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Geoffrey Nunberg

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03:41

Resolving Speech and Class Differences

Linguist Geoff Nunberg reviews the current Broadway production of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, which stars Peter O'Toole, who, says Nunberg, turns the play from a fairy tale into a farce.

Review
03:52

Creating a Poetry of Context

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg recently visited the Language in Art Since 1960 exhibit at New York's Whitney Museum. He says the work he saw revealed how words in art can create dynamic social commentary in a way distinct from text on a page.

Review
03:45

How Bilingual Education Became Controversial

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg reviews a new book by James Crawford which examines the history of bilingual education. Despite the contemporary controversy surrounding the issue, Nunberg and Crawford point out that such curricula was once considered a valuable way of helping immigrant children learn English and assimilate into American culture -- a view once shared by conservatives in the 1970s.

Review
03:32

"The Elements of Style" on Home Video.

Language commentator Geoffrey Nunberg reviews a new video version of Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style," featuring CBS newsman Charles Osgood. (re-broadcast from 3/15/89).

Review
03:40

"The Dada and Surrealist Word-Image."

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg looks at the influence of the word on the visual arts...starting with the Dada movement and the montage works of the 30s, up to current poster and electric sign work by Jenny Holzer.

Review
04:03

The Art of "Doublespeak."

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg reviews a new book called "Doublespeak" by William Lutz, chairman of the Committee on Public Doublespeak of the National Council of Teachers of English. Lutz has been keeping files with examples of doublespeak used in politics and advertising and has compiled some of them in his book.

Review
05:11

The "Professor and the Madman" Behind the OED

Linguist Geoff Nunberg comments on Simon Winchester's new book "The Professor and the Madman." It details the true story of the American psychopath who played a major role in compiling the Oxford English Dictionary in the mid 1800s.

Review

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