Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:06 — 25.4MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More
Join us as we hang out with NASA while they deliberately crash into an asteroid.
Check out take 107 of Episode One.
Beer in space!
Continue reading Ep 356: The spacecraft crashed, just like we planned
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:00 — 15.4MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More
Part of communicating is trying to tell someone something without the wrong someone hearing it. We take a look at the history and practice of secret messages.
And here’s our latest attempt at Episode One.
Take 106 of Episode One: Don’t know where to begin
Continue reading Ep 355: To tell a secret, and keep it too
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:23 — 10.1MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More
How did people communicate over distance in the ancient world? We answer this question by examining signal fires, talking drums, and languages composed entirely of whistling.
Continue reading Ep 354: By flame, drum and song
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:12 — 9.3MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More
Once again, the title says it all. We look at mail in the ancient world, and take a look at the oldest known library.
Continue reading Ep 353: Ancient mail, and the oldest known library
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:24 — 10.0MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More
We pick it up from last time and finish the story of our alphabet, along with a look at where our numbers came from.
Check out our latest attempt at Phil’s show.
Part 2 of take 102 of Episode One
Continue reading Ep 352: Numbers and letters
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:35 — 10.9MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More
This time we start from the very beginnings of writing, and move on to just before the invention of alphabets.
Here’s part one of our latest attempted at Episode One.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:37 — 13.8MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More
The evidence is patchy and your hosts are daffy, but we try to figure out when language began.
Continue reading Ep 350: Who said what when, and how?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:15 — 11.2MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More
We look at how nonhuman primates use language, compare it to human language use, and guess how one turned into the other.
Continue reading Ep 349: Monkey talk!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:14 — 11.6MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More
An honest signal is useful for the one sending and receiving it. But, dishonest signals tend to destabilize the ability to communicate. How did human language develop when words make it so easy to fib?
Continue reading Ep 348: Animals, lies and language
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:07 — 12.4MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More
When differing animals meet, they sometimes communicate. Sometimes threats, sometimes lies, sometimes laughter. We take a look at interspecies communication.
Continue reading Ep 347: Prey or play