118: Using tech to chat with bonobos, dogs, and whales🔒 SSL Verified

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• ↓ Latest Episodes and News
• ↓ So we’re hatching a new project: Lingthusiasm Zines!
• ↓ Which shape is bouba and which is kiki?
• ↓ What’s this gesture called?
• ↓ Small dog, long word! A Lingthusiasm tinyzine
• ↓ Transcript Episode 118: Using tech to chat with bonobos, dogs, and whales
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"Lingthusiasm is a podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics as a way of understanding the world around us. From languages around the world to our favourite linguistics memes, Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne bring you into a lively half hour conversation on the third Thursday of every month about the hidden linguistic patterns that you didn't realize you were already making. One of Spotify's top 50 Science podcasts 2022."

"Can we teach dogs to express their needs better by pressing buttons? What about the studies trying to teach bonobos and other primates to communicate through buttons or signs? What have we learned about whale communication from the first-ever recording of a sperm whale birth?"

"In this episode, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch get enthusiastic about how people use technology to try and enhance our communications with bonobos, dogs, and sperm whales. (Sorry, other animals, you’ll need to wait for a future episode.) We talk about the crucial distinction in animal communication studies between “any communication at all” (yes) and “language the way humans do it” (no), how we can actually learn more by appreciating animal communication systems on their own terms, and how some kinds of tech are helping us do that. We also talk about the logistics of studying animal communication, including avoiding the Clever Hans effect, how ubiquitous recording technology has changed the game on whalesong in recent decades (but there’s still lots of catching up to do), and an at-home study of over 10,000 dogs using buttons (they’re still recruiting if you want to join!). Click here for a link to this episode in your podcast player of choice or read the transcript here."

"Gretchen was invited to narrate the audiobook for Shakespeare’s Sonnets: Abridged Beyond the Point of Usefulness by friend of the podcast Zach Weinersmith, and we have some free copies to give away to patrons! Follow us at any level on Patreon (including free) to read the behind-the-scenes post about reading the sonnets and get the audiobook."

Key Topics & Focus Areas for lingthusiasm.com:

Latest Episodes and News

So we’re hatching a new project: Lingthusiasm Zines!

Which shape is bouba and which is kiki?

What’s this gesture called?

Small dog, long word! A Lingthusiasm tinyzine

Transcript Episode 118: Using tech to chat with bonobos, dogs, and whales