Free Republic

Traditionally linguists have bemoaned the fact that the general public knows little of what we do because the subject isn’t taught in schools. But that has changed over the past 20 years or so, as the internet and especially social media have been so effective at getting the word out. I have rejoiced to see the public becoming ever more hip to the fact that language always changes, that you aren’t handicapping your child by raising them to be bilingual, that the way I just used “them” does not spell the fall of our Republic.Twenty years ago I never thought...

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: Black people are disproportionately victimized by gun violence, and prominent African-American leaders are among those calling for tighter gun control. Yet as Karen Grigsby Bates of NPR's Code Switch team found out, many other African-Americans believe that owning guns is crucial to protecting themselves and their rights. KAREN GRIGSBY BATES, BYLINE: Know how some people can't do without something? April Howard has three possessions that are non-negotiable. APRIL HOWARD: I have a .22, a .38 and a rifle. BATES: And she's keeping them all. Howard's had guns for several years now, the result of a close call...