First hour: Journalist David Cay Johnston on the American tax code
Second hour: Understanding how language evolves
Journalist and author Sarah Smarsh recently shared the story of her father and his tax return. He thought he would be getting a significant tax cut with the new tax law. Instead, because of the new rules regarding write-offs for workers, he’s paying a lot more. It turns out a lot of workers have questions about why their tax bills aren’t what they expected. We welcome a journalist who is writing a book on the American tax code, David Cay Johnston.
Then in our second hour, we discuss how language evolves, and how seemingly innocuous words or phrases can take on entirely new meanings. We will also discuss how to recognize words or language that used to mean one thing, but now mean another. Our guests:
- Maya Abtahian, assistant professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Rochester
- Jeff Spevak, writer, and arts and culture contributor for WXXI News
