122: The Interaction Engine (with Stephen Levinson)
Jul 12, 2025•56 min
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Episode description
How did language start? What do all languages have in common? How does language really work? Many answers have been posed to these questions, but one thing is for sure: interaction is the combustion chamber where everything happens. We're having a chat with linguistic lion Stephen Levinson, author of The Interaction Engine.
Timestamps
- Introductions: 0:19
- These fascinating facts about language will make you (or Dr Levinson) a hit at any party: 3:47
- The mechanics of speech production: 06:01
- What's going on when we're talking or listening? 8:46
- Cultural differences in conversational norms: 20:33
- Universals of interaction: 22:10
- Metaphors of space may have been a motivator for language: 25:53
- The role of gesture in language development: 28:47
- Cooperation and empathy in language: 34:59
- What one thing explains the most about language?: 45:56
Disclosure: Hedvig is employed at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, where Dr Levinson is an emeritus director.
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