Welcome to the next in the Podcast Showcase series, where we share podcasts with you in the words of the podcasters themselves. This time, we talk to Accentricity.
Sum up your podcast in three sentences
This is a podcast about people and how they talk. About languages, and how they refuse to be controlled. About why there is no such thing as bad grammar, no language is more important than any other language, and every voice is valid.
Who is your ideal listener? Who loves your show?
My ideal listener is probably someone who is interested in people, but doesn’t yet know that they’re interested in language too. Those are the people I really want to draw in. Of course people who have a pre-existing love of language are welcome to listen, and I think I have plenty to offer them, but I’m all about recruiting new members to the team!
What made you start this podcast?
I started Accentricity when I was doing my PhD in linguistics. I was learning all these interesting things about language by day, and by night I was telling my friends about what I’d learnt and hearing all about their experiences with language.
I realised that a lot of people (myself included) have very complicated relationships with the way they speak, and I loved hearing those stories. And I also realised that the linguistic theory I was learning about wasn’t very well communicated outside of universities. For example, the idea of ‘bad grammar’ is something that linguists really don’t believe in at all – as far as we’re concerned, all grammar is good. But outside of linguistics, ideas about ‘bad grammar’ are everywhere.
Many of my friends were walking around with their heads full of ideas about their language use being inadequate, and I thought, just give me 30 minutes and a microphone and I could explain why no way of speaking is better than any other… So I got myself a microphone and made my first episode, with the aim of doing just that.
I wanted to hear stories about people’s experiences with language, but I also wanted to make linguistic theory accessible to people who don’t study linguistics. I think that learning about language can be an excellent way of learning about how humans work, and I really do think that it can help us to live our lives better.
What have you learned about your subject thanks to this podcast?
I’ve learned to listen better. I’ve said that linguistic theory isn’t very well communicated outside of universities, but I also think that us linguists don’t always listen closely enough to what non-linguists say about language, and how they experience language on a day-to-day basis. Occasionally we get too caught up in listening to how people say things to listen to what they’re saying…
Since starting to make Accentricity, I’ve started to listen more closely to how people talk about language, and how they relate to their own language use. I think that at their best, podcasts can facilitate communication between different groups of people. With Accentricity, I do my best to facilitate communication between linguists and non-linguists.
What has your experience of podcasting been? What do you love / hate about the process?
At first I absolutely hated hearing how my voice sounded when I was editing. Now I don’t mind it at all. And I love that I don’t mind it.
If someone wants to start listening to your podcast, which episode would you recommend they start with? Why?
I would recommend starting with my first episode, ‘Making Assumptions’. It’s not the slickest and most technically well-made (I’ve got a bit better since then!), but it’s my manifesto episode. It’s about why no way of speaking is better than any other, and I want lots of people to hear it.
Which other podcasts do you love listening to?
I really like documentary series that dig deep: recently, I’ve really enjoyed Nice White Parents and Dolly Parton’s America. Long-time favourites of mine include Ear Hustle and The Anthropocene Reviewed. Other language podcasts I listen to include The Vocal Fries, Lingthusiasm, En Clair, The Allusionist, Sub Title, and The Black Language Podcast.
If people want to find you online, where can they do so? Drop your links here (social media, podcast subscription, etc.)
- accentricity-podcast.com
- twitter.com/accentricitypod
- facebook.com/accentricitypod
- instagram.com/accentricity.podcast
- patreon.com/accentricitypod
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