OU / BBC radio series Word of Mouth returns

Posted on 4 September 2025 • Education, languages and health, Languages, TV and radio

Today (Thurs 4 Sept) a new OU/BBC radio series of Word of Mouth has returned to BBC Radio 4, airing weekly at 15:30 until Thursday 2 October and available to catch up on through BBC Sounds.

The series is presented by celebrated author Michael Rosen and explores the world of words and how we use them.

Michael explores various areas of language throughout the series, from examining the effects of certain conditions on the way we communicate to considering legal terminology used within courtrooms.

Dr Philip Seargeant, Senior Lecturer in English Language and Applied Linguistics, alongside Dr Zsuzsanna Barkanyi, Senior Lecturer in Spanish, were academic consultants for the series.

They said:

‘We’re delighted to be partnering with the BBC’s Word of Mouth again for a second series, and to be able to again feed expertise from LAL into the programmes. We received great feedback from our first collaboration with them, and hope that this proves equally as engaging for listeners.’

Supporting Online content:

Visit our Broadcast & Partnerships site OU Connect where you can find a new interactive guide exploring how cultural idioms such as ‘down the rabbit hole’ entered the English Language.

This series was commissioned by Broadcast & Partnerships and is supported by the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, with particular relevance to Q39 Ba (Hons) English Language and Literature, Q30 BA (Hons) Language Studies and R54 BA (Hons) English Language

• Commissioned by Dr Caroline Ogilvie, Director, Broadcast & Partnerships

• Academic Consultants: Dr Zsuzsanna Barkanyi and Dr Philip Seargeant

• Media Fellow: Dr Alex Twitchen

• Broadcast Project Manager: Clair Robinson

• Supporting Online Content: Xinmiao Zhang 

 Header image credit: BBC