37.2419, Books: The Language Beat: Essays and Reporting on Language and Life: Erard (2026)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-2419. Tue Jul 21 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.2419, Books: The Language Beat: Essays and Reporting on Language and Life: Erard (2026)

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Date: 20-Jul-2026
From: Michael Erard [michael.erard at gmail.com]
Subject: The Language Beat: Essays and Reporting on Language and Life: Erard (2026)


Title: The Language Beat: Essays and Reporting on Language and Life
Publication Year: 2026

Publisher: Michael Erard
Book URL: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H6TRJXCW

Author(s): Michael Erard

ISBN-13: ‎978-0999045428

Abstract:

More than two decades ago, Michael Erard, a linguist and writer, set
out to marry the linguist’s fascination with language to the
journalist’s fascination with story. Could he go beyond the usual
cliches and engage with language where and how it’s actually used and
studied?
In journalism, a "beat" is an area or topic to which a journalist
brings their expertise. "The Language Beat: Essays and Reporting on
Language and Life" collects 42 of Erard’s long-form features, reports,
essays and reviews that were originally published in The Atlantic,
Aeon, Science, New Republic, Vice, Quartz, the European Review of
Books, and other English-language publications. Also included are five
unpublished pieces and six pitches to editors.
With a keen eye for story and a commitment to accuracy, Erard paid
deep, sustained attention to locating the human part of the language
world and pulling out the language part of human lives. His articles
are populated with rock musicians, language learners of all ages,
bartenders, migrants, ministers and missionaries, politicians, babies,
engineers, the occasional bonobo, and, of course, linguists. He
reveals language in flux and ideas about language in conflict.
Language is a tool for belonging; it’s a commodity; it’s an
infrastructure; it’s an anchor in a sea of change (and a proxy for
human dreams and fears); it’s a threat. "The Language Beat" helps to
make sense of it all.
If you love magazine articles about language topics, if you’re a
budding journalist, or if you’re an academic who wants to see what
writing for non-academic audiences builds to, "The Language Beat" is
for you.
Michael Erard has a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin and is
the author of three previous books: Um…: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal
Blunders, and What They Mean (Pantheon; 2007), Babel No More: The
Search for the World’s Most Extraordinary Language Learners (Free
Press; 2012), and Bye Bye I Love You: The Story of Our First and Last
Words (MIT Press; 2025). His work has been reviewed in The New York
Times, the Economist, the Wall Street Journal, American Speech, the
Times Literary Supplement, The New Yorker, the Los Angeles Review of
Books, and many other outlets. In 2016, the Linguistic Society of
America recognized his media work and outreach on behalf of the
discipline with the Language, Linguistics, and the Public Award. He
has received funding from the Max Planck Society, the US National
Endowment for the Humanities, the Sloan Foundation, and the Texas
Institute of Letters.
"The Language Beat" is an e-book available on these platforms:
On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H6TRJXCW
On Google Play: https://bit.ly/4wARdY2
On Apple: https://apple.co/4fK71SA

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics

Written In: English (eng, stan1293)



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