John McWhorter is a professor of linguistics, American studies and music history at Columbia University, specializing in language change and language contact. He hosts the language podcast “Lexicon Valley,” writes a weekly newsletter for The New York Times and has authored six audiovisual sets on language for Great Courses. McWhorter is the author of over 20 books, including “The Power of Babel,” “The Language Hoax,” “Nine Nasty Words” and “Woke Racism.” a contributing editor at The Atlantic, his writing on linguistics, race and other topics has also appeared in TIME, The New Republic, The Wall Street Journal and elsewhere. Previously, McWhorter taught linguistics at Cornell and University of California, Berkeley, and he was a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Previously
Language — the words we use — plays a vital role in framing and shaping public discourse, influencing our social and cultural perceptions and interactions. A linguist and cult...
During his first year as Prime Minister, Winston Churchill and the citizens of London endured 57 nights of consecutive bombing by German air forces. While both the Blitz and C...
Born into slavery, Frederick Douglass learned to read against the odds, succeeded in a harrowing escape from bondage, and went on to bear witness to its evils across the count...
A person espousing the ideas of liberal thinkers, in the vein of philosopher John Locke, can often be dismissed today as an unfeeling supporter of the status quo. “Neoliberal”...
The language of our time, be it in the twittersphere, spoken-word poetry, or simply our day-to-day discourse, is blemished by a set of profanities — some more vile than others...
The evolution of the English language is more often thought of as a devolution, particularly with the infiltration of texting abbreviations and jargon into our everyday use. J...
Language is a subjective thing, but one so deeply ingrained in our consciousness that accepting linguistic change brings out the conservative in all of us. But language is fu...
Words come at us in print, online, and on the air; in podcasts, movies, editorials, and advertorials; through e-mail, texts, and tweets. Words may shock, like those of Samanth...