In this episode Laura Spinney talks about the background to her book 'Proto', an extraordinarily wide ranging and engaging account of the origin and archeology of Indo-European languages. We discuss the source of ancient DNA that is uncovering the extraordinary migration west of nomads from the Ukranian and Russian steppe along with their language, the ancestor of the most spoken languages in the world. Early philology, copper smelting (5000 years ago), pottery decoration of lactose intolerance ( among those nomad herdsmen and women) all get a mention. We also discuss before we discuss the origins of celtic languages and the various forms of English. All the above just a sample fo the stories in Laura's very readable guide.

Participants:

Laura Spinney, science journalist and writer https://www.lauraspinney.com/

Ken Barrett, visual artist, writer and retired neuropsychiatrist: http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk

Laura's book 'Proto': https://www.lauraspinney.com/

More on 'proto-indo-european': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_language

The other proto language groups: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-language

Laura's book, very well read, on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/69CajLdpTI4HQZvuzs0LcB?si=2d84b5b6e3074875

Opening and closing music: Prelude to the opera Brainland, composed by Stephen Brown.

Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk

Portrait sketch by KB

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.