Episode 49 (You Are What You Speak)

Lane Greene

Paul’s guest for February 2022 is Lane Greene, language columnist and Spain correspondent for The Economist. This month’s episode takes its title from one of Lane’s books, You Are What You Speak (2011), and Paul and Lane tackle a variety of topics related to linguistics, accents, and the myths, fears, hopes, history, and politics surrounding language.

Before Lane moved into his current role at The Economist, he covered digital news, books and culture, European business, law, energy, the environment, and American politics for the publication. He is based in Madrid, after living in London, Berlin, and New York City.

In addition to the aforementioned book, Greene is the author of Talk on the Wild Side (2018) and the winner of the journalism award from the Linguistic Society of America in 2017. He is a former adjunct assistant professor in Global Affairs at New York University and a consultant to Freedom House, a non-governmental organization. He received an M.Phil. from Oxford in European politics and a B.A. with honors from Tulane in international relations and history. Lane, who speaks nine languages, was born in Johnson City, Tennessee, and grew up in Marietta, Georgia.

For more information on Lane, visit LaneGreene.com.