Podcast Summaries

Part 1:  A Persian Insult
This first portion of the podcast featured Iranian Leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's insulting remarks toward the United States.  He said an old Iranian phrase, which, in English, translates into "the bogeyman snatched the boob."  This is a saying used by Iranians when they have missed an oppurtunity, wheather that it may have been social, political, economic, etc.  In this context, however, this saying was seen as offensive towards the United States.  Ahmadinejad was trying to get the word out that Iran is going to stick up for itself, and the United States, along with the world, is going to have to deal with it. 

Part 2: An Inuit Dialect
The second portion of the podcast talked about how Dr. Stephen Leonard, a linguistic anthropologist from Cambridge University, is documenting the language of the Inuit people.  The podcast spoke of the dangers that Inuits face, as major issues such as global warming are becoming more and more serious with every day.  These people live in one of the most habitable northern locations on the planet.  Glaciers are melting, and hunting is becoming more and more difficult. 

Part 3:  Urdu Directions
The last portion of the podcast talked about how, in the Urdu language (which is spoken in Middle Eastern countries), the wrods for "right" and "staight" are exactly the same.  Three people, who speak Urdu, talked about their experience in Dubai with the this language.  These people were driving in Dubai, and one additional person was giving the driver directions while driving around a round-a-bout.  When telling the driver to go straight, the person with the map would sa the Urdu word for "straight," which is also the Urdu word for "right."  There was obviously much confusion concerning which direction to go.