Reading Our Times

Reading Our Times

Where does language come from (and where is it going)? In conversation with Alexandra Aikhenvald

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Languages come and languages go – but mostly nowadays they go. According to the Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages, nearly 90% may have died out by the end of the century.

What do we lose when we lose a language? Indeed, what is a language? What does it do? How does it work? And what does it say about human beings and our shared culture?

In this episode of Reading our Times, Nick Spencer talks to Alexandra Aikhenvald, Foundation Director of the Language and Culture Research Centre and Distinguished Professor at James Cook University in Australia, about her book I Saw the Dog: How language works.


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About this podcast

Reading Our Times is the podcast that explores the books and the ideas that are shaping us today. It is hosted by Nick Spencer, Senior Fellow at the think tank, Theos.

We’re going to be talking to some of the world’s leading authors about issues like meritocracy, justice, populism, human rights, the brain, liberalism, and religion.

Above all, we'll be exploring what these books have to say about the times we live in and about the people we are.

So listen with us, and we’ll introduce you to authors, books and ideas that illuminate ourselves and our world today.

For more information about the people and ideas behind the podcast, visit https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/about/who-we-are or follow us on Twitter @theosthinktank and @theosnick.

by Theos Think Tank

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