Word of Mouth

Michael Rosen talks to anthropologist Jamie Tehrani about how fairy tales travel the world, ever changing and evolving. He’s traced their transmission across oral traditions: the kinds of plots, characters and motifs that endure. From the Iranian Prince Zāl to Little Red Riding Hood's compelling Chinese cousin: The Tiger Grandmother.
Jamie Tehrani is Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Durham University.
Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Beth O'Dea, in partnership with the Open University
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Michael Rosen on the words used to describe the qualities of smells in different languages. Asifa Majid is Professor of Cognitive Science at Oxford and her research has found that some do it much better than others. She puts Michael to the test to see how English stacks up.
Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Beth O'Dea, in partnership with the Open University
Subscribe to the Word of Mouth podcast and never miss an episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qtnz

Michael Rosen meets popular YouTuber Simon Roper, who tries to recreate how people spoke in the past.
Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Sally Heaven, in partnership with the Open University.
Subscribe to the Word of Mouth podcast and never miss an episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qtnz

The words that we use to label or describe things in nature – words for landscapes, creatures, seasons, the weather – can they help awaken us to the world around us? Drawing on languages from all over the world, Michael Rosen hears about Words to Love a Planet: An Illustrated Dictionary of Language, Landscape and Life from author Ella Frances Sanders.
Produced for BBC Audio Bristol, in partnership with the Open University, by Becky Ripley.
Subscribe to the Word of Mouth podcast and never miss an episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qtnz

Michael Rosen finds out about fascinating literary errors from editor Rebecca Lee, the author of Rogues, Widows and Orphans: Mischief and Misadventures in the World of Books. They share favourite famous typos and find out where the phrase "out of sorts" originated.
Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Beth O'Dea, in partnership with the Open University.
Subscribe to the Word of Mouth podcast and never miss an episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qtnz