Category Archives: Language

Review of Conquering the Canon by Scott Kaiser

Posted on July 9, 2026 by Ed Battistella

Scott Kaiser aimed to be part of all of Shakespeare’s play—38 of them, if you don’t count The Reign of King Edward III. It’s a quest he started on in high school and with what must be a much-dog-eared copy … Continue reading →

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Review of How Deeply Human is Language: Chomsky, The Brain, and the AI Fantasy  by Yosef Grodzinsky

Posted on June 11, 2026 by Ed Battistella

Review of How Deeply Human is Language: Chomsky, The Brain, and the AI Fantasy  by Yosef Grodzinsky In this short and lucid work, Grodzinsky (Director of the Neurolinguistics Lab at the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for the Brain Sciences) … Continue reading →

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Review The Politics of Language by David Beaver and Jason Stanley

Posted on May 14, 2026 by Ed Battistella

The Politics of Language by David Beaver and Jason Stanley Published in 2025, The Politics of Language, by David Beaver and Jason Stanley convincingly makes the case that most speech has ideological meaning and that the connotations of words evoke … Continue reading →

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Review of Valerie Fridland, Why We Talk Funny

Posted on April 23, 2026 by Ed Battistella

Review of Valerie Fridland, Why We Talk Funny Contrary to popular belief, we’ve all got an accent. In Why We Talk Funny, linguist Valerie Fridland digs deep into the notion of accent, offering an engaging tale of how they arise, … Continue reading →

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