A Tennessee native, Fridland didn’t think she talked funny until she left home for college — where her Southern accent suddenly stuck out. When she said “lawyer,” her peers asked who she was calling a “liar.” It was a moment that solidified one of the ideas in her book, that an accent can immediately mark you as an outsider. Of course, that also means sharing an accent can create bonds between people who are otherwise strangers, because an accent says a lot about who you are and where you’ve been. Valerie Fridland is joining us to talk about how accents are formed, how they change and why all communication is really about trying to belong.
GUEST –
Valerie Fridland | Professor of linguistics in the English Department at the University of Nevada, Reno. Her new book is called “Why We Talk Funny: The Real Story Behind Our Accents.”
Airdate: Apr. 22, 2026