Linguistics Careercast

“Law is really the practice of linguistics” Taeva Shefler is a linguist and lawyer who focuses her practice on consumer and securities fraud litigation. She is also a human rights advocate and nonprofit founder with a focus on incarcerated individuals, women, and survivors of abuse. This is a deep dive into linguistics, law, and litigation! Taeva Shefler on LinkedIn Taeva Shefler at Ro...

“Music and linguistics are both an act of communication and an act of social coordination” Lauren Collister is a linguist who works as a professional writer, researcher, and educator. She received her PhD in linguistics from the University of Pittsburgh and spent twelve years there working in scholarly communications and publishing in the Pittsburgh University Library System. She’s cur...

“How do we find and hang on to our own humanity in this inhumane capitalist system?” After completing her PhD in Linguistics in 2008, Anna Marie Trester worked in academic administration at Georgetown University and then later at the FrameWorks Institute (a social change communications think tank), all the while founding and growing Career Linguist (CL) as a “side hustle.” In December...

“What if we could have an academic program that combines linguistic knowledge with engineering knowledge?” Kelsey Kraus is a computational linguist, data scientist, and educator. received her PhD in Linguistics from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2018, where she worked on the semantics and pragmatics of intonation and discourse particles in English and German. She joined t...

“My network is the most important part of my career journey” Sarah Hendry has a background in psycholinguistics, cognitive science, and discourse analysis – how language works in the brain, and how we interact with each other to get our meaning across. She also has an MBA from Temple University. Her employment in the pharma and healthcare industries as a linguist has given her deep sub...

“I find my professional fulfillment outside my nine-to-five, in volunteering and working with my community” Laiylaly Mandujano works at the intersection of language and technology as a conversation designer. Her professional experience spans community work, teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and conversation design. She believes that language rights are human rights; i...

“The secret to wealth is not to be rich in money but rich in language” Samantha Beaver is a workplace communications analyst and linguist, business owner, wife, and mother. She earned a Masters in Applied English Linguistics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Since 2018, she has applied her linguistic expertise to help executive teams, leaders, and boards of directors optimize interpersona...

“My mission is to show people how much language they already know without realizing it” A linguist, writer, and podcaster based in Prague, Danny Bate has turned a lifelong passion with language into a career that spans teaching, academia, and online media. After completing his Master’s, he worked as a language teacher before diving into a PhD in Linguistics with the University of Edinburgh. Since...

“My linguistics work has allowed me to experience humanity on different levels” Joan Barker received a Master’s in Linguistics at Central Connecticut State University and spent much of her career abroad, holding positions in Africa and the Middle East. She’s worked as technical consultant, writer, instructor, and trainer, contracting with the Department of Defense to design and implement language...

“Where you land in a job might not be where you want to stay” Jen Polk is a career coach for professors, postdocs and PhD students looking to make the jump from academia to industry. She got her PhD in history at the University of Toronto and since 2013 she has guided students and faculty in identifying fulfilling opportunities that align with their goals and values, through 1-on-1 coaching, group...

Just a quick update – we’ve taken a short hiatus but we have so much more content to come: Interviews! Panels! Webinars! If you’d like to support us, we have a Patreon and our first Patron is the fantastic Lingthusiasm podcast ! And if you would like to be a guest on the pod, or know someone who would, get in touch via our contact form . New episodes coming soon! The post Linguistics Careercast Up...

“Networking is work, but it’s fun work – you get to talk to smart, fun people” Abby Bajuniemi is a linguist with 10+ years of experience leading UX research and content initiatives across multiple industries, working for organizations such as Google, Calendly, Medtronic, Princeton University, and the non-profit New_Public. She is a contributing writer on the intersection of UX and linguistics for...

“I thought: I don’t know which way to go. Wow – what a wonderful place to be!” Shannon DeJong is a linguist, namer, brand agency founder, writer, performer, artist, business advisor and coach; she’s worked big firms like HP, Google, Adobe, and Logitech as well as with non-profits, mission-driven orgs, startups, entrepreneurs and artists. She double-majored in linguistics and mass communications at...

“There’s so much you can learn from linguistics when you apply it to the business of naming” Deborah Ball has been working in naming, branding, content creation, marketing, and communications for more than 10 years in the UK and the US. Her special focus has been brand naming. She has a Master’s in Linguistics from the University of Oxford and an MBA from Durham University Business School. Over th...

“We take so much of communication for granted – until we can’t communicate” Emelia BensonMeyer is a speech-language pathologist specializing in evaluation and treatment of voice, airway, and swallowing disorders. She has an undergraduate degree in linguistics and a Master’s in Communicative Sciences and Disorders. Her background in linguistics has equipped her to critically consider and be mindful...

“I created Minority Languaging as a place to communicate, to share, and to debate” Eukene Franco-Landa is sociolinguist with a Ph. D. from the University of Miami who works at the intersection of language, identity, and legitimacy, especially in minoritized and bilingual communities, especially Basque, of which she is a speaker. Her dissertation explores how linguistic features become tied to perc...

This episode is an audio version of a virtual panel held online via the Linguistic Society of America , on August 16, 2025. This is part two of our conversation on GenAI and linguistics, this time focusing on Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna, Ph. D.’s recent book “The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want.” I am joined again by our amazing panel of linguists to talk abou...

This episode is an audio version of a virtual panel held at the Linguistics Career Launch in the summer of 2024, titled “User Experience Research for Linguists”. The moderator is Darrell Penta, and the two panelists are Josh Martin and Midam Kim. In this session, the panelists explore their journeys into UX research and what prepared them for the kind of work they do now. They share insights into...

“Don’t be afraid to reach for the job you want” Erin Kuester has a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics from Ohio University, and is a copywriter and content creator for service businesses, as well as a writing mentor and editor. She is also an experienced instructional designer. She is very active on Instagram and Tiktok, and at her own website. Erin Kuester on LinkedIn Erin Kuester’s website E...

This episode is an audio version of a virtual panel held at the Linguistics Career Launch in the summer of 2024, titled “Societal Impacts and the Ethical Use of AI”. The moderator is Aubrie Amstutz, and the two panelists are Patricia McDonough and Alfonso Sánchez-Moya. In this session the panelists reflect on the ethical impacts of AI and how qualitative researchers and linguists alike can address...

Live Linguistics Careercast coming your way on August 16! Join us for part two of our conversation on GenAI and linguistics, this time focusing on Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna, Ph. D.’s recent book “The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want.” And we’ll follow the taping with a networking event in Gather! Host Laurel Sutton will be joined again by Alicia Beckford Wass...

“Software makes me money, but linguistics makes me happy” Logan Kearsley is an experienced software engineer with a history in the education, solar power, and entertainment industries. He earned a BS in Computer Science and an MA in Linguistics, both from Brigham Young University, and is currently employed as a software engineer at Idaho National Laboratory. He blogs about conlangs and xenolinguis...

This episode is an audio version of a virtual panel held at the Linguistics Career Launch in the summer of 2024, titled “Content Creation – A Path to Alternative Careers”. The presenter is Erin Kuester, who has a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics from Ohio University, and is a copywriter and content creator for women and queer-owned businesses. This workshop presents content creation and soci...

“I’m happy for the winding path that took me to this work” Kathryn Hymes is a technologist and computational linguist, currently serving as a director of product and innovation at Doctors Without Borders. Previously, she worked in leadership positions at multiple technology firms, most recently as the head of international product expansion at Slack and an advisor at Airtable. She holds an MS in c...

“If you understand why you’re making a career move, then don’t worry about explaining it” Tim Durgin (杜腾飞) is an ATA-certified Chinese-to-English linguist, translator, and analyst based in the Washington DC area. His primary focus is on written translation in several key domains, including video games, politics, national security, and contracts. Beyond his freelance endeavors, Tim has contribut...