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Seg. 1: Why Clay Countians Asked For An Audit. Seg. 2: The Divide of U.S. And U.K. English.

Sherry Duffett, leader of Citizens For A Better Clay County, sits in front of a microphone in the KCUR studio.
Luke X. Martin
/
KCUR 89.3
Sherry Duffett is a former county employee and helped launch the petition to bring the state auditor's attention to Clay County.

Segment 1: Problems in Clay County government prompted request. 

More than 9,000 Clay County residents are asking Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway to take a hard look on their county's government. This week the county administrator resigned, last year two other county officials were charged with tampering with public records, and there have been a number of questionable purchases made with tax payer dollars. Today we looked at how county government became so bad that residents went to the state for answers.

Segment 2, starting at 28:00: "The love-hate relationship between American and British English." 

At some point, the American linguistics of English split away from Great Britain's. A new book takes a look at social, political and linguistic forces that caused Americans and Brits to use different variations of the same tongue. Today, we talked with author Lynne Murphy who explained the superiority complex both countries have on their approach to the English language. 

  • Lynne Murphy, University of Sussex linguistics professor and author of The Prodigal Tongue: The Love-Hate Relationship Between American and British English
As a host and contributor at KCUR, I seek to create a more informed citizenry and richer community. I want to enlighten and inspire our audience by delivering the information they need with accuracy and urgency, clarifying what’s complicated and teasing out the complexities of what seems simple. I work to craft conversations that reveal realities in our midst and model civil discourse in a divided world. Follow me on Twitter @ptsbrian or email me at brian@kcur.org.