Writing Wrongs

Toxic Texts from the Tees Valley

Series 2 - Episode 6* Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions ofharassment and stalking. We’ll explore themes related to verbal and emotional abuse, intimate partner abuse, highly offensive communications, and fraud.Listener discretion is strongly advised, as some content may be distressing. * August 2020, Darlington, North East England. A woman begins to receive vast numbers of abusive messages, which she believes are coming from her ex-partner Stuart Bell. It was not a straightforward matter for the police to establish whether it was Bell who was behind the messages. Investigating officer Kerris Dawson approached Dr Nicci MacLeod for help. Join hosts Professor Tim Grant and Dr Nicci MacLeod in unravelling the linguistic features that contributed to determining the authorship of the abusive messages.  For a list of our sources and more information about this case, please visit https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs  Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk and we may answer it duringan upcoming episode! Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here: https://medium.com/@AIFLblog  If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources: https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/ https://www.helpguide.org/find-help  Production Team: Mark Round, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera, Karolina PlaczyntaSound: Mark RoundVisual design: George GrantAdditional Voices: Mark Round, Sam Guerin With special thanks to Robbie Love.  Professor Tim Grant’s home page: Tim Grant - Aston Research Explorer Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer

Terror in the State of Denmark - Conversations from a List of Resolutes

Series 2 - Episode 5Terror in the State of Denmark - Conversations from a List of Resolutes* Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions of religious extremism, radicalization and plots of violence or terrorism. * Joined by Dr Tanya Karoli Christensen, hosts Nicci and Tim discuss a counterterrorism investigation from Denmark. In this case, linguistic analysis proved vital in unraveling implied meanings in text messages between a young man of Kurdish background, suspected of planning to travel to Syria to join ISIS, and another man, suspected of trying to recruit him. Through an analysis of 192 written chat messages from March 2015 between the two individuals, Tanya shares how themes of money, battle and war, and urgency in planning played a role in advancing a Danish police investigation. Listen to discover more. For a list of our sources and more information about this case, please visit https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk and we may answer it during an upcoming episode! Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here: https://medium.com/@AIFLblog If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources:https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/https://www.helpguide.org/find-help Production Team: Angela Walker, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich BueraSound: Angela WalkerVisual design: George GrantAdditional Voices: Mark Round, Peter KiddleWith our thanks to Dr Tanya Karoli Christensen ResourcesProfessor Tim Grant’s home page: Tim Grant - Aston Research Explorer Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research ExplorerDr Tanya Karoli Christensen’s home page: Dr Tanya Karoli Christensen - Research Profile  

Writing Wrongs Live!

* Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions of violent murder, grooming and child sexual abuse, and online extremism. * This month, Writing Wrongs comes to you live as a part of the ESRC 2025 Festival of Social Science, from the West Midlands Police Museum at the Old Steelhouse Lane Lock-up. Our hosts are joined by colleagues Dr Emily Chiang and Dr Ralph Morton to discuss the past, present, and future of forensic linguistics. This is a preview of their (along with Prof Malcolm Coulthard) forthcoming book titled Forensic Linguistics in the United Kingdom: Origins, Progress and Prospects, which will be available in 2026 from Cambridge Elements.In the episode (about 40 minutes in) we discuss the Jenny Nicholl case and how their language differs - this is a transcription of the slide that the live audience could see:·      I am    |    Nicholl’s preference = im    |    Hodgson’s preference  = i am ·      I have    |    Nicholl’s preference = ive    |    Hodgson’s preference  = ave ·      my/myself    |    Nicholl’s preference = my/myself        |    Hodgson’s preference  = me/meself  ·      off  |    Nicholl’s preference = off        |    Hodgson’s preference  = of·      to    |    Nicholl’s preference = [word]2[word]        |    Hodgson’s preference  = [word]2+space[word]·      see you    |    Nicholl’s preference = cu    |    Hodgson’s preference  = cya·      phone    |    Nicholl’s preference = fone    |    Hodgson’s preference  = phone·      shit    |    Nicholl’s preference = shit   |    Hodgson’s preference  = shite·      am not    |    Nicholl’s preference = ‘m not   |    Hodgson’s preference  = ain’t  We were also thrilled to be joined by many of our Wrong’uns (our loving nickname for our fans) for this recording session! It was so lovely to get to meet you and hear your stories. Thank you for your support! For a list of our sources and more information about this case, please visit https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk and we may answer it during an upcoming episode! Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here: https://medium.com/@AIFLblog If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources: https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/https://www.helpguide.org/find-help Production Team: Angela Walker, Loretta Milan, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich BueraSound: Angela WalkerVisual design: George GrantAdditional Voices: Lesley McCarthy, Paul McCarthy, Dana Roemling, Marie Kreft, and Alexander OldknowWith our thanks to the ESRC and the West Midlands Police Museum, Dr Zoe Adams, Dr Daniela Schneevogt, and Karolina PlaczyntaResourcesProfessor Tim Grant’s home page: Tim Grant - Aston Research Explorer Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer Dr Emily Chiang’s home page: Emily Chiang - Aston Research Explorer Dr Ralph Morton’s homepage: Ralph Morton - Aston Research Explorer

Fake News at the New York Times The Case of Jayson Blair

* This episode contains no particular contentwarnings, there is however a very brief mention of another case involving sexual abuse * This episode is about the New York Times, a high reputation paper of record in the Untied States, and how in theearly 2000s they came to publish a series of articles, which turned out to be plagiarised or untrue. Together with Professor Jack Grieve, from the University of Birmingham, our hosts Nicci and Tim take a look at how a linguistic approach to detecting fake news can make a difference. For a list of our sources and more information about this case, please visit https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs  Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk and we may answer it duringan upcoming episode! Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here: https://medium.com/@AIFLblog  Production Team: Angela Walker, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich BueraSound:Angela WalkerVisual design: George GrantAdditional Voices: Angela WalkerWith our thanks to Professor Jack Grieve Professor Tim Grant’s home page: Tim Grant - Aston Research Explorer Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer Professor Jack Grieve’s home page: Professor Jack Grieve - Department ofLinguistics and Communication - University of Birmingham Link to the book: The Language of Fake News

Derek Bentley: Let Him Say It (Part 2)

* Warning: This episode contains descriptions of the killing of a police officer and the death penalty. *  STOP! If you haven’t listened to part one of this case, go back and listen before starting this episode.   Last time, Nicci and Tim explored the language around the custodial status of Derek Bentley, who was one of the last people to be hanged as criminal punishment in the UK in 1953.  In part 2, we welcome Prof Malcolm Coulthard, Professor Emeritus here at Aston University, one of the founders of AIFL (Center for Forensic Linguistics at the time), and granddaddy of forensic linguistics. Prof Coulthard joins Nicci and Tim to further unpack the case, this time focusing on the alleged confession Bentley gave the morning following the crime in question. Like Timothy Evans in series 1, it was unclear whether Derek Bentley had truly penned the written confession later given as evidence in court.  For a list of our sources and more information about this case, please visit https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs   Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at writingwrongs@aston.ac.uk and we may answer it during an upcoming episode!  Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here: https://medium.com/@AIFLblog   If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources:  https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/  https://www.helpguide.org/find-help   Production Team: Sam Cook, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera Additional Editing: Angela WalkerSound: Sam Cook Visual design: George Grant Additional Voices: Sam Cook With our thanks to Professor Malcolm Couthard  Resources  Professor Tim Grant’s home page: Tim Grant - Aston Research Explorer  Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer  Professor Malcolm Coulthard’s research gate profile: Malcolm Coulthard – Research Gate