Beyond Words Ep. 9 | The Power of Gesture in Language Development with Dr. Susan Goldin-Meadow

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Join host Garrett Oyama as he sits down with Dr. Susan Goldin-Meadow, one of the world’s foremost experts on gesture and language development. Together, they explore how our hands reflect what we know, how gesture supports learning and communication, and why paying closer attention to movement can reshape how we teach, think, and connect.

🧠 Learn more about Dr. Goldin-Meadow’s work:

Thinking With Your Hands Book

contact: sgm@uchicago.edu

Beyond Words Ep. 8 | Memory, Language, and Meaning with Dr. Charan Ranganath

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In this episode, neuroscientist Dr. Charan Ranganath (author of Why We Remember) joins Garrett Oyama to explore how schemas, event boundaries, and the structure of language shape what we remember — and why. We discuss how memory works not just in the brain, but in real life: through storytelling, attention, emotion, and meaning. SLPs, therapists, and educators will also gain practical tools for supporting memory using language — from narrative scaffolds to emotional salience and linguistic cues that enhance recall.

Topics include:

• How the brain chunks experience into events
• Why schemas help (and sometimes distort) memory
• The blurred line between cognition and memory
• How to use language to support clients with memory difficulties
• Memory as prediction, not just storage

Learn more about Dr. Ranganath’s work:

https://www.charanranganath.com/

https://dml.ucdavis.edu/

https://www.charanranganath.com/book

Please like, subscribe, and share it with anyone curious about language, memory, and the brain. Your support helps keep the podcast going and growing.

Beyond Words Ep. 7 | The Neuroscience of Language: Brain Networks and Individual Difference with Dr. Ev Fedorenko

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Dr. Ev Fedorenko (MIT) joins host Garrett Oyama to explore how the brain processes language — and why the language network is far more distinct and specialized than previously thought. From the surprising isolation of this network to what this means for aphasia, speech therapy, and AI, this episode dives into some of the most exciting neuroscience of language today.

We discuss:

• Why traditional brain maps may be misleading
• How individual brain variability affects language recovery
• Why the language system doesn’t overlap with math, music, or logic
• What this means for clinicians and educators

🔗 Relevant Links

🧠 Ev Fedorenko’s lab: https://evlab.mit.edu

Beyond Words Ep. 6 | The Music and Speech Connection with Dr. Anita Collins

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Join host Garrett Oyama in this Beyond Words archive episode with internationally renowned educator and author Dr. Anita Collins to explore one of the most practical and powerful tools for child development: music.

Best known for her TED-Ed video How Playing an Instrument Benefits Your Brain, Dr. Collins brings science down to earth, showing how sound acts as “superfood” for a baby’s brain and how music learning can profoundly shape language, attention, literacy, and even emotional regulation.

Whether you’re a parent, speech-language pathologist, educator, or simply music-curious, this episode is packed with insights and real-life strategies:

🎶 Why singing to your baby is more powerful than playing music on a device

🧠 How rhythm and beat perception relate to reading ability

🗣️ The surprising connection between musical training and speech development

👶 What to know about noisy environments and infant sound nutrition

💡 Easy musical activities that support language — even if you “can’t sing”

This is an inspiring and actionable listen that reminds us of something deeply human: music and language aren’t separate — they’re entwined from the very beginning.

🟢 More from Dr. Anita Collins: https://www.biggerbetterbrains.com

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Learn more about Dr. Michael Frank:

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YouTube talks

Join host Garrett Oyama on Beyond Words for a fascinating conversation with Dr. Michael C. Frank, the Benjamin Scott Crocker Professor of Human Biology at Stanford University. Dr. Frank directs the Language and Cognition Lab and the Symbolic Systems Program, and his research asks some of the biggest questions about how children learn language and how social interaction shapes that learning.

In this episode, we explore:

• The origins of WordBank and how massive open datasets are transforming child language research.
• What the MacArthur–Bates CDI reveals about early vocabulary, variability, and developmental trajectories.
• Why children’s first words are more social than survival-based.
• How pointing, joint attention, and even hand movements lay the foundation for communication.
• The surprising universals of variability across cultures and languages.
• What large language models (LLMs) can and can’t teach us about human language learning.
• New multimodal projects like BabyView, capturing the world from a child’s perspective.

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Learn more about Dr. Barenholtz:

• Elan's substack
• Elan on X
• Elan's lab
• Elan's YouTube channel

Join host Garrett Oyama in this thought-provoking episode of Beyond Words, featuring Dr. Elan Barenholtz, cognitive scientist and professor of psychology at Florida Atlantic University. Together, they explore Dr. Barenholtz’s compelling theory that language is not invented, but discovered—emerging from structured, sequential patterns much like music. They dive deep into the concept of language as an autoregressive system, where meaning arises not from static symbols but from dynamic movement through linguistic space. Key topics include the aesthetics of syntax, the parallels between language and jazz improvisation, and what large language models can teach us about human communication. With implications for AI, language development, and clinical practice, this episode offers a paradigm-shifting view of how we speak, think, and understand the world.

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Description:

What shapes the way humans speak? In this episode of Beyond Words, Garrett Oyama sits down with Dr. Ted Gibson, professor of cognitive science at MIT and director of the MIT Language Lab, to explore how language emerges from cognitive and communicative pressures.

From Amazonian hunter-gatherer languages with no number words, to cross-linguistic patterns explained by dependency length minimization, Ted shares insights from decades of research across dozens of languages. We also discuss why syntax matters for communication, how brain imaging separates language from thought, and what this means for speech-language pathologists, educators, and anyone fascinated by human cognition.

Find Dr. Gibson here:

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Lex Fridman Interview

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What does it take to make sense of the sound soup that surrounds a newborn? In this episode of Beyond Words, Garrett Oyama sits down with Dr. Jenny Saffran—pioneer of infant statistical learning—to explore how babies transform streams of speech into meaningful language, all without seeing “white spaces” between words.

Together, they dive into:

• How infants use statistical learning to segment and group sounds
• Why the brain’s ability to track syllable patterns is like a built-in prediction engine
• How context and the physical environment (like shape-sorter toys!) support early word learning
• New work applying eye-tracking to understand language in children with cerebral palsy
• The intersection of music, language, and domain-general learning mechanisms

Dr. Saffran also weighs in on nature vs. nurture, the rise of large language models, and why infants may be motivated not by communication—but by the desire to grip the world with meaning.

Whether you’re a speech therapist, a cognitive science fan, or just fascinated by how humans learn to speak, this conversation opens up wonder and insight on every level.