Linguistics Careercast is the podcast devoted to exploring careers for linguists outside academia, through interviews with linguists employed in industry.
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“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 the linguistics faculty at San Jose State University in 2026 after working in Silicon Valley as a Linguist and Senior Data Scientist at Google, Amazon, and Cisco. Kelsey was a featured speaker at Linguistics Caree
“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 subject matter expertise, from experience working in over a dozen therapeutic areas across audiences and challenges. She has also co-authored medical journal articles on effective communication. Sarah Hendry on Link
“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; in her free time she works in her community, organizing local tech events, networking events, workshops, and more. She is fluent in English and Spanish, and is an advocate of language access for all. Laiylaly Mand
“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 interpersonal communication through the application of linguistics. She is the CEO and founder of Memra Language Services, a learning and analytics company. Samantha Beaver on LinkedIn Memra Language Services Sam
“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 then, he’s become a broadcaster, voice actor, and podcast host. In A Language I Love Is…, Danny dives into a particular language with an expert, sharing their enthusiasm with his audience. Danny Bate
“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 courses. She’s currently employed here in the States as a public safety officer. Joan Barker on LinkedIn Joan Barker’s freelance journalism Topics include: – Peace Corps – TESOL – technical writing –
“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 facilitation and workshops, webinars, conferences, and through her written work, which has been published in various journals, books, and on her blog and business website, From PhD to Life. Jen Polk
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 Update! first appeared on Linguistics Careercast.
“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 Code Like a Girl, and has published a number of articles at Medium. She is a self-professed word nerd and loves the oxford comma. Abby Bajuniemi on LinkedIn Abby Bajuniemi’s website Abby Bajuniemi on
“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 UC Berkeley. In addition to her branding work, she also co-produces a literary salon in Sonoma County, California, and occasionally hosts a podcast. Shannon deJong on LinkedIn Shannon deJong’s websit
“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 the years, she has immersed herself in the study of naming, including the grammar of brand names, to understand how meaning is more fully shaped when phonetic forms are placed in context. Deborah Ball o
“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 of the disparities in the profession of speech-language pathology as they apply to the culturally and linguistically diverse populations who are served. Emelia BensonMeyer on LinkedIn ASHA (American
“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 perceptions of authenticity and nativeness. She is the founder of Minority Languaging, an Instagram-based platform that connects linguistic minorities so they can reflect and learn about minority languages
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 about the problems of anthropomorphizing AI, how AI magnifies inequalities affecting minoritized people, and what linguists can do to push back against the constant AI hype. Panelists: Aubrie Amstutz, Respo
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 the variety of UX careers, relevant experience in academia, and how to approach your job search. Darrell Penta on LinkedIn Josh Martin on LinkedIn Midam Kim on LinkedIn YouTube video of this panel Top
“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 Erin Kuester on TikTok Topics include: – instructional design – technical writing – content creation – career coaching – TikTok – gen AI – BookTok – copywritingThe post Episode #77: Erin Kuester first
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 these issues in tech industries. We explore and recognize how linguistics is an integral component of the human evaluation of AI. Aubrie Amstutz on LinkedIn Patricia McDonough on LinkedIn Alfonso Sán
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 Wassink, Katie Swindler, and Aubrie Amstutz to continue the conversation from our live episode at LingFest25, which we released as a podcast on April 22, 2025. The 90 minute panel will take place in Zoom a
“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 xenolinguistics, and he has a YouTube channel where he reads Beowulf. Logan Kearsley on LinkedIn Logan Kearsley’s blog Logan Kearsley on YouTube (Daily Beowulf) A Hybrid Approach to Cross-Linguistic Tokenization
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 social media usage as skills, and how these skills can be leveraged as an alternative career or to boost an alternative career. This is especially useful for anyone who is interested in starting their own
“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 computational and mathematical engineering and an MA in linguistics, both from Stanford. Her writing on language and technology has appeared in the Atlantic, Wired, and the New York Times. Kathryn is a
“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 contributed to teams at NetEase, Amazon, Google, and R2Games. He holds a Master’s in East Asian Studies, and he is passionate about video games. Tim Durgin on LinkedIn Topics include: – LSPs – translation – local
“The buzz in LLMs now is all about training data” Andy Edmonds has an MS in Human Factors, Applied Psychology from Clemson University. He started his working career as a webmaster in 1995 and has since developed a huge breadth of expertise in UX, e-commerce, web analytics, online experimentation, data science, information retrieval, and software development methods at tech companies including Microsoft, eBay, RedBubble, Adobe, Facebook, and LinkedIn. He is now a product manager at Quora. He also holds nine patents. Andy Edmonds on LinkedIn Tabtopia on Github Anthropic blog Topics include: – ex
“I love the process of directing voice actors – and I never would have found out about it without the internet” Colette Feehan is an audiobook director with a PhD in linguistics who specializes in multi-language books, books with technical jargon, and multi-book series that require maintaining a strong pronunciation database. Colette’s doctoral research focused on the intersection of articulatory and acoustic phonetics and vocal performance specific to character voiceover – using ultrasound to look at how actors move the parts of their vocal tract around to make different voices. Colette Feeha
Linguists at Work! This is a special mini-podcast of the Linguistics Careercast called Linguists at Work. It’s a series of 5-minute interviews with career linguists, conducted by grad students in the Georgetown Linguistics program, in which they ask the question: “What’s your job and how did you get it?” Every interview focuses on a job that a linguist not only can do, but adds value to based on the unique skillset we develop as language scientists. Today’s pod features Lexi Slome, who is an associate trial consultant. She earned her Ph.D. in Linguistics from Georgetown University in 2024, whe
