77. A Trumpeter’s Tale America the Bilingual · 77- Season 6 - A trumpeter's tale Esteban Battalán was not yet 7 years old when he first picked up a trumpet. He already spoke two languages and was poised to not only learn but master a third—the one he describes in our episode as “the most international language.” Can you guess? (And no, not English.) SOUND THE TRUMPET OF THE LEGENDARY CSO BRASS Esteban is now principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass—popularly known as CSO Brass. If [...]

75. Recipe: Mix Jewish with Mexican, Add Maine Among the many bilingual projects that Professor Margaret Boyle of Bowdoin College in Maine has on the front burner is the newly released Sabor Judío: The Jewish Mexican Cookbook. Margaret, who is Associate Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and Director of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies at Bowdoin, is also the coauthor, with Professor Ilan Stavans, of Sabor Judío. The two drew from their Jewish Mexican heritages and the recipes of their families to develop the cookbook, whose Spanish title translates to Jewish Flavor. The 100 recipes [...]

73. global english: blessing or curse? The Rise of English won a prestigious award in 2023. In the episode, Rosemary shares why it meant so much to her. What if the answer to that question is “both”? In this episode, Professor Rosemary Salomone brings a linguist’s curiosity and a lawyer’s measured assessment to this question in her conversation with Steve. Rosemary is both linguist and lawyer, and just as significant, writer. THE RISE OF ENGLISH AND THE ROLE OF BILINGUALISM She and Steve are discussing her most recent book, The [...]

71. The Surprise in That Subway® Sandwich: Languages Getting a peek behind the curtain to see how a company truly operates can be eye-opening. I never knew that, you may find yourself saying. You may start off in this episode, as we did, not knowing much about terms like localization and transcreation. What could they possibly have to do with a Subway Footlong? As it turns out, a lot. An American bilingual named Carrie Fischer is in charge of communicating with all of Subway’s global partners. She’s created the perfect recipe for [...]

69. What Is Life When You Leave the US and Become United Stateless? The 20th-century novelist Thomas Wolfe famously pronounced that “you can’t go home again.” But what if you have little choice? This is what a number of Latino immigrants, who have long made their home in the US, face when immigration laws require that they return to their country of birth. ALEXANDRA RIVERA’S UNITED STATELESS Alexandra Rivera, a Mexican American, has made it her calling to report on this group of returnees, as she calls them, whom most of us [...]