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Join me for insightful and inspiring conversations on the power of language in and for our personal lives and professional success.
Each episode has questions and statements to get you thinking, and invitations to potential next steps in your own life and work. (Transcripts are provided, too.)
S6E10: Language, Identity, and the Power of Reclamation
S6E9: Finding Voice, Connection, and Curiosity Through Language with Milton Alan Turner
Have you ever felt the weight of language expectations? Here’s how it shaped my journey:
Tag someone who’s navigating identity through language!
Growing up, I was often caught between two worlds. In a predominantly white high school,…
S6E8: The Courage to Be Seen with John Tessitore
Writer, poet, editor, and language advocate John Tessitore joins Norah for a thoughtful conversation about language, vulnerability, creativity, and the courage it takes to stop hiding who we are. Together they explore writing as a way of…
S6E7: Onward Together: The Energy Behind Language Advocacy & Collaboration with Joy Peyton
There’s a noticeable shift happening in language education—and it starts with where people are choosing to focus their attention. Instead of centering on challenges, Joy Peyton reflects on the energy she experienced at Language Advocacy Days, where…
S6E6: Power of Young Voices | Students at Language Advocacy Days
In This Episode At the 2026 Language Advocacy Days in Washington, DC, something powerful happened—without planning, without a script, and without hesitation. A group of students from across the country gathered in a circle and began to…
S6E5: It’s Not Just What You Say: The Hidden Power of Language and Communication with Charlie Hanchett
A new episode of It’s About Language is now available.Listen to the conversation, then explore the stories, quotes, and resources that follow. In This Episode What starts as a conversation about being snowed in quickly unfolds into…
S6E4: From Library French Lessons to Global Impact with Maureen Manning.
A new episode of It’s About Language is now available.Listen to the conversation, then explore the stories, quotes, and resources that follow. In This Episode Dr. Maureen Manning joins Norah Jones for a wide-ranging conversation about language…
S6E3: Learning Language at the Speed of Being Human with James Mattiace.
A new episode of It’s About Language is now available.Listen to the conversation, then explore the stories, quotes, and resources that follow. In This Episode In this episode of It’s About Language, Norah Jones interviews James Mattiace.…
S6E2_Language as a Bridge: Lessons from Senegal with Katy Wheelock
Hit play to listen, then explore the stories, quotes, and resources below. In This Episode Norah Jones talks with Katy Wheelock, a French educator with 30+ years of classroom experience and the founder of Vive l’Experience, about…
S6E1: The Voice of French-Speaking Africa
Four French educators and AATF leaders join Norah to share how a Fulbright-Hays trip to Côte d’Ivoire is reshaping French teaching in the U.S.—from decolonizing curriculum and centering Francophone Africa to bringing home real stories, resources, and…
S5E11 I Just Want to be Heard- A Conversation with Sharon Deering Williford
How language, identity, and patience shape our healing and humanity. In this deeply personal episode, Sharon Williford returns to the podcast nearly five years after her first appearance. Then, she was freshly navigating life after a massive…
S5E10 Language is About People – A Conversation with Paul Frank
“People don’t want to abandon who they are in order to have a better future. Language gives them options—and dignity—to be both rooted and reaching.” – Paul Frank In this powerful episode, Norah Jones is joined by…
S5E9: The Soul of the Mangyan Ambahan
Discover the cultural richness of the Mangyan people and the poetic beauty of Ambahan, an ancient tradition of sung poetry that shapes identity and community. This episode features voices from the Mangyan Heritage Center sharing stories of…
S5E8: Casa Areyto Taino Language & Culture Live
“To create a world where every Taíno descendant knows who they are and where they come from.” – Priscilla ColónFounder, Casa Areyto In this episode, we welcome Priscilla Colón, a writer, artist, and educator with over 20…
S5E7: Playful, Unexpected – Planet Word Museum with Anne Friedman
“Let’s use our words to create community, to build bridges, to find the things we have in common—what we all laugh at, what we all celebrate. And let’s not use our words to divide.” – Ann Friedman,…
S5E6 Julia, 17, Shares the Joy of Languages
There are hundreds and hundreds of languages and hundreds of different ways of saying something. Something simple can just be explained and communicated in so many different ways. Sure, you can use a translator, but you never…
S5E5 Ana Lucia Lico: Embrace Your Gifts
You have to fight to remain living the language and culture that are meaningful to you or to your students. Fight against not enough resources, fight against lack of support, and if you feel alone, parent or…
S5E4 Megan Dierks, Steve Sacco: Open All the World with Vision and a Grant
Discover how Megan Diercks and Steven Sacco will use storytelling to empower global citizens and enrich language curricula! Tune in to learn about their immersive initiative in Côte d’Ivoire and its broader implications. 🌍🎓 #LanguageEducation #Fulbright-Hays
S5E3 Gianny Morales: Making a Home in Two Worlds
At the age of 20, I was like, wow, the models of bilingual education in the US and in Colombia failed me. They’re leaving kids behind. So I have a lot of drive to make that right,…
S5E2 Shuhan Wang: A New Framework for Language Education
It’s not about learning vocabulary, learning how to say something in another language. Deep down, we’re talking about making us better, smarter, more compassionate, more open minded, more empathetic people who care about self and also one…
S5E1 What Makes Us Human, a Conversation with Victor D.O. Santos, Ph.D.
Season 5 kicks off with Norah Lulich Jones hosting Victor Santos, author of What Makes Us Human. Explore how Santos uses riddle in both words and images to engage and delight children (and adults) with the power…
E126 Humans, Language,Technology: a conversation with Noemí Rodríguez
We learned a lot after the pandemic: how important it is to be face-to-face and humans need each other. Folks tell me AI is going to replace us. I beg to differ. We as human beings are…
E125 Taking Proficiency Seriously, with Paul Sandrock
Proficiency comes down very simply to what someone can do with the language. It’s not what you know about the language, it’s what you can do with the language. As a learner I need to take it…
E124 Language Warriors – A Conversation with Brandon Locke
Language is everywhere. We have to make it right for our own community and make it meaningful for our own community, but always keep that larger picture out there. Opening eyes to the world is the best…
E123 LAMA Leadership: A Conversation with Tal Gale
LAMA means “Why?” Clarity on why we are having a conversation to educate and develop leaders allows us to look at language intentionally, to ask questions about meaning, and to explore with our participants, who, in turn,…
Episode 122 Your Language Niche: A Conversation with Gregory Nedved
I would say you can do a lot with languages–things you wouldn’t expect–and that is what I have tried to do in my life. It’s not simply reading, writing, speaking and listening. You find a niche that…
Episode 121 Lorie Roule: Advocating for Sustainable Language Programs
Language is very important to bring people together. Communication can bring peace. If we can communicate together in a caring and loving way, there will be peace in the world. Lorie Roule’s mother, from an interview We…
Episode 120 The Pulsera Project : Chris Howell
We work anywhere where we see issues or anywhere where we think that we can make a connection and work with people who are really capable. They’re extremely inspiring people. It’s the idea of connecting students with…
Episode 119 Language and Leadership Pathways: Christopher Gwin
If you become multilingual and explore the world and develop interculturality, you aren’t losing your original identity, you’re only making it stronger. Christopher Gwin Language is the pathway not to losing yourself, but to finding yourself and…
Episode 118 Tim Brookes: Endangered Alphabets Project
Languages and scripts do not just die out. Invariably, the loss of a language or a script is the result of policy. It’s the result of invasion, it’s possibly genocide, possibly economic invasion where one culture finds…
Episode 117 The GLOBE Academy: Sandra Daniel
The association that people have had in the past with language education is not what it has evolved to become today. People are highly strategic with the way that they are using language in the classroom. Language…
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