For several weeks I have been planning to write an entry about the Language Log, but other things have gotten in the way. Today I just have to do it; I owe them. Last night I knew that ABC's 20/20 was going to do a segment on sex differences and I knew that I should watch it. But I have watched them, particularly John Stossel, mangle science in so many earlier segments that I just didn't have the heart to do it. Being made of sterner stuff than I, the Language Log did.

So please, please, please read about how they went into the real research to debunk some of the "some striking fragments of misinterpreted science" that made it into the "Let Science Decide" segment on last night's 20-20 including this one: "The male brain … actually has a harder time processing the female voice versus the male voice, which is a possible explanation to why we don't listen when our wives call us."

Also consider reading the Language Log on a regular basis. One of the goals of FairerScience is to help researchers in gender and the sciences better communicate their work to the media, policy makers, and advocates while helping media to better understand issues of gender and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Reading the Language Log has been a great (and entertaining) way to learn more about what we have been doing wrong. Who could have figured a numbers geek like me could learn so much from linguists?