ALT As its catchy name suggests, “Lingthusiasm” is a show powered by its hosts’ passion for words. Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch, both linguists, were running separate blogs when they met online in the mid-2010s, and decided to combine their expertise into a podcast. New episodes are released monthly and offer listeners a window into all kinds of linguistic subjects, like the technical side of phonetics and semiotics and the cultural variations in how language is taught in schools. The show is often as much about social habits as it is about language — one memorable episode had Gawne and McCulloch discuss “lopsided conversations,” those verbal interactions that can go off the rails if one person is either dominating or not contributing enough. It’s a fascinating listen that will change the way you see everyday communications. Starter episode: What visualizing our vowels tells us about who we are