en https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/ en-us Hosted by PhD student, Brooklyn Sheppard, Linguistically Aware brings in linguists - experts who study language - to talk about the ways in which language and linguistics interact with our daily lives. From how children and adults learn their first or second languages to how linguistics plays a role in rap music, Linguistically Aware makes the scientific study of language a fun and accessible journey for everyone! Hosted by PhD student, Brooklyn Sheppard, Linguistically Aware brings in linguists - experts who study language - to talk about the ways in which language and linguistics interact with our daily lives. From how children and adults learn their first or second languages to how linguistics plays a role in rap music, Linguistically Aware makes the scientific study of language a fun and accessible journey for everyone! yes CJSW 90.9 FM CJSW Programming programming@cjsw.com Copyright 2026 CJSW Radio https://feedpress.me/link/22623/17316769/ https://cjsw.com/?post_type=radio_episode&p=106806 Poetry on the Radio


National Poetry Month. Poems by Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike, Joan Sarro, David Zieroth, Hilaire Belloc, Saul Williams, Lorna Crozier, Lauraine Saretsky, Mary Oliver, Margaret Atwood, Scott Alderson, Archibald Lampman.

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 19:41:28 -0600 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/17297050/20260310 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20260310/ What’s your mouth doing right now?: The scientific study of speech sounds


Brooklyn sits down with Dr. Stephen Winters - the University of Calgary's phonetician who walks us through how speech sounds are made, why languages sound so different from one another, and how phonetics plays a role in speech recognition, language learning, and speech therapy.]]> Fri, 06 Mar 2026 19:02:07 -0700 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/17274016/20260210 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20260210/ Melody meets grammar: How sentence structure and prosody interact across different languages



PhD student Jesse Weir talks with Dr. Anja Arnhold about the relationship between prosody and syntax, her path into linguistics, and how different languages shape the way structure and melody work together.]]> Thu, 05 Feb 2026 20:36:09 -0700 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/17252730/20260113 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20260113/ From Linguistics to Epidemiology (Part 2): Humanities in a Data-Driven World



Continuing our conversation with Dr. Hracs, we explore how linguistics and epidemiology intersect, and how humanities scholars can move into data-driven fields like public health research.]]> Thu, 08 Jan 2026 17:23:56 -0700 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/17228716/20251209 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20251209/ From Linguistics to Epidemiology (Part 1): Patterns in Language and Health



Dr. Lindsay Hracs shares her journey from linguistics to leading data science in the Kaplan epidemiology lab, highlighting surprising parallels between the two fields and the cutting-edge research shaping her lab at the University of Calgary.]]> Wed, 03 Dec 2025 17:00:51 -0700 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/17207428/20251111 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20251111/ The World in a Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism with James Geary



In this episode, Brooklyn sits down with James Geary - author of "The World in a Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism" to chat about the newly released second edition of this book. James tells us what aphorisms are, how he came to love them, and how this early form of language and literature persists in the digital age today of social media and AI chatbots!


James Geary is also the author of "Wit's End: What Wit Is, How It Works, and Why We Need It" (W.W. Norton), "I Is an Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor and How It Shapes the Way We See the World" (HarperCollins), and "Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists" (Bloomsbury). He is an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, the former deputy curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, and the former editor of the European edition of Time magazine.]]> Thu, 06 Nov 2025 18:08:43 -0700 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/17140729/20250909 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20250909/ More Than Words: Inferences Beyond Language with Dr. Lyn Tieu



In this episode, guest host Jesse Weir sits down with Dr. Lyn Tieu (University of Toronto) to talk about how we make meaning from more than just words. From gestures to emojis, Dr. Tieu’s research explores the surprising ways people draw inferences from non-linguistic cues. Tune in to rethink what counts as "language" in communication!]]> Thu, 04 Sep 2025 17:17:21 -0600 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/17118570/20250812 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20250812/ The Secrets of Sarcasm: Exploring Voice Pitch and Perception



Want to learn the secrets behind sarcasm? In this episode, Brooklyn talks about her ongoing research on the perception of sarcasm. Specifically, she talks about a study where she had speakers vary the pitch of their voice in a very systematic way, and then asked listeners to rate how sarcastic it sounded to better understand what it is in someone’s voice that makes them sound sarcastic or not!]]> Wed, 06 Aug 2025 17:03:01 -0600 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/17085825/20250708 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20250708/ From Bengali to English: The Sounds That Challenge Our Ears with Sazzad



In this episode, Brooklyn sits down with Syed Sazzad Alam, a PhD student at the University of Calgary that studies phonetics - the study of speech sounds. In this interview, Sazzad talks about some of his research on how native English speakers perceive unfamiliar sounds from his own native language, Bengali!]]> Wed, 02 Jul 2025 18:10:24 -0600 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/17048904/20250610 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20250610/ Let’s Talk Time: Francisco Ongay on Language and the Expression of Time



In this episode, Brooklyn sits down with Francisco Ongay, a current PhD student studying syntax at the University of Calgary. Francisco studies how we use language to express time, whether it be past versus present (e.g., “I slept” versus “I will sleep”) or the duration of an event (e.g., “I slept for 8 hours”). In this interview Francisco talks about how we express time in several languages of the world!]]> Wed, 04 Jun 2025 16:52:19 -0600 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/17030114/20250513 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20250513/ The Gender Factor: How Bias Shapes Linguistics Research with Jesse Weir



In this episode, Brooklyn sits down with Jesse Weir, a current PhD student studying syntax at the University of Calgary. Jesse shares some brand new research on how gender bias in linguistics experiments might actually change the results of the experiment!]]> Thu, 08 May 2025 18:15:13 -0600 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/17001594/20250408 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20250408/ Decoding Ambiguity: Cheryl Iwanchuk on Inferences and Interdisciplinary Linguistics (Part 2)



In these second part of our interview with Cheryl, Brooklyn asks her why she thinks she got the results she did in her recent study on how adults and children differ in their ability to infer the meaning of a sentence when it might be ambiguous.



Additionally, Brooklyn and Cheryl discuss the inherent interdisciplinary nature of linguistics and how it’s related to so many fields including psychology, philosophy, math, physics, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence!]]> Wed, 02 Apr 2025 17:00:25 -0600 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/16982170/20250311 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20250311/ Little Minds, Big Inferences: Cheryl Iwanchuk on Children's Understanding of Ambiguity (Part 1)



In this episode, Brooklyn sits down with Cheryl Iwanchuk, a current Master’s student in linguistics to talk about her research on how children acquire the ability to make inferences from ambiguous language. We talk about what “contrastive inferences” are and the differences between kids and adults in the way they understand these types of inferences!]]> Wed, 05 Mar 2025 17:30:32 -0700 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/16961620/20250211 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20250211/ Linguistic Legends: Myths, Gender, and the Rise of AI with Dr. Jila Ghomeshi & Dr. Ivona Kucerova



In this very special episode, we have a double feature - that means not one but TWO interviews with well-known linguists here in Canada.


Our first guest is Dr. Jila Ghomeshi - a professor of linguistics at the University of Manitoba. She sits down with Brooklyn to talk about her career journey, her research, and to debunk her favourite myths about linguistics.


Our second guest is Dr. Ivona Kucerova from McMaster University. Dr. Kucerova sits down with a guest host, Francisco Ongay, to discuss her research on how gender is represented in language and her applied work on language revitalization.


Interestingly, both our guests today had something to say about ChatGPT and why these new large language models are so intriguing!]]> Thu, 06 Feb 2025 21:07:19 -0700 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/16940873/20250114 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20250114/ Stress Test: Unpacking Perception and Production in Arabic with Summer Abdalla



In this episode, Brooklyn sits down with Summer Abdalla - a recent graduate from the MA program in Linguistics. In this interview, Summer breaks down her research for her Master's thesis where she found that the way speakers of Arabic perceive word stress in their language might not match up with the way they actually produce it!]]> Thu, 09 Jan 2025 18:12:23 -0700 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/16916491/20241210 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20241210/ Pitch Perfect: The Art of Speech, Rap, and Rhyme with Charys Russel



Join our new host, Brooklyn, as she sits down with Charys Russel - a current MA student in Linguistics at UofC. Charys uses both her expertise in linguistics and musical theory to tell us about how pitch is used in speech versus music, and how rap artists may change the pitch of their voice enhance or even create rhymes in their verses!]]> Thu, 05 Dec 2024 18:07:34 -0700 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/15238702/20220215 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20220215/ ]]> Fri, 22 Apr 2022 18:16:00 -0600 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/15043451/20220118 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20220118/ ]]> Sat, 29 Jan 2022 20:17:10 -0700 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/15037389/20211221 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20211221/


This episode is about the ways we perceive different types of voices. In this episode, Dusan speaks with a U of Calgary assistant professor, Stephen Winters, about distinct voice qualities and how they are perceived in society.]]> Wed, 26 Jan 2022 23:51:54 -0700 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/14883241/20211116 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20211116/


Dusan Nikolic speaks with Dr. Dennis Storoshenko from the University of Calgary about gender stereotyping issues and the perception of pronouns.]]> Fri, 19 Nov 2021 21:13:49 -0700 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/14766278/20210921 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20210921/ ]]> Fri, 17 Sep 2021 12:15:13 -0600 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/14689016/20210817 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20210817/ This episode is about a language property we call 'stress', and how it plays out as a plot trigger in the movie The Conversation.]]> Sat, 14 Aug 2021 02:03:34 -0600 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/14557587/20210615 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20210615/ ]]> Fri, 18 Jun 2021 21:01:20 -0600 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/14474343/20210420 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20210420/ ]]> Tue, 11 May 2021 20:20:16 -0600 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/14474345/20210316 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/episode/20210316/ ]]> Tue, 11 May 2021 20:16:44 -0600 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/15266417/20210216 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/podcast/20210216/ ]]> Sat, 20 Feb 2021 00:09:05 -0700 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/15266418/20210119 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/podcast/20210119/ ]]> Sat, 20 Feb 2021 00:07:05 -0700 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/15266419/20201215 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/podcast/20201215/ ]]> Fri, 08 Jan 2021 19:42:13 -0700 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/15266420/20201117 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/podcast/20201117/ ]]> Mon, 07 Dec 2020 23:43:06 -0700 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/15266422/20201020 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/podcast/20201020/ ]]> Mon, 07 Dec 2020 23:07:48 -0700 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/15266423/20200915 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/podcast/20200915/ ]]> Mon, 07 Dec 2020 23:05:34 -0700 https://feedpress.me/link/22623/15266421/20200818 https://cjsw.com/program/linguistically-aware/podcast/20200818/ ]]> Mon, 07 Dec 2020 23:29:16 -0700