ArchiveFM

How close can words get you to the truth and feel and force of life? That's the question poking at our ribs this hour, as we wonder how it is that the right words can have the wrong meanings, and why sometimes the best translations lead us to an understanding that's way deeper than language. This episode, a bunch of stories that play out in the middle space between one reality and another — where poetry, insult comedy, 911 calls, and even our own bodies work to close the gap. Support Radiolab today at Radiolab.org/donate.   Special thanks for the music of Brian Carpenter's Ghost Train Orchestra
Duration
1h 8m
Broadcast on
27 Aug 2020
Audio Format
other

How close can words get you to the truth and feel and force of life? That's the question poking at our ribs this hour, as we wonder how it is that the right words can have the wrong meanings, and why sometimes the best translations lead us to an understanding that's way deeper than language. This episode, a bunch of stories that play out in the middle space between one reality and another — where poetry, insult comedy, 911 calls, and even our own bodies work to close the gap.

Support Radiolab today at Radiolab.org/donate.  

Special thanks for the music of Brian Carpenter's Ghost Train Orchestra


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

WNYC Studios is supported by ODU. When you buy business software from lots of vendors, the costs add up and it gets complicated and confusing. ODU solves this. It's a single company that sells a suite of enterprise apps that handles everything from accounting to inventory to sales. ODU is all connected on a single platform in a simple and affordable way. You can save money without missing out on the features you need. Check out ODU at ODOO.com. That's ODOO.com. WNYC Studios is supported by WYSE. WYSE, the smart way to manage the currencies you need around the world. With a WYSE account, you can send, spend, and receive in up to 40 currencies with only a few simple taps. Be smart, get WYSE. Download the WYSE app today. Terms and conditions apply. Wait, you're listening? Okay. All right. Okay. All right. You're listening to Radio Lab Lab from WNYC. Hey, this is Radio Lab. I'm Jad Abumrod. So in our last few episodes, you know, about the evolution of typing in Chinese and Lebanese guys road trip across America, visiting all the towns in the US called Lebanon, just got us thinking about jumping across borders and, you know, borders of culture and language and technology. And it reminded us of a show that we did a few years ago. It was basically all about that called translation. Hope you like it. It's time now to practice some very useful phrases. I'll say them first. You repeat and will learn together. Let's begin today. Seven experiments in translation. Lesson number one. The best poem was by my mother. (speaks in foreign language) Now you try. Hello. Hi there. Hi. Is that Doug? Yes. Oh boy. So this episode was inspired by a guy named Doug. Doug Hofstad, professor of cognitive science Indiana University Bloomington. You may know him as the guy who wrote Godel Esharbach, which was a hugely influential book in certain circles, published in, I think, 1979. But we actually got interested in him. Thanks to our producer, Lynn Levy, because of an obsession of his, which predates that. Sixteen. I was 16.

Transcription truncated.

How close can words get you to the truth and feel and force of life? That's the question poking at our ribs this hour, as we wonder how it is that the right words can have the wrong meanings, and why sometimes the best translations lead us to an understanding that's way deeper than language. This episode, a bunch of stories that play out in the middle space between one reality and another — where poetry, insult comedy, 911 calls, and even our own bodies work to close the gap. Support Radiolab today at Radiolab.org/donate.   Special thanks for the music of Brian Carpenter's Ghost Train Orchestra