Word of Mouth

Michael Rosen talks to comedian Elis James about how to make language funny. In Elis' case, this is both the English language and the Welsh language, but which is funnier? Produced by Sally Heaven

Michael Rosen talks to academic Colin MacCabe and Dr Laura Wright about Raymond Williams' 1976 book Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, which looks at the changing meanings of words such as 'culture', 'art', 'nature' and 'society'. Often the changes in meaning of these words reflect the changing society in which they are being used. Colin MacCabe has spent the past decade updating Williams' work, and he and his team have added some words of their own. Producer Sally Heaven.

Michael Rosen finds out how best to communicate with people with dementia. Professor Alison Wray shares her new research about the ways in which language is affected by dementia. She offers practical advice to carers, such as to respond to the feeling behind the words being used by the person with dementia rather than to the words themselves. Producer Beth O'Dea Related films: Dementia - The "Communication Disease" and Understanding the Challenges of Dementia Communication here: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC6kMlO8mkB09GNCLm1zbaHQ

Michael Rosen discusses slogan T-shirts with fashion historian Amber Butchart and fashion identity commentator Caryn Franklin. What do the words we wear say about us? Slogan clothing is having - what fashion insiders might call - ‘a bit of a moment’ right now. From longstanding British fashion house Burberry with its new contemporary text based monogram to US designer Tory Burch’s political ‘Vote’ print, the slogan t-shirt is quite literally making a statement. And it’s not just on the catwalk - we’ve all seen them – and many of us are wearing them – from ‘Nike’s ‘old school ‘Just Do It’ to ‘This is What a Feminist Looks Like’ and these chest worn or cap emblazoned messages can reveal much about the identity of the wearer. They can tell us who they are - or - who they want to be. They can reveal hopes, dreams, political views. They are an intriguing insight into the concerns and obsessions of our twenty-first century society. Or are they just a bit of word play and fashionable fun? Produced by Nicola Humphries

Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright talk about the Multicultural London English (MLE) dialect with Somali born journalist Ismail Einashe. Listen to this with your fam and you'll know what Stormzy means when he talks about this wasteman ting, and find out how MLE speakers are using new forms of grammar. This programme draws heavily on research on Multicultural London English published by Paul Kerswill, University of York, UK; Jenny Cheshire, Queen Mary University of London, UK; Susan Fox, University of Bern, Switzerland, and Eivind Torgersen, Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Sound clips are taken from ‘Spoken London English’, part of the English Language Teaching Resources website. Producer Sally Heaven.