The Vocal Fries
The monthly podcast about linguistic discrimination. Learn about how we judge other people's speech as a sneaky way to be racist, sexist, classist, etc. Carrie and Megan teach you how to stop being an accidental jerk. Support this podcast at www.patreon.com/vocalfriespod
All Episodes
John Mary Bill Sue
May 16th, 2022
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Hadas Kotek, a linguist at Apple, about two of her papers: Gender bias in linguistics textbooks: Has anything changed …
Tongues
May 2nd, 2022
Carrie and Megan talk with two of the editors of Tongues: On Longing and Belonging Through Language, Eufemia Fantetti, Professor of English at Humber …
FindingFive
April 4th, 2022
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr. Noah Nelson, trustee of FindingFive. FindingFive is a tech nonprofit that enables academic researchers to create and run online behavioral research studies in the cloud!
This is a …
Hyper Specific Genres We Love
April 1st, 2022
Renee and Natalia are back with a conversation about some of the books they love that fall into super niche genres. For example, Natalia has an entire bookshelf dedicated to books about bananas and Renee will never say …
Save the Saguaro 🌵
March 28th, 2022
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Jessica Hernandez, a transnational Indigenous scholar, scientist, and community advocate based in the Pacific …
Myanmar? I Hardly Know Her!
February 21st, 2022
Megan and Carrie talk with Katie Craig about Myanmar/Burma, the languages spoken there and her organization Myanmar Indigenous Community Partners, which works with local communities to develop and celebrate these …
Employing Linguistics
February 14th, 2022
In this special (kind of bonus) episode, Dr Anna Marie Trester and Sophie Henry talk about Anna Marie's new book Employing Linguistics: Thinking and Talking about Careers for Linguists.
We're an indie podcast with …
Chocolate City
January 31st, 2022
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Jessi Grieser about her new book, The Black Side of the River, DC, Tennessee and the way Black residents of Anacostia talk about their neighborhood and themselves.
Galicious
January 10th, 2022
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Enrico Torre about Galician and other languages spoken in Spain and why they matter.
We're an indie podcast with limited …
Mara Effin Wilson
December 6th, 2021
Carrie and Megan talk with Mara Wilson about her voice, her neurodivergence, and the IPA.
Transcript available here.
We're an indie podcast with …
All Your Meme Are Belong To Us
November 8th, 2021
Megan and Carrie talk to Dr Sylvia Sierra about her new book, Millennials Talking Media: Creating Intertextual Identities in Everyday Conversation, …
Everybody Wants to Rural the World
October 25th, 2021
Carrie and Megan talk to Jeff Zentner, author of The Serpent King (among others), about his YA books set in Appalachia, why he doesn't use eye-dialect, and why representation matters.
Transcript available here
We're an …
Snap, Crackle, K-Pop
September 27th, 2021
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Joyhanna Yoo Garza, postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard, about K-Pop, semiotics, cultural …
The Language of Love
August 31st, 2021
Megan and Carrie talk with Natalyn Daniels, Clery Liaison at the University of California, Berkeley, and Dr. Rose Wilkerson, lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, about growing up on the Navajo Nation, …
Me Myself and AI
August 2nd, 2021
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr. Emily M. Bender, Professor of Linguistics at University of Washington, about her paper "On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big? 🦜", Google firing Drs. Timnit …
Maintenance Baes
July 12th, 2021
Megan and Carrie talk with the cohosts of Maintenance Phase, Michael Hobbes and Aubrey Gordon, about wellness, diet culture, fatness and how not to …
I Ain't Messing With You
June 28th, 2021
Carrie and Megan talk with Deion Broxton about his Baltimore accent, his career and speech therapy, and going viral.
We're an indie podcast …
Cult Classic
June 14th, 2021
Megan and Carrie talk with Amanda Montell about her newest book Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, out June 15, 2021, how cults use language to …
Accent-uate Your Performance
May 31st, 2021
Carrie and Megan talk with Erik Singer, dialect coach to the stars, about what dialect coaches do, how to become one, and his strategies for teaching different accents to actors.
Check out some of his Wired videos …
Hypocritical Oath
May 17th, 2021
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr. Elena Costello Tzintzun, a newly-minted PhD, about the importance of using heritage language learners as healthcare interpreters and healthcare accessibility.
We're …
Bean Discourse
April 28th, 2021
Carrie and Megan talk with Jaya Saxena, Staff Writer at Eater about her piece The Limits of the Lunchbox Moment and the way we talk about food and …
Jamaalapalooza
April 12th, 2021
Megan and Carrie talk with Jamaal Muwwakkil, PhD candidate in Linguistics at the University of Santa Barbara about African American English and …
Standardized Language Ideology
March 29th, 2021
Megan and Carrie talk with Drs Gaillynn Clements, Visiting Assistant Professor in Linguistics at Duke University, and Marnie Jo Petray, Associate Professor in TESOL at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, about …
Use People's Pronouns
February 28th, 2021
Carrie and Megan talk with Ártemis López about queer and trans translation and interpretation, indirect and direct non-binary language and Spanish …
The Moist Towelette of Podcasts
January 31st, 2021
Megan and Carrie talk with Kory Stamper, lexicographer extraordinaire, about lexicography, her experience on the History of Swear Words, and her favourite swear word.
We're an indie podcast with limited …
Abso-2020-lutely
December 28th, 2020
Carrie and Megan discuss the nominations and winners of the American Dialect Society's Word of the Year for 2020.
We're an indie podcast …
Racists and Transphobes and Scaredy Cats, oh my
November 30th, 2020
Carrie and Megan discuss Yamiche Alcindor's "ungrammatical sentences" and Latinx/Latine supposedly ruining Dem's electoral chances.
We're an …
Trumped Up Masculinity
October 27th, 2020
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Norma Mendoza-Denton Professor of Anthropology at UCLA, about her new edited book, Language in the Trump Era.
Sounds about White
September 28th, 2020
Megan and Carrie talk with JPB Gerald, host of Unstandardized English, a podcast about language teaching, race, and whiteness, EdD student and adult …
Teach Your Children about Linguistic Discrimination
September 3rd, 2020
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Katherine D. Kinzler, Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago, about her new book How You Say It: Why You …
Dismantling White Supremacy
August 17th, 2020
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Anne Charity Hudley, Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, about how to dismantle white supremacy in linguistics.
We're an indie podcast with …
Third Time's the Charm
August 3rd, 2020
It's the Fries' 3 year anniversary! Carrie and Megan respond to listener voicemails about linguistic discrimination.
We're an indie podcast …
Creating Puentes
July 18th, 2020
Megan and Carrie discuss the letter to the LSA and then talk with Dr. Marie-Eve Monette, founder of Creating Puentes, about the importance of translation and interpretation services and her life as a French speaker …
Reid between the Lines
June 15th, 2020
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr Marianne Mason, newly minted Associate Professor of Spanish at James Madison University, about police interviews, the …
Unconscious Bias Project
May 12th, 2020
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr. Linet Mera, co-founder of the Unconscious Bias Project, and Lucretia Iruela, consultant to the UBP, about unconscious …
Chaos and Order
April 28th, 2020
Megan and Carrie talk with David Bowles, a Mexican-American author from south Texas who teaches at the University of Texas Río Grande Valley, about …
Read between the Vines
April 13th, 2020
Carrie and Megan talk with Kendra Calhoun, graduate student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, about anti-hegemonic racial humor on Vine.
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/vocalfriespod)
Bilingualism is. It just is.
March 31st, 2020
Megan talks with Dr. Nelson Flores, Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Jonathan Rosa, Associate Professor at Stanford, about the bilingual brain, semilingualism, and why people keep confusing …
Linguistic Injustice
March 16th, 2020
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Sharese King, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago, about Rachel Jeantel and her treatment by the justice system and the media during the George Zimmerman trial.
We're …
What's in a Name?
March 2nd, 2020
Carrie and Megan talk to Dr. Laurel MacKenzie, Assistant Professor at NYU, about all things names.
We're an indie podcast with limited …
Cheaper than Therapy
February 17th, 2020
Megan and Carrie chat with Dr Anna Marie Trester, founder of Career Linguist, about the importance of linguistics to the workplace. (Employers: you need us!)
We're an indie podcast with limited resources, so we …
Wikitongues
February 3rd, 2020
Carrie and Megan talk with Daniel Bogre Udell, cofounder of Wikitongues, about language documentation and revitalization.
We're an indie …
Practice Makes Easier
January 13th, 2020
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr Melissa Baese-Berk, Associate Professor at the University of Oregon, about native and non-native English and the different levels of effort required to understand each.
We're an …
Irish isn't Just Decorative
December 30th, 2019
Carrie and Megan talk with Gearoidin McEvoy, PhD Candidate in Minority Language Rights Law at Dublin City University and cohost of Motherfoclóir, about Irish and the law.
We're an indie podcast with limited resources, so …
Living Languages
December 9th, 2019
Megan and Carrie talk to Ebony Joachim, at Living Languages, who runs professional development courses for Indigenous communities in Australia, about her work, language revitalization and documentation, and the …
Between Iraq and a Hard Place
November 25th, 2019
Carrie and Megan talk to Dr Zachary Jaggers, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Oregon, about differences in pronunciation of …
Putting the Antics in SemAntics
November 16th, 2019
Megan and Carrie talk to Dr Andrew McKenzie, Associate Professor at the University of Kansas, about Kiowa (Cauijoga), language documentation and the importance of semantic documentation.
We're an indie podcast …
Be Good and Be Kind
November 16th, 2019
Carrie and Megan talk to Dr. Ake Nicholas, Lecturer at Massey University, about Cook Islands Maori, language documentation and the importance of …
The (In)Visibility of Disability
October 7th, 2019
Megan and Carrie talk to Alice Wong, the founder and Project Coordinator of the Disability Visibility Project, and Nina G, comedian, professional speaker, storyteller, writer and educator, about their disabilities and …
The Rhetoric of Xenophobia
September 23rd, 2019
Carrie and Megan talk to Ben Zimmer about the rhetoric of "infestation" and "invasion" and the history of their use.
We're an indie podcast with …
Everybody Hertz
September 9th, 2019
Megan and Carrie talk to Dr Lisa Davidson, Professor of Linguistics at New York University, about the terms used by journalists to describe language and accents (and why they are so often problematic).
We're an indie …
Your Language Sounds like it has a Drawbridge
August 26th, 2019
Carrie and Megan talk to Dr Sadie Ryan, host of the Accentricity podcast, the podcast that examines the eccentricities of language and identity and how the way we talk connects to who we are.
We're an indie podcast with …
To Be or Not to Be (Hamlet)
August 12th, 2019
Megan and Carrie talk to Duane Daniels, actor, acting coach, director and producer, aka Principal Van Clemmons on Veronica Mars, about acting, singing and his new book You are Not Really Hamlet: And Everybody Knows It.
…
Megan Squared
July 29th, 2019
Megan and Carrie talk to Dr Megan Strom, Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, about the importance of interpretation services in the United States.
We're an indie podcast with limited resources, …
Lal-apalooza
July 15th, 2019
Megan and Carrie talk to Dr Lal Zimman, Assistant Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, about trans voices and vocal fry.
We're an …
The Final Frontier
July 1st, 2019
Carrie and Megan talk to Dr Jeffrey Punske, Assistant Professor at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, and Dr Andrew McKenzie, Associate Professor at the University of Kansas, about their project on language …
Word Slut
June 17th, 2019
Megan and Carrie talk with Amanda Montell about her new book wordslut: a feminist guide to taking back the english language.
We're an indie podcast …
Choice is Good; Justice is Better
June 3rd, 2019
Carrie and Megan talk with Mary-Caitlyn Valentinsson, PhD student at the University of Arizona, about the language around reproductive rights, reproductive justice and abortion.
We're an indie podcast with limited …
No hasi ko’i pendeu
May 20th, 2019
Carrie and Megan talk with Keisha Wiel, PhD student at Temple University, about Papiamentu, a creole spoken in the Caribbean.
We're an indie podcast …
Zom-be or Not Zom-be: That is the Question
May 6th, 2019
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr. Jamie Thomas, Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Swarthmore, about zombies, Swahili, and her book "Zombies Speak …
Chatting about Chatino
April 22nd, 2019
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr. Hilaria Cruz, Assistant Professor at the University of Louisville in the Department of Comparative Humanities, about Chatino languages and Chatino conceptions of death.
We're an indie …
Ha-has and Moonbeams and Yaks, Oh My!
April 8th, 2019
Carrie and Megan talk with Jane Solomon about her upcoming book The Dictionary of Difficult Words.
We're an indie podcast with limited resources, so …
Maaate, Don't Come the Raw Prawn with Me, Alright?
March 25th, 2019
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr. Tony McMahon from RMIT about all things bogan and Australia.
We're an indie podcast with limited resources, so we could …
Water is Life
March 11th, 2019
Carrie and Megan talk with Nicole Horseherder, Diné from Arizona, about Diné Bizaad (aka Navajo).
We're an indie podcast with limited resources, so we …
On the Basis of Voice
February 25th, 2019
Megan and Carrie talk with Kelly Wright, PhD student at the University of Michigan, about housing discrimination via dialect discrimination.
We're an …
Beyoncé, Hoodies and Obama Linguistics
February 11th, 2019
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr. Nicole Holliday, Assistant Professor of Linguistics and Cognitive Science at Pomona College about Black English, …
The Kids are Alright
January 28th, 2019
Carrie interviews Megan about child language acquisition and why correcting kids' "mistakes" is not worth your time.
We're an indie podcast with …
Looking Like a Language, Sounding Like a Podcast
January 14th, 2019
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr. Jonathan Rosa, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics at Stanford University, about his forthcoming book …
Bilingualism isn’t Just for White Kids
December 31st, 2018
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr. Abby Bajuniemi about heritage languages and heritage language speakers.
We're an indie podcast with limited …
The Latino Threat Narrative
December 10th, 2018
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr. Matthew Garley, Assistant Professor at CUNY, York College, about the use of Spanish and Spanglish in rap.
We're an …
How Millennials are Destroying the Philly Accent
November 26th, 2018
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr. Betsy Sneller, Postdoc at Georgetown University about all things Philadelphia English.
We're an indie podcast with …
The Rock was the Rock before the Rock, b'y
November 12th, 2018
Carrie and Megan talk with Tracy O'Brien, literature PhD student at the University of Toronto, about all things Newfoundland. Yes b'y.
We're an indie …
Salt Fat Acid SHADE
October 29th, 2018
Megan and Carrie answer your questions about jerk linguists, the alt right and vocal fry.
We're an indie podcast with limited resources, so we could …
Bat Signals
October 15th, 2018
It's another Halloween episode! Megan and Carrie talk about bats, wolves and ... prairie dogs?
We're an indie podcast with limited resources, so we …
Todos/Todas/Todes
October 1st, 2018
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr. Santiago Kalinowski, Director of the the Linguistics Department at the Argentinian Academy of Letters, about lenguaje inclusivo/inclusive language in Spanish.
We're an indie …
Neaux French Left Behind
September 17th, 2018
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr. Nathalie Dajko, Assistant Professor at Tulane University, about varieties of French in Louisiana and the history of …
Means Doesn’t Rhyme with New Orleans
August 27th, 2018
Megan and Carrie talk with Lisa Sprowls, PhD student at Tulane University about New Orleans English(es), especially Yat and the Garden District …
Down the Shore
August 13th, 2018
Carrie and Megan talk with Lou Capetta of the Lou Capetta Show with Jay Burke about all things New Jersey, including the Sopranos, the Jersey Shore and water ice.
We're an indie podcast with limited resources, so we …
Keep Calm and Fry On
July 30th, 2018
Megan and Carrie discuss their first year of podcasting, what they've learned from the experience, and how vocal fry will haunt them forever.
We're an …
Ope, Just Gonna Sneak Right Past Ya and Grab the Ranch
July 16th, 2018
Carrie and Megan talk with Amanda and Lucy from the Wine and Crime podcast about all things Minnesota.
We're an indie podcast with limited …
Don't Mind the Gap
July 2nd, 2018
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr. Nelson Flores, newly minted Associate Professor of Educational Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania, about the so-called 30 million word gap, why it is problematic, and how better …
Patreon Bonus Episode Preview
June 28th, 2018
In this special bonus episode, Carrie and Megan talk about Koko the gorilla, Love Island and donuts.
We're an indie podcast with limited resources, …
Rock 'n' Rhotic
June 18th, 2018
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr. Bob Kennedy of the University of California, Santa Barbara about accents in song, including which accents are associated with which genres, appropriation of those accents, and r's.
We're an …
There Is No Try, There Is Only Du...olingo
June 4th, 2018
Carrie and Megan talk with Joan Palmiter Bajorek, PhD candidate at the University of Arizona, about the issues around learning a second language via …
Learning to Love Like
May 21st, 2018
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr. Alexandra D'Arcy, Associate Professor at the University of Victoria, Director of the Sociolinguistics Research Lab and …
Calling London
May 7th, 2018
Carrie and Megan talk with Issa Wurie, cohost of the Young Free and Coupled podcast, about South London dialects and slang.
We're an indie podcast …
Troublesome Terps
April 23rd, 2018
Megan and Carrie talk with Alexander Drechsel, Alexander Gansmeier and Jonathan Downie of the Troublesome Terps in this special crossover episode.
Don't Be An Accenthole
April 9th, 2018
Carrie and Megan talk with Ethan Kutlu, PhD student at the University of Florida about foreign accented speech (FAS), which foreign accents are …
Literally Exploding with Nerd Rage
March 26th, 2018
Megan and Carrie discuss Time's/The Muse's list of "bad" words. HEAVY SIGH.
We're an indie podcast with limited resources, so we could …
Black Lives Matter
March 12th, 2018
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr. Ersula Ore from Arizona State University about rhetoric, respectability politics, and her arrest near campus back in …
Basque-ing in the European Sun
February 26th, 2018
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr. Itxaso Rodríguez-Ordóñez from Southern Illinois University Carbondale about Basque and the discrimination Basque …
They/Them/Theirs
February 12th, 2018
Carrie and Megan talk with Kirby Conrod, doctoral student at University of Washington, about trans language, including pronoun usage and singular …
We're Ghana Talk English
January 29th, 2018
Megan and Carrie talk with Selikem Gotah, Masters student at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, about Ghanaian English, Ghanaian Pidgin English, and other languages of Ghana. Learn a little about the history of …
Two Canadians, an Australian and an American walk into a Linguistics Conference...what is this, a crossover episode?
January 15th, 2018
In this special episode of the Vocal Fries, Carrie and Megan chat with Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne of Lingthusiasm about Australian and …
French (Canadian) Fries
January 1st, 2018
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr. Nicole Rosen, Canada Research Chair in Language Interactions at the University of Manitoba about Canadian French, …
Down in the Holler
December 11th, 2017
Carrie and Megan talk with Dr. Paul Reed, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communicative Disorders at the University of Alabama. They discuss …
ChicaNO? ChicanYES!
November 27th, 2017
Megan and Carrie talk with Dr. Carmen Fought about Chicano English, why it matters, and why it isn't the same as Spanglish. Carmen Fought is a …
Borderlands/La frontera
November 13th, 2017
Carrie and Megan chat with award-winning Chicano Poet Alberto Álvaro Ríos about living on the border between the US and Mexico and between English and Spanish.
We're an indie podcast with limited resources, so …
Freaky Fryday
October 30th, 2017
Megan and Carrie chat about superstitions, special numbers and the real meaning of 'witch hunt', all while (mis?)pronouncing triskaidekaphobia. It's the spookiest episode yet!
We're an indie podcast with …
A Sirious Problem
October 16th, 2017
Do Siri or Alexa have problems understanding you? Learn why, with Carrie and Megan. They talk to Dr. Rachael Tatman about Automatic Speech …
On the Rez
October 2nd, 2017
Megan and Carrie interview Dr. Peter Jacobs, Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Simon Fraser University, where he works on language revitalization. They talk about Rez English(es) (the varieties of English spoken on …
Grammar Not-zi
September 18th, 2017
Carrie and Megan talk about prescriptive grammar, grammar peeving, and how most of the rules you were taught about English were made up by a few …
Southern Fried
September 5th, 2017
Megan and Carrie talk to Beth Troutman about what it's like to be a Southerner in politics and TV, discuss some Southern American English features, …
Foul-Mouthed Women
August 1st, 2017
Have you ever wondered why swearing feels so good? Carrie and Megan explain what counts as swearing and why it's so fun to swear. They also discuss what types of words become profane over time and how swearing varies …
Uppity Women
July 15th, 2017
In this episode we discuss the dreaded vocal fry. We explain what vocal fry actually is, who uses it (cough everyone cough), and why we judge only women for using it. Carrie and Megan ask you to stop judging women for …
Listen to The Vocal Fries
RadioPublic
A free podcast app for iPhone and Android
- User-created playlists and collections
- Download episodes while on WiFi to listen without using mobile data
- Stream podcast episodes without waiting for a download
- Queue episodes to create a personal continuous playlist
Connect with listeners
Podcasters use the RadioPublic listener relationship platform to build lasting connections with fans
Yes, let's begin connecting
Find new listeners
- A dedicated website for your podcast
- Web embed players designed to convert visitors to listeners in the RadioPublic apps for iPhone and Android
Understand your audience
- Capture listener activity with affinity scores
- Measure your promotional campaigns and integrate with Google and Facebook analytics
Engage your fanbase
- Deliver timely Calls To Action, including email acquistion for your mailing list
- Share exactly the right moment in an episode via text, email, and social media
Make money
- Tip and transfer funds directly to podcastsers
- Earn money for qualified plays in the RadioPublic apps with Paid Listens
