Michael Rosen explores how language has become an online commodity, with Dr Pip Thornton, Chancellor's Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. Dr Thornton explains, with the help of auction props and a receipt machine, what happens to the words that we put into an online search and how the engines make money from our words and phrases. We discover why William Wordsworth's daffodils and clouds have had their context 'stolen', how Lewis Carroll wrote an incredibly 'cheap' poem and why mesothelioma is the most 'expensive' word. Plus Michael proposes a new form of poetry - the Monetised School of Poetry.
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Ellie Richold
Tip of the Tongue
Talking or Texting?
Mouthpiece: Turning the Spoken Word into Songs
Taking Turns in Conversation
The Top 20 Words in English
How Shakespeare Spoke
Slang
Language Evolution: A Gene for Language?
Gorilla gorilla gorilla: Latin names for animals and plants
The Alphabet
Inventing Brand Names
Romance and Romanticism
Reading: Print v eBooks
Number Words
Non-Verbal Communication
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Global News Podcast
The Infinite Monkey Cage
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
You’re Dead to Me
Elis James and John Robins