The PALA Podcast PALA

"The best arguments in the world won't change a person's mind. The only thing that can do that is a good story." (Richard Powers, The Overstory, p.488). In this episode, Dr. Moniek Kuijpers, Massimo Lusetti, and Cristina Loi share their investigations into the impacts of reading climate fiction. 

Empathy with others may be critical to furthering social justice and reducing inequalities. Listen to Fransina Stradling and Dr. Carolina Fernandez-Quintanilla discuss narrative empathy, how it works, and how far it might influence attitudes and behaviours in socially constructive ways. 

Our plastic use is polluting the planet, from the deepest oceans to the Arctic. Listen to Professor Joanna Gavins talk about the Many Happy Returns project and the role of language in changing behaviour towards single use plastic.

Community cohesion is critical to sustainable societies. In this episode, Dr. Stephen Pihlaja discusses language and religious identity in the superdiverse city.

The world is approaching a crisis of water scarcity. In this episode, Prof. Michaela Mahlberg explains how corpus linguistics can help to uncover and change the ways we talk about, think about and manage water.