After quite a while we throw another glimpse at the work of Prof Stephen Reicher, researcher of group behaviour at the University of St. Andrews. Roger continues to explain the key aspects illustrating them with Donald Trump's methods and success as a leader. And we are going to learn the secret of being a leader which boils down to a pretty simple recipe afterall: group identity! OtherOne important concept mentioned only in passing is that of "othering" as explained in the introductory paragraph of this Wikipedia entry.

Roger is back in the studio to tackle the topic of Donald Trump's use of twitter together with RoPeCast technician Chris. Roger presents some interesting studies and analyses that show how Trump's usage of the social internet platform has evolved over time. Join them now and listen in! Two linguists use their skills to inspect 21,739 Trump tweetsUse this link if you want to read up on the studies which Roger referenced.

These days it seems everybody is talking about the impeachment process and party politics in the US. We are taking a big step back to look differently at the picture and approach two American presidents from an entirely different angle. Roger has read articles and done some of his own research on their linguistic peculiarities: How do they speak and act and what words do they use? Chris, who's today's guest in the studio, is quite surprised about the linguistic evidence, and maybe so are you ..? Listen in!

Ginny is back in the studio, but this time with Peter. He's presenting his personal take on the differences between German or European and US culture to her. Their views on things turn out to be rather contrary, particularly when it comes to boundaries and the attitude towards enclosed spaces in the two cultures. Listen in now to learn from a lively illustrated example how the same aspect of a culture can appear totally different and only depend on your personal perspective and stance towards it.

Why not join Roger and his colleague Ginny on a journey to the centre of the universe? Ginny shares her impressions of what it's like when you first come to China as a westerner, when English eventually fails as lingua franca and so does standard Chinese, i.e. Mandarin. But not to despair, people who live in the centre of the universe will know what you need. It's food and always food in China. That much at least they do have in common with the Saarlanders producing this podcast! ;-)

Some time back we dealt with English as a lingua franca. Today we are revisiting that topic with a narrower focus: Chinese students are travelling the world and attending western universities, in America, Britain and also Germany. Today's guest is Roger's friend and former colleague Ginny, who lived and worked in China for a while. She provides insights on where exactly the cultural similarities and differences lie, and how you can make Chinese people and particularly Chinese students feel welcome in your country, not only by using English as a lingua franca. Filial piety Read up on the concept of reverence towards your elders as it is established in China and other East-Asian countries.

Roger's explanation of the finer points of the current Brexit situation continues. Today Peter will get an answer to his question from last episode: He'll finally get to know what the so-called "backstop" is actually about and why so many Brits consider it problematic. Now the RoPeCast team is holding their breath for tomorrow's parliamentary decision.

Political language can sometimes be rather cryptic. Currently, that is definitely the case with all the issues surrounding the "Brexit". We will solve the problem ... Well, that is, we'll clear up the language-related parts. We leave politics and the British economy for someone else to deal with and hope for the best.

After two busy but not overly productive months, the RoPeCast tech departments sends out apologies for a delay in production and some issues with the MP3 podlog. Roger and Peter wish you a pleasant and relaxing festive season.

Carry is back in the studio with some more insights on phonetics. Today she and Roger focus on pronunciation problems typical for learners from a certain area and what teachers can do about those. Be aware, while the episode takes reference to Germany and the Saarland foremost, many of the problems mentioned are relevant for speakers of other native languages, too. Our Russian listeners for example might also be affected by what is referenced with the German term \"Auslautverhärtung\", that is the de-voicing of word final consonants (think: мороз vs. морозный). Listen in and try it out! And don\'t forget to hold your larynx while doing so. English vowel chart Illustrating the vowels for the British standard \"Received Pronunciation\". German vowel chart Compare it to the German vowels system as shown here. Notice some of the vowels mentioned here are not natively German and occur in loanwords etc.