Because Language

Because Language evolved from the long-running Australian show Talk the Talk, and the rebrand brought a sharper focus and international flavor. Hosts Daniel Midgley, Ben Ainslie, and Hedvig Skirgard bring a mix of backgrounds -- Daniel is based in Western Australia, Hedvig is a computational linguist in Europe, and together they cover linguistics news and research with a tone that's equal parts informative and irreverent. The show runs about 100 episodes with a 4.7-star average from 125 reviews and releases semimonthly. Recurring segments like "Words of the Week" and "Related or Not" give the show structure, but the best parts are the free-flowing discussions where the hosts geek out about something they've read in a linguistics journal. They've talked to researchers about everything from language evolution to the phonetics of beatboxing. What sets Because Language apart is the chemistry between the hosts -- they clearly enjoy each other's company and bring different perspectives to every topic. The humor keeps it from feeling like a lecture, but they never sacrifice accuracy for a joke. It's particularly good for listeners who want to stay current with linguistics research but don't want to slog through academic papers. Episodes typically run 45 minutes to an hour, giving topics room to breathe.