Language is at the heart of all our interactions — whether you’re texting, emailing, talking, singing or heatedly debating. So of course, quite a few TED Talks are about the art of language. That’s why we created the new TED playlist, “Words, words, words.”

Included in this playlist: Mark Pagel reveals how language transformed humanity, Erin McKean delivers the joy of lexicography and John McWhorter explains how texters are actually bilingual.

TED playlists are collections of talks around a topic, built for you in a thoughtful sequence to illuminate ideas in context. A new playlist is added every week. We hope you enjoy this installment.