Illinois Public Media News
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WILL Newscast
What your accent reveals about you
From “da Bears” in Chicago to “Hahvahd Yahd” in Boston, our accents shape how the world hears us — and how it judges us. Linguist Valerie Fridland explores how and why in her new book, "Why We Talk Funny: The Real Story Behind Our Accents," which traces how American speech patterns took shape over centuries and why they're still shifting today.
Former ambassador says the U.S. has ‘diplomatically disarmed’
A year after his first visit to The 21st Show, retired U.S. diplomat Eric Whitaker returned to talk about the world as it is now.
The former ambassador to Niger grew up in DeKalb and North Aurora and studied at the University of Illinois. He says the U.S. has "unilaterally diplomatically disarmed," pulling back from alliances while China and Russia move into the space it left behind.
Whitaker talked about the war with Iran and what Tuesday's midterm elections could mean for Congress' role in foreign policy. He also discussed the Sahel, where Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso are run by military juntas and Russian forces reportedly helped put down an attempted coup in Niger this summer. And he defended U.S. food aid and the work of USAID, which the Trump administration has dismantled.
Plus, what he's hearing from friends still in the Foreign Service, where he says morale is down after a wave of departures, and his advice for Illinois students who hope to join it.
