English Language

Writer Susan Sontag died Wednesday at age 71 of leukemia. We listen back to two interviews with her: a 1989 conversation about her book AIDS and Its Metaphors; and 1993 interview conducted shortly after Sontag returned from Sarajevo, where she directed a performance of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot in Serbo-Croatian.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg talks about the phrase "curling up with a good book," and what it says about the way we read.

Carlin's seven dirty words routine was the center of a famous obscenity case in the 1970s. He has a new book When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? His other books include Napalm & Silly Putty, and Brain Droppings.

Stanford linguist and author of Going Nucular Geoff Nunberg discusses the word entrepreneur.

As President Bush and Sen. John Kerry look to their second face-to-face meeting Friday night, linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the language of the 2004 debates.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers how we think bout the Internet and how that is reflected in the language we use to describe it.

John Powers comments on the rise of political Web logs.

Commentator Geoff Nunberg considers brand names. They make up a significant proportion of the average person's vocabulary. Nunberg says the English language is being privatized.

What does it say about electoral politics that "values," formerly a political bromide, is now a battle cry?

The Fresh Air linguist comments on the speaking styles of 2004 presidential candidates John Kerry and George Bush.

Nunberg considers profanity and how certain words, in certain eras, have had the power to offend.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the language of the Vietnam War and how it's being used today.

Nunberg's new collection of commentary (originally written for broadcast and print) is Going Nucular: Language, Politics, and Culture in Confrontational Times. Nunberg is senior researcher at the Center for the Study of Language and Information at Stanford University and consulting full professor of linguistics at Stanford University. He also writes for the Sunday New York Times Week in Review.

Nunberg considers the word "torture."

Her book Eats, Shoots & Leaves, a best seller in Britain, is a narrative history of punctuation. Truss claims that with the advent of e-mail and text messaging, proper punctuation is an endangered species. Truss is also the author of three novels and numerous radio comedy dramas. She has been a television critic and sports columnist for The Times (London). She also won Columnist of the Year award for her work for Women's Journal. She now reviews books for the Sunday Times of London.

Fresh Air linguist Geoff Nunberg looks at the term 'blogging.'

Powers looks at religion and the media in the wake of public reaction to Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.

Nunberg looks at a new kind of fake news — "infoganda."

Linguist Geoff Nunberg on the use of profanity.

Nunberg considers the phrase "thugs and assassins" often used by President Bush.