The May 2020 podcast focuses on the Russian language and Russian accents, and features Professor Curtis Ford. Curt and Paul discuss the challenges Russians face when speaking English and the challenges English-speaking actors face when playing Russian characters. Visit the May 2020 podcast page at PaulMeier.com for more information on Curt's projects.
For the April 2020 podcast, Paul explores the power of the spoken word and the necessity of communication, specifically the importance of secret languages such as Polari, Ob, Pig-Latin, Efe, Pe, and Verlan.
For the March 2020 episode, Paul talks to Micha Espinosa, a vocal coach, artist, activist, IDEA associate editor, and professor of voice and acting at Arizona State University. Micha and Paul discuss various topics related to the Spanish language, including Spanish linguistics and dialects, and Hispanic, Latino/a/x, and Chicano culture and identity.
The February 2020 podcast focuses on Scotland, specifically all its rich dialects, accents, and languages. Paul's guest is Professor Ros Steen. For more about information about Professor Steen, visit her IDEA profile at https://www.dialectsarchive.com/ros-steen. You will find transcripts of the passages she speaks at https://www.paulmeier.com/2020/01/02/episode-25-tongues/of/scotland.
Paul's first guest of 2020 is renowned dialect coach Jill McCullough. Co-author of the popular "Comma Gets a Cure" elicitation passage and dialect coach to dozens of film and television actors, Jill is one of the top professionals in her field. She and Paul discuss all things related to accent and dialect coaching for the entertainment industry.
Paul's guest for his final 2019 podcast is Elspeth Morrison, who, as well as helping actors learn accents and dialects, works on voice and delivery with on-air talent at the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) and elsewhere. Paul and Elspeth discuss broadcast journalism, speech training for on-air presenters, and accents and dialects in the context of British television news.
Paul's guest for November 2019 is eminent linguist David Crystal. Paul and David discuss the history of Received Pronunciation (RP), also known as the Queen’s English, BBC English, and Standard British English. They also discuss the newer dialect often referred to as Estuary. For more information about David, visit DavidCrystal.com, OriginalPronunciation.com, and ShakespearesWords.com.
Paul’s guest for October 2019 is his son, Cameron Meier, film critic and IDEA Executive Editor. The two discuss movie dialects. (Learn more about Cameron at MeierMovies.com.)
For his September 2019 podcast, Paul talks to comedy icon Laraine Newman about acting, improv, and the art of the voiceover performer.
For his August 2019 podcast, Paul talks about "The Dictionary of American Regional English" (www.DareDictionary.com) with its editor, Joan Hall.
Paul's podcast guests for July 2019 are Gillyanne Kayes and Jeremy Fisher of “Vocal Process.” Internationally renowned voice experts specializing in vocal technique and performance in many different genres, this husband-and-wife team combine a deep understanding of the voice that comes from science knowledge, performance practice, and decades of experience. (Visit VocalProcess.co.uk for more information.) The three discuss speaking and singing.
Paul’s guest for June 2019 is Rena Cook, a TEDx speaker, author, and voice, speech, confidence, and presentation coach. Rena and Paul discuss voice and speech, particularly among women. Rena is the founder of Vocal Authority and the author of "Empower your Voice: For Women in Business, Politics and Life" and "Voice and the Young Actor," and an IDEA associate editor.
For the May 2019 edition of his podcast, Paul discusses voice and speech with Kristin Linklater, a towering figure in the world of voice and speech training. Read about Kristin at www.LinklaterVoice.com.
For the April 2019 podcast, Paul discusses speech rhythm with Phil Thompson, co-founder of Knight/Thompson Speechwork, a masterteacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework, and a professor in the Department of Drama at the University of California, Irvine.
Paul’s guests for March 2019 are IDEA Associate Editor Elizabeth Montoya-Stemann and IDEA Senior Editor Dylan Paul. They discuss the culture, languages, voices, and accents and dialects of the Caribbean.
This month’s podcast, for February 2019, focuses on releasing the power of the text. Paul’s guest is David Alan Stern, founder of Dialect Accent Specialists. Paul and David discuss the language arts as they impact the spoken word in all its manifestations and delve into topics such as eloquence, emphasis, public speaking, oratory, recitation, rhetorical skills, verse speaking, and vocal variety. For information about Professor Stern, visit https://learnaccent.com/about/.
For his first podcast of 2019, Paul discusses the history and sounds of "Strine," the Australian dialect, with renowned Australian dialect coach Linda Nicholls-Gidley.
For his December 2018 podcast, Paul discusses idiolects with Amy Stoller, one of New York’s most successful dialect coaches. Amy is an IDEA associate editor and creator of the Stoller System.
Paul’s musings for the November 2018 podcast start with the old adage “It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it,” and take off from there to cover sacred texts, profane politicians, and pumped-up actors.
For the October 2018 podcast, Paul's guest is Jim Johnson, an IDEA associate editor, a professor and director of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Houston School of Theatre & Dance, and founder of AccentHelp. Paul and Jim talk about dialects and accents, dialect-sample gathering, dialects on stage and in film, and accents and dialects in life.
The September 2018 podcast is all about phonetics and spelling. Paul offers up a provocative thought experiment that floats the idea of reforming our everyday spelling, replacing it with the International Phonetic Alphabet. To download the accompanying PDF, visit the "In a Manner of Speaking" page on PaulMeier.com.
In the August 2018 episode, Paul asks why native English speakers across most ethnicities and cultures are apparently addicted to two-syllable names for their children, names with the accent on the first syllable. Why are names like Mary and David at the top of the list and not Celeste and Emil?
In the July 2018 episode, Paul leads the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA). Paul gives insights into the founding of IDEA back in 1998, and we hear from a few people who have had a large role to play in the archive's success over the last two decades.
Paul's guest for June 2018 is David Crystal, one of the world's most famous linguists and the leader of the modern movement we call OP: Original Pronunciation of Shakespeare’s works. David explains the fascinating linguistic subfield of Pragmatics, which he defines as the "study of the choices that you make when you use language, the reasons for those choices, and the effects that the choices convey."
Paul’s guest for May 2018 is Cameron Meier, Executive Editor of IDEA, Vice President of Paul Meier Dialect Services, journalist (see MeierMovies.com), and Paul’s son. Paul and Cameron discuss the art of the newscaster and the values of broadcast journalism while listening to clips from famous newscasters.
In this episode, Paul talks with guests Sera-Lys McArthur and Eric Armstrong. While the speech of Indigenous people (particularly those of North America) is the broad topic, they also talk at length about the politics and ethics of dialect work in theatre and film, and of the gathering of dialect samples from Indigenous speech donors. You will hear a clip from Sera-Lys McArthur’s miniseries, "The Englishman’s Boy." You will find the text and translation of the Nakota speech on the web page assoc...
In this month’s podcast, Paul discusses the art of audiobook narration with industry leaders Tavia Gilbert and Julia Whelan. Find Julia’s work on Audible.com. "My Oxford Year" will be published in April and released on Audible on April 24. See our full website for links at paulmeier.com.
This first podcast focuses on Shakespeare’s Original Pronunciation (the dialect of English spoken in the late 16th and early 17th century). It also serves as an introduction to the entire In a Manner of Speaking series, as Paul briefly touches on several topics of upcoming podcasts. For more information about the Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s upcoming production of Twelfth Night, visit the site.
