I’m unapologetically addicted to podcasts. I listen to them constantly and have made several of my own (with a potential new one in the pipeline), and listening is currently my favourite way to learn.
When I need a new skill, I find podcasts that talk about it. When I need an update on a topic I already know about, I find podcasts that talk about it. When I need to relax, I listen to podcasts. When I need to laugh, I listen to podcasts… you get the idea.
So it made sense to find a great pile of language-related podcasts to share here. Many writers, editors and proofreaders, and those who hire us, are language nerds so I have found you a wide range of podcasts on all aspects of language and linguistics.
I listened to many of these already but the research for this post has led me to add a few more to my bulging playlist.
A couple don’t have recent episodes but they have a great back catalogue you can still enjoy.
Language-related podcasts to listen to, learn from and enjoy
- The Allusionist: A podcast about language by Helen Zaltzman
- Something Rhymes with Purple by Susie Dent and Gyles Brandreth
- Lexicon Valley: A podcast about language, from pet peeves to syntax with John H. McWhorter
- En Clair: forensic linguistics, literary detection, language mysteries, and more by Dr Claire Hardaker, based at Lancaster University
- Accentricity: every voice is valid by Sadie Ryan
- Lingthusiasm: A podcast that’s enthusiastic about linguistics with Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne
- Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing by Mignon Fogarty
- Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day
- A Way with Words by author/journalist Martha Barnette and lexicographer/linguist Grant Barrett
- Words for Granted: An etymology and linguistics podcast by Ray Belli
- The Language Revolution: Changing UK attitudes to languages
- Lexitecture: A Canadian (Ryan) and a Scot (Amy) talking about the words in the English language that fascinate them most
- The History of English Podcast | The Spoken History of a Global Language
- Because Language is a podcast about linguistics, the science of language with Daniel Midgley, Hedvig Skirgård and Ben Ainslie
- The Fluent Show: A Podcast About Loving, Living and Learning Languages by Kerstin Cable and Lindsay Williams
- Conlangery, the podcast about constructed languages and the people who create them by George Corley
- Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
- LangFM.A podcast about language and what people do with it: Conversations and stories with interpreters, translators, copywriters, and other fun professions and passions by Alexander Dreschel
- Wordy Wordpecker with Rachel Lopez. A podcast that looks at how words have changed over time and the journeys they took to become what they are today