About Ong Lots

Ong Lots analyzes every episode of the Odd Lots podcast for markers of orality and literacy, based on the framework developed by media theorist Walter Ong.

Inspired by Havelock.ai, this project explores how podcast conversations balance spontaneous, oral communication patterns with more formal, literate structures.

What is Orality?

Walter Ong distinguished between “oral” and “literate” modes of thought and expression. Oral cultures rely on memory, repetition, and engagement; literate cultures favor abstraction, complexity, and impersonal analysis.

Modern speech—including podcasts—often blends both. Ong Lots quantifies this blend by detecting specific linguistic markers in episode transcripts.

Oral Indicators

• Formulaic Phrases: Stock expressions like “the fact of the matter”
• Sound Patterns: Questions, exclamations, alliteration
• Repetition: Key words repeated for emphasis
• Engagement: First/second person pronouns (I, you, we)
• Parallelism: Sentences starting with “and”, “but”, “so”
• Memory Aids: Discourse markers like “well”, “look”, “like”
• Agonistic: Emphatic language—“absolutely”, “massive”, “crazy”

Literate Indicators

• Abstract Nouns: Words ending in -tion, -ness, -ity
• Word Complexity: Average word length, multisyllabic words
• Subordination: Complex connectors—“although”, “therefore”
• Hedging: Qualification—“perhaps”, “possibly”, “might”
• Passive Voice: Removed agency—“was decided”, “has been”
• Sentence Length: Average words per sentence
• Impersonal Style: Absence of personal pronouns
• Descriptive Style: Adverbs and literary adjectives
• Academic Markers: Citation language—“according to”, “research shows”

How Scores Work

Each marker produces a score from 0-100 based on frequency per 1000 words, normalized against typical spoken English. The composite orality and literacy scores are averages of their respective markers.

A high orality score indicates more conversational, spontaneous speech. A high literacy score indicates more formal, analytical language. Most episodes fall somewhere in between.