Translation between disciplines - interdisciplinarity - is key to two subjects that fascinate me, pandemics and prehistoric languages. But not only. Something to bear in mind as knowledge becomes more siloed. Thanks @garryaslanyan.bsky.social for a surprising, thoughtful conversation 🤗

In the latest #GlobalHealthMatters ep., Garry Aslanyan (@garryaslanyan.bsky.social) speaks with Laura Spinney (@laurainparis.bsky.social#GlobalHealthMatters on history, stigma and what shapes our response to disease. Don’t miss this #Dialogue! 👉 http://tinyurl.com/GHM-E64

Really enjoyed this fascinating book on the formation of Indo-European. ‬⁩Very well told story of how linguistics, genetics and archaeology are reshaping what we know about the migration that led to one language group covering half the world. @laurainparis.bsky.social

@elephantvoices.bsky.social rich archive of elephant communication in all its glory here, with music from Nick Romero and interviews by me. Our fabulous producer was Julian Mayers www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Palantir – Peter Thiel's tech firm, currently helping Trump deport people and select targets in Iran – is sitting in millions of British pension pots. New investigation by @TheNerveNews – part of a cross-European project led by @ftm_nl. Here's what we found. 🧵 www.thenerve.news/p/palantir-u...

A pattern among women's names gave me a reason to dig very deep into linguistic prehistory, lost grammar and language's arbitrariness. These rank among my favourite interests, along with 1990s pop music. Put them all together, and I can offer you this long read: dannybate.com/2026/02/19/m...

Anyone in Hyderabad tomorrow, we’d love you to come join the discussion.

At the Hyderabad Literary Festival: conversations about #Language, #selfdiscovery, power, #myth, and stories about #Hyderabad. Register now and be part of the conversation! It's free. hydlitfest.org @laurainparis.bsky.social #literaryfestival #hyderabadevents #authorconversations

The horse cemetery at Tsarskoye Selo has been restored and is now open to visitors. If only there wasn't a war on we could all go and marvel at the ancient - and modern - Eurasian custom of burying your trusty steed shorturl.at/5uzHY #PROTO

Better late than never? I finally managed to complete my best of 2025 book list, featuring @laurainparis.bsky.social, @philippullman.bsky.social, Inspector Morse, crazy naval adventures and more... bennotinspain.substack.com/p/my-favouri...

4. Proto by @laurainparis.bsky.social. I’ve followed “Indo-European stuff” for years & thought maybe I didn’t need to read this. But I did & was so glad. I learned loads more about this miraculous story. www.amazon.com/Proto-Ancien...

Books I’ve read this year in world history (part 5) The War Below by Ernest Scheyder On Tyranny by @TimothySnyder.bsky.social Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global by @LauraInParis.bsky.social The Sovereign State and Its Competitors by Hendrik Spruyt The Prize by Daniel Yergin 6/19

It was my joy to join other @engelsbergideas.bsky.social authors in highlighting two books I read this year. Among my favorites, as I note in the article: Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global, by @laurainparis.bsky.social War and Power: Who Wins Wars—and Why, by @phillipspobrien.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/d... @henkvanhoutum.bsky.social

A curated global dataset of social contact between diverse language communities www.nature.com/articles/s41...

And thanks @anjahuja.bsky.social and @theguardian.com ! shorturl.at/Cl0n9

Thank you David Crystal and @newstatesman1913.bsky.social shorturl.at/JSTXw

Thank you @wirobooks.bsky.social

Fascinating topic aired, here, by real linguists @gretchenmcc.bsky.social @dannybate.bsky.social

It's Black Friday and books are going cheap... 🤗 shorturl.at/uEJdj

Thank you!

We're beginning to see how disease shaped (pre)history. www.newscientist.com/article/2500...

Profile of Nick Evans, who just won the British Academy's Neil and Saras Smith medal for lifetime achievement in linguistics @theobserveruk.bsky.social @britishacademy.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/science...

Protactile is one of the most exciting languages in the world right now. It was born in #Seattle in 2007, and linguists are watching it grow and grow #linguistics #deafblind #asl

What came before English? @ColinGorrie.bsky.social of the Dead Language Society newsletter interviews @LauraInParis.bsky.social, author of the new book “Proto: How one ancient language went global” about the original language from which English descends: www.deadlanguagesociety.com/p/what-came-...

Calling all New Yorkers, this Wednesday evening, come find out where your languages come from 🤗 shorturl.at/sWPtf

China bolsters controversial claim to Pacific languages with new museum | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

“This result changes everything. On the basis of these results it seems likely AMT-130 will be the first licensed treatment to slow Huntington’s disease, which is truly world-changing stuff.” www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/se...

My review of Peter Turchin's latest book. rdcu.be/eHxjD

Extremely proud and a bit jealous that my excellent colleagues @fieldmatt.bsky.social and Inge Kersbergen have won this year's Ig Nobel Peace prize for showing that being a bit tipsy makes you better at speaking Dutch. arstechnica.com/science/2025...

PROTO and Emma Spurgin Hussey won a prize 🤗 shorturl.at/e05Zm

My discovery of the weekend, thanks to film-maker Hana Vojáčková, the extraordinary Spartakiads - vast, synchronised sports events popular in eastern Europe in the Communist years. Her short film on the subject: vimeo.com/614731350

Our new magazine @equatormag.bsky.social is officially out in the world. Sign up for preview emails, donate, and get tickets to our launch event: www.equator.org.

Fun discussion on the power of language and the stories that shape humanity with Matt Abrahams on his podcast Think Fast Talk Smart. #Language #Storytelling #ThinkFastTalkSmart #WordsMatter #SharedHumanity shorturl.at/EHK8G

Hallo liebe Leser von DER URKNALL UNSERER SPRACHE! Die deutschsprachige Ausgabe von PROTO ist für das Wissensbuch des Jahres in der Kategorie "Überblick" nominiert. Noch bis zum 14. August könnt ihr hier abstimmen: www.konradin-service.de/umfrage/inde...

Did language evolve to organise childcare? shorturl.at/6Knvr

In prehistory, women ruled, fought, hunted and mediated with other worlds. www.newscientist.com/article/2488...

Talking inflection points in (pre)history with the insatiably curious @BlomPhilipp youtu.be/SfGd3EKaMMs

Love this. How to say 92 in different European languages. Note the outliers France and especially Denmark. With thanks to brilliantmaps.com and reddit. #linguistics

At moderate doses, it might have fuelled the spread of languages too. Could that have contributed to the complexification, I wonder? @vaclavhrncir.bsky.social and @kirrallina.bsky.social

With the suave John Maytham in Cape Town m.youtube.com/watch?v=qhJA...

Uralic languages illuminated #ancientdna shorturl.at/JCw4g

Coppola tried this to unearth new script-writing talent- he called it Zoetrope - all he got was regression to the mean. Should grant applicants judge competitors’ proposals? Unorthodox approach gets two real-world tests | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

🏺 Previously a preprint now a paper led by the Copenhagen group- ancient DA extracted from 1313 ancient humans shows the dynamics of different infectious diseases across Eurasia over the last 37,000 years. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New ALILI alert! 🚨 Episode 37 is a trip into prehistory, as @laurainparis.bsky.social, author of the super new book 'Proto', joins me to share her expertise and enthusiasm for Proto-Indo-European! Listen here: Acast: shows.acast.com/a-language-i... Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/0xbQ...