No matter where your political allegiances lie, you've got to admit it's been fun listening to Bernie Sanders talk these past few months. From FDR to the Kennedys to the Clintons, rarely have we had the pleasure of hearing a presidential hopeful speak as plainly as Sanders does.
Or...maybe I'm particularly drawn in because I'm the offspring of Brooklyn-born Jews who grew up in the '50s -- and I've sure never heard a would-be president who sounded anything like them before.
Those are the characteristics that present themselves in Sanders' accent, according to the linguists cited in this excellent Vox video. Though the explainer takes the senator from Vermont as its guinea pig, it's a fascinating look at how the simple, unconscious idiosyncrasies of anyone's speaking style can reveal a world of information about region, time period, culture, socioeconomic status, and more.
Give it a watch below.
