2025


#29

Philosophy of Language w/ Justin Khoo

Justin Khoo, an associate professor of Philosophy at MIT, begins this episode with the ass... more

01 Apr 2025

1 HR 21 MINS

1:21:57

01 Apr 2025


#28

Neurolinguistics, Phonetics, and Language Change w/ Chiara Repetti-Ludlow

Throughout this episode, Chiara Repetti-Ludlow, a postdoctoral research fellow at Carnegie... more

10 Mar 2025

37 MINS

37:34

10 Mar 2025


#27

Education, Anthropology, and Schoolishness with Susan Blum

In early 2023, Susan Blum [came on Tomayto Tomahto] (https://open.spotify.com/episode/7sb6... more

02 Feb 2025

45 MINS

45:24

02 Feb 2025


#26

Communicating Climate Science w/ Josh Willis (NASA)

A defining quirk of fields like English, Linguistics, Comparative Literature, etc is that ... more

19 Dec 2024

41 MINS

41:29

19 Dec 2024


#25

A Raciolinguistic Perspective with Jonathan Rosa

"What frame allows you to take seriously the consequence of ideological overdetermination ... more

14 Oct 2024

1 HR 15 MINS

1:15:40

14 Oct 2024


#24

Language and Law w/ Alex Walker: Part 2: Optimality Theory and the Tapestry of Law

While legal academia is no stranger to questions of linguistics, it has been estranged (un... more

29 Jun 2024

44 MINS

44:57

29 Jun 2024


#23

Language and Law w/ Alex Walker: Part 1: Dialectal Due Process

Legal academia is no stranger to questions of linguistics. After all, law is, in some sens... more

21 Jun 2024

41 MINS

41:13

21 Jun 2024


#22

Words, Words, Words w/ Ben Zimmer

Ben Zimmer, a language columnist for the Wall Street Journal, is a self-described "linguis... more

30 Apr 2024

58 MINS

58:52

30 Apr 2024


#21

Sociolinguistic Labor and Linguistic Oppression w/ Dr. Kelly Elizabeth Wright

People often talk about language as "a window" into many things. Language can teach us abo... more

31 Mar 2024

54 MINS

54:02

31 Mar 2024