They're speaking African American English, according to linguist Lisa Green at the University of Massachusetts Amherst - in other words, "it's not mainstream English with mistakes." Lisa grew up speaking AAE in Louisiana, and since then, her ground-breaking research has found that AAE is based on a system of consistent grammatical rules, pronunciations and definitions. Some call it a dialect, which evolved from the African languages that slaves spoke blended with plantation English; in fact, when someone says, "she aks" instead of "she asks," they might be echoing Old English from centuries ago. Lisa argues that schools need to acknowledge and respect black children's African American English, even while they teach them Standard American English that they need to succeed in broader society.

Yes! (Danny's writing this) - especially when the author is my co-host, David K. Shipler. Dave's novel, The Interpreter - now out in paperback - takes us into the rice paddies and twisting alleys of Vietnam, right after US troops fled the war there in 1973. But Dave explores provocative issues that would resonate in Iran or China or any country where interpreters play a crucial role for Americans. David Ignatius, the acclaimed associate editor and columnist of the The Washington Post, reviews it like this: "Shipler captures the awful truth that every correspondent knows - that we are unworthy of the brave men and women who act as our translators and ‘fixers,’ the solitary heroes living between two languages and cultures but refusing to take sides." Dave's novel raises provocative questions, sure, but some of my favorite parts are like Vietnam travelogs: images of streets pulsing with motorbikes piled with families, chickens and guavas; lush jungles and spidery canals; and Vietnam's foul-smelling but magical-tasting fish sauce.

Since Trump returned to the White House, more than 1750 potential whistleblowers have asked for help from the Government Accountability Project, says GAP - a leading group that gives legal advice to whistleblowers and tries to protect them. That's more than triple the number during the last year of the Biden administration, which is even more remarkable when you consider how Trump and his enablers have made revenge a priority. One of the federal employees who asked GAP for help is Erez Reuveni, the Justice Department lawyer who told them that a top DOJ official had ordered him to say "Fuck you" to the courts, if they tried to block Trump's illegal actions. Dana Gold, one of GAP's senior lawyers, tells us the moving story of how Reuveni came to her and agonized over what to do - and then risked his career, and potentially his family's safety, by standing up for truth and justice. PS: Trump rewarded the DOJ official who said F-you to the courts by making him an appeals court judge.