released 10/4/2024

Marilyn Chandler McEntyre — author of Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies (Eerdmans, 2009) — discusses the complex ecosystem of language and how the health of our language affects our thoughts, our relationships, and our capacities for conversation, prayer, and contemplation. While a well-turned phrase and a facility for eloquent argument may be viewed as a dangerous form of social power, McEntyre argues that anti-intellectualism and anti-elitism are poor defenses against such abuses through language. Instead, McEntyre proposes that we should foster habits of stewardship and preservation which seek to honor language by allowing ourselves to be addressed by it, to pause around it, and to dwell in it, rather than commanding and wielding our words as weapons. This interview was originally heard on Volume 99 of the Journal.

ALSO PRESENTED: Clips from six recently released Features and Conversations about language,

36 minutes

PREVIEW

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