Writing Wrongs

*Warning: this episode contains descriptions of emotional abuse and manipulation*  ---  November 12, 2018, Madrid, Spain. 47-year-old Galician man Rodrigo Nogueira Iglesias is arrested near the Puerta de Atocha railway station. His crimes stretched back more than twenty years. Rodrigo frequented social media platforms and dating websites where he used fake profiles, pretending to be different peop...

* Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions of child sexual abuse material. *   In today’s episode, Dr Nicci MacLeod and Prof. Tim Grant are joined by Dr Emily Chiang, one of our Research Fellows at AIFL, about her research into identity performance in online child sexual abuse conversations. By tracing 17 different personas from a single perpetrator, Dr Chiang explored linguistic differences...

VOTE FOR US IN THE TRUE CRIME AWARDS 2026! *Warning: this episode contains descriptions of terrorist mass-casualty events, and torture *   NOTE: This is Part 2 of a double episode. Please make sure you have listened to Part 1 before proceeding.   --- These two episodes are dedicated to the memory of Dr Janet Cotterill (1968-2022) who contributed significantly to this case and to forensic linguisti...

VOTE FOR US IN THE TRUE CRIME AWARDS 2026! *Warning: this episode contains descriptions of terrorist mass-casualty events, and torture *   ---  These two episodes are dedicated to the memory of Dr Janet Cotterill (1968-2022) who contributed significantly to this case and to forensic linguistics more generally.  Her obituary can be found here  https://iafll.org/2022/11/11/remembering-dr-janet-cotte...

Welcome Wrong’uns to this special episode of Writing Wrongs in conjunction with another Aston Originals podcast: CorpusCast with Dr Robbie Love! Nicci, Tim, and Robbie revisit some of Writing Wrongs’ bestclips involving corpus linguistics. Take a trip down memory lane as our hosts call back to S1E3, S1E7, S2E1&2, and S2E6&7, and grill Dr Love about the ins and outs of the use of corpus too...

*Warning: this episode contains potentially distressing discussions*   In the series finale, Nicci and Tim will be answering some of the questions that you have been sending in over the course of Season 2. From general questions about forensic linguistics to a deep dive into past episodes, we will be reviewing what season 2 has been about.   For a list of our sources and more information about thi...

Series 2 - Episode 7 - Part 1 * Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions of murder, gang violence, knife crime, and a violent attack on a young pregnant girl. * This month, Dr Nicci MacLeod and Professor Tim Grant explore the analysis of Urban British English (UBE) in court. In the first of this two-part episode, Tim discusses a case from 2009 in which he analysed chat logs between two Grime...

* Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions of murder, gang violence, and knife crime. *     STOP! This episode is the final part of a special two-part episode. Make sure to listen to part one before enjoying this episode.    In part two of this special on Urban British English (UBE), Dr Nicci MacLeod and Professor Tim Grant discuss Nicci’s role in a 2021 murder case involving the suspect’s u...

Series 2 - Episode 6 * Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions ofharassment and stalking. We’ll explore themes related to verbal and emotional abuse, intimate partner abuse, highly offensive communications, and fraud. Listener discretion is strongly advised, as some content may be distressing. *   August 2020, Darlington, North East England. A woman begins to receive vast numbers of abusive...

Series 2 - Episode 5 Terror in the State of Denmark - Conversations from a List of Resolutes * Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions of religious extremism, radicalization and plots of violence or terrorism. *   Joined by Dr Tanya Karoli Christensen, hosts Nicci and Tim discuss a counterterrorism investigation from Denmark. In this case, linguistic analysis proved vital in unraveling impl...

* Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions of violent murder, grooming and child sexual abuse, and online extremism. *   This month, Writing Wrongs comes to you live as a part of the ESRC 2025 Festival of Social Science, from the West Midlands Police Museum at the Old Steelhouse Lane Lock-up. Our hosts are joined by colleagues Dr Emily Chiang and Dr Ralph Morton to discuss the past, present,...

* This episode contains no particular contentwarnings, there is however a very brief mention of another case involving sexual abuse *   This episode is about the New York Times, a high reputation paper of record in the Untied States, and how in theearly 2000s they came to publish a series of articles, which turned out to be plagiarised or untrue. Together with Professor Jack Grieve, from the Unive...

* Warning: This episode contains descriptions of gun violence, murder and capital punishment. *    In this first episode of a two-part case, Nicci and Tim discuss Derek Bentley’s story and the miscarriages of justice that occurred when he was found guilty of murder and received the death penalty. Focusing on two different meaning ambiguities, our hosts explore 1) the alleged statement Derek made (...

* Warning: This episode contains descriptions of the killing of a police officer and the death penalty. *    STOP! If you haven’t listened to part one of this case, go back and listen before starting this episode.     Last time, Nicci and Tim explored the language around the custodial status of Derek Bentley, who was one of the last people to be hanged as criminal punishment in the UK in 1953.   ...

Writing Wrongs Live! Come and be part of the Writing Wrongs Live! show 4pm- 6pm 22nd October at the Steelhouse Lane Lockup Free tickets are available from https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/writing-wrongs-live-tickets-1520150794949

*Warning: this episode contains potentially distressing discussions*   In the series finale, Nicci and Tim answer some of the questions that you have been sending in over the course of Series 1. From general questions about forensic linguistics to a deep dive into past episodes, we will be reviewing what Series 1 has been about.   Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at  writingwrongs@aston....

* Warning: This episode contains descriptions of rape and allegations of false reporting of rape *   A 19-year-old British woman’s holiday in Ayia Napa turns into a nightmare when she’s accused of fabricating a gang rape claim. Was her police statement truly her own words?   In this episode, Dr. Andrea Nini examines the linguistic evidence that became central to uncovering the truth behind this co...

* Warning: This episode contains descriptions of murder *    Most people could never dream of admitting to something they didn’t do, especially when it comes to an accusation as heinous as murder.    Donte Parker’s murder remains unsolved. If you have any information on this case, please visit https://slmpd.org/tips/ to submit an anonymous tip.   For a list of our sources and more information abou...

*Warning: This episode includes mentions of murder by stabbing and swearing* What happens when a childhood language game is used to obscure the details of a crime? Well, you call in Dr Nicci MacLeod. In this episode, Nicci recounts a time when the police approached her to analyse the language of a group of suspects covertly recorded on the way to and from court. At first, it didn’t seem as though...

*Warning: This episode contains descriptions of fraud and exploitation* To what lengths would you go for love? A sweet selfie, thoughtful good morning texts, or late-night phone calls might come to mind. But what about sending over £10,000 to someone you've never met in person? It might sound far-fetched, but last year alone, more than 8,000 people in the UK fell victim to romance fraud - losing m...

* Warning: This episode contains descriptions of abortion, murder and execution by hanging *   Welcome to Series 1, Episode 1 of  Writing Wrongs , a podcast from the Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics where hosts Professor Tim Grant and Dr Nicci Macleod take a case-by-case look at the field of forensic linguistics in action. This case covers Timothy Evans who, 75 years ago (9 March 1950), wa...

* Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions of abortion, murder, and execution by hanging. *   In this special bonus episode, we are delighted to have award-winning author Kate Summerscale in to chat with Tim and Nicci about her most recent book,  The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place . It takes a deep dive into the case presented in our first episode,  Timothy Evans: The birth of...

*Warning: This episode contains strong language and threats of terrorism and other violence.*  In 2018, a crudely made bomb was found in a car park in central Edinburgh. Later, blog posts by an unknown author appeared on a Mexican eco-anarchist website, in both Spanish and English, claiming responsibility for said bomb. Our own Professor Tim Grant was contacted by Police Scotland to build a profil...

Every sentence tells a story, every word leaves a trace.