The Speaking Tongues Podcast

The Speaking Tongues Podcast The Speaking Tongues Podcast: The Podcast in Conversation with multi-linguals! Join us every other M

There are stories we tell. And then there are stories that tell us.For writer, director, actor, and artist Anne-Marie Ag...
09/10/2026

There are stories we tell. And then there are stories that tell us.

For writer, director, actor, and artist Anne-Marie Agbodji, Anne-Marie Agbodji storytelling is a way of making sense of the things we carry, especially the stories that live quietly beneath the surface.

Her latest short film, Breaking UP, began with something deeply personal and grew into a story about choice, bodily autonomy, expectation, and what it means to choose a life of your own.

We talked about finding the gold in the quiet stories, the women whose strength often goes unseen, and why sometimes the most personal stories become the most universal.

Read the full conversation on Speaking Tongues Substack now. Link in Bio

Postcards from The Parkway 🇧🇸🇯🇲🇹🇹🇧🇧🇱🇨🇰🇳🇭🇹🇬🇩🇻🇨Always a joy to experience Caribbean culture in NYC. An even bigger joy see...
09/08/2026

Postcards from The Parkway 🇧🇸🇯🇲🇹🇹🇧🇧🇱🇨🇰🇳🇭🇹🇬🇩🇻🇨

Always a joy to experience Caribbean culture in NYC. An even bigger joy seeing and waving the flag of The Bahamas.

Act Black: Posters from Black American Stage & Screen is at Poster House until Sept 6… which is tomorrow. So make haste!...
09/05/2026

Act Black: Posters from Black American Stage & Screen is at Poster House until Sept 6… which is tomorrow. So make haste!

I love this museum for their dedication the graphic arts and proving the importance of posters in information distribution in history. Their exhibits are always well curated and thought provoking. I knew this one would be no different. So much was lost during this time period of filmmaking, yet ephemera still tells us so much if we know how to look closely enough.

Also, anything that starts with an illustration of Josephine Baker on the window pretty much has my name all over it so, of COURSE I loved this. 🥰

From their website: The posters in this exhibition allow viewers to consider how Black storytelling was transferred and transformed during its transition from stage to screen. They also document aspects of the historic innovations of playwrights, composers, directors, and producers for Black actors as they sought to represent life and experiences for Black audiences through their own creative perspectives.

Joy Olusanya is a linguist and researcher in language technology, focused on advancing and preserving low-resource Afric...
08/20/2026

Joy Olusanya is a linguist and researcher in language technology, focused on advancing and preserving low-resource African languages in Artificial Intelligence (AI). She is passionate about learning and making a meaningful impact.

A new interview is up on the Substack this week. Link in bio to read!

Khady is a visual cultural storyteller based between the Netherlands and Senegal. Her practice explores Black and Africa...
08/14/2026

Khady is a visual cultural storyteller based between the Netherlands and Senegal. Her practice explores Black and African-diasporic identity, belonging, language and postcolonial narratives. As an interdisciplinary artist, she expresses through self-taught mediums like photography, video and sound.

Online, she is better known as Khady • Senegal expert 🇸🇳 . As the Unofficial Ambassador of Senegal she is exploring travel narratives in Senegal by means of a travel guide/book called Kaay Ñu Dem Senegaal - Come Let’s Go To Senegal.

Khady is particularly interested in showcasing a unique perspective that is rooted in decolonizing, but mostly connecting, especially Africa to its diaspora, through expression.

Read more about Khady in my latest post. Link in bio to Substack. Make sure you subscribe for more interviews like this!

Food and languages at the Queens Night Market. New on the Substack. Link in bio.
08/10/2026

Food and languages at the Queens Night Market. New on the Substack. Link in bio.

07/14/2026

Hello Language Lovers! In this episode of Speaking Tongues, we are thrilled to welcome Dr. Albert Ventayol, a computational linguist dedicated to bridging the gap between indigenous and low-resource languages and technology. With a Ph.D. from UC Santa Barbara, Albert is currently on assignment at Meta, where he is working towards achieving omnilinguality in AI-powered automatic speech recognition (ASR) and machine translation (MT).

In this episode, we discuss:
- The significance of computational linguistics in preserving and promoting low-resource languages.
- Albert’s experiences learning and teaching languages, and how they shaped his understanding of linguistic diversity.
- The impact of technology on indigenous languages and the potential for AI to aid in language revitalization efforts.
- The challenges of building language technology that serves all languages equitably.
- Albert’s current work at Meta and the exciting projects aimed at supporting multilingual communities.

Episode 188. Speaking Computational Linguistics with Dr. Albert Ventayol is out now wherever you get your podcasts... and I encourage you to support Speaking Tongues by listening on YouTube!

30 days of only posting about ⚽️👀. This is a huge number for me, who usually gets 12 views on anything I post on socials...
07/12/2026

30 days of only posting about ⚽️👀. This is a huge number for me, who usually gets 12 views on anything I post on socials.

Maybe I’ll leave this language thing behind and post more about footy. 🤣

Anyways, follow me on Threads.

07/06/2026

Hello Language Lovers! In this episode of Speaking Tongues, we are excited to welcome Janine Lutchman-Nkouetang, a passionate foreign language educator and writer whose work intersects culture, identity, and heritage. As a co-editor and contributing author of the book series “Unearthing Traditions: Stories of Language and Culture,” Janine shares her insights on the importance of storytelling in understanding diverse cultural experiences and the role of language in shaping our identities.

In this episode, we cover:
🇹🇹 The significance of Trinidadian Creole English and its role in everyday communication.
🇹🇹 The impact of colonial history on the development of Creole languages in Trinidad and its uniquely different development in Tobago.
🇹🇹 Janine’s unexpected journey into teaching Mandarin and how her experiences resonate with her students.
🇹🇹 The importance of cultural storytelling and its role in preserving heritage through the book series.
🇹🇹 The vibrant celebration of Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago and its significance in uniting the community.

Episode 187. Speaking Trinidadian Creole & Mandarin Chinese with Janine Lutchman-Nkouetang is out now wherever you get your podcasts. Listening to episodes on YouTube is a GREAT way to support the podcast.

06/29/2026

Hello Language Lovers! In this episode of Speaking Tongues, we are thrilled to welcome Elizabeth Ellis, a pioneering figure in the revival of the Cornish language. As the second ever paid officer dedicated to promoting Cornish following its official recognition by the UK government in 2002, Elizabeth has played a crucial role in standardizing the language and fostering its use across various cultural platforms. Now a freelance translator and consultant, she collaborates with musicians, theater companies, and filmmakers to bring Cornish to life in contemporary art.

In this episode, we discuss:
- The significance of Elizabeth’s role in the Cornish language revival and her experiences as a translator.
- The unique features of the Cornish language, including its relationship with other Celtic languages.
- Traditional Cornish culture, including folklore, music, and local celebrations.
- The challenges and triumphs of using Cornish in modern art and media.
- The future of the Cornish language and its place in the community.

Episode 186. Speaking Cornish with Elizabeth Ellis is out now wherever you get your podcasts and definitely on YouTube! (Audio only)

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