On today’s episode of Spectacular Vernacular, Nicole and Ben talk about the new Siri voices. They also interview Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne, hosts of Lingthusiasm, a podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics. And finally, they put a listener’s anagram skills to the test. You don’t want to miss this! You could win a year’s membership to Slate Plus. Do you have any language questions or fun facts to share? Email us at spectacular@slate.com.   Produced by Jasmine Ellis and June Thomas.  Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Consumer Reports, “Hey Siri, Is That You? Apple’s New Voices Resonate With Some Black iPhone Users”  Spectacular Vernacular interview with VocalID founder Rupal Patel on “choosing your voice”  Axios, “Apple gives Siri a less gendered voice” Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne’s podcast, Lingthusiasm  Lingthusiasm on Patreon  Subscribe to Slate Plus. It’s only $1 for the first month. To learn more, go to slate.com/spectacularplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode of Spectacular Vernacular, Nicole and Ben talk about the new Siri voices. They also interview Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne, hosts of Lingthusiasm, a podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics. And finally, they put a listener’s anagram skills to the test. You don’t want to miss this! You could win a year’s membership to Slate Plus. Do you have any language questions or fun facts to share? Email us at spectacular@slate.com.   Produced by Jasmine Ellis and June Thomas.  Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Consumer Reports, “Hey Siri, Is That You? Apple’s New Voices Resonate With Some Black iPhone Users”  Spectacular Vernacular interview with VocalID founder Rupal Patel on “choosing your voice”  Axios, “Apple gives Siri a less gendered voice” Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne’s podcast, Lingthusiasm  Lingthusiasm on Patreon  Subscribe to Slate Plus. It’s only $1 for the first month. To learn more, go to slate.com/spectacularplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices