John McWhorter

@JohnHMcWhorter

Columbia linguist, twice weekly at NYT, biweekly Lexicon Valley podcast and Glenn Show. 9 NASTY WORDS was May, WOKE RACISM was fall. Now is catching my breath.

Joined March 2013
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  1. May 12

    And I mean it!

    4:02
    "Ideology twisting scholarship with dangerous consequences is a phenomenon hardly limited to the Soviet Union. It's happening here, right now, in America, in an effort to spread an intolerant orthodoxy masquerading as 'Anti-racism.'" - FAIR Advisor .
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    48 replies . 137 retweets 795 likes
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  2. May 10

    At ⁦⁩ we do crossover episodes like Hello Larry visiting Different Strokes! Lexicon Valley meets Banished on, basically, woke words.

    5 replies . 3 retweets 38 likes
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  3. May 6

    Me on Woke Racism and more. One of the last ones I did.

    The future of race in politics with - download it here....
    6 replies . 13 retweets 96 likes
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  4. May 5

    The idea that for black kids Black English is the comfort zone and standard English is "else" is reductive, despite often seen as ahead of the curve and progressive. Black people's comfort zone is BOTH dialects.

    “Too often, what we’re presented with as authentically Black is a kind of essentialization,” writes .
    25 replies . 35 retweets 323 likes
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  5. May 5

    Read here to find out how covering over a painting depicting the Underground Railroad is "social justice," by my colleague . Apparently some students didn't think the painting was "accurate" ...

    19 replies . 30 retweets 117 likes
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  6. Apr 29

    Teachers: take a look at this crucial effort. Critical thinking is not just "interrogating whiteness" and lowering standards. This program is all about getting back to the real thing.

    Here is a great opportunity for high school teachers committed to viewpoint diversity and critical thinking. Learn more and apply:
    14 replies . 34 retweets 226 likes
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  7. Apr 28

    So I don't know the serialism debate is over. Um, I do - and every past tense in what I wrote makes it clear. I'm about what the reign of ugly music wrought. We lost endless gorgeous music, which I explore beyond the one paragraph many are focusing on.

    58 replies . 24 retweets 244 likes
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  8. Apr 28

    Bringing back languages on the brink is important but really hard. In this episode I explore the issues and have some unsolicited suggestions. With semi-relevant music selections, of course.

    8 replies . 16 retweets 102 likes
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  9. Apr 27

    What's happening to Edmund Santurri will look ominous and backwards in the future (and hopefully the near one). Here interviews him at her sister podcast to mine .

    8 replies . 9 retweets 41 likes
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  10. Apr 24

    It was fun talking to . Both language and race.

    Linguist and social commentator explains how good intentions may be hurting Black America — and where the word “motherf*cker” comes from.
    4 replies . 11 retweets 65 likes
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  11. Apr 20

    This. We must look to those who resist the disinvitation fashion.

    7 replies . 13 retweets 58 likes
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  12. Apr 20

    There's this cartoon me some enjoy pretending exists, who dumbly denies the censorship coming from the right. Here I (again ...) address the right-wing issue. It's grievous in itself, + in enabling The Elect with something to call "the real problem."

    35 replies . 26 retweets 188 likes
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  13. Apr 19

    Lie and lay - anything this hard to get right means the language is broken and needs fixing. An argument for just letting it go ...

    39 replies . 14 retweets 168 likes
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  14. Apr 15

    All about the glory of even mundane or dirty language. Nobody uses any word a lot as "punctuation." There's endless detail and subtlety in the F- and, yes, N-words' modern uses.

    7 replies . 6 retweets 74 likes
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  15. Apr 9

    Here's to the victory of Judge Brown, as well as to her first name - but if we may, where did it come from? "West African" covers a lot of ground, and we don't get to hear enough about it.

    21 replies . 19 retweets 137 likes
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  16. Apr 7

    Folks, do listen in to this latest Amnagram from my Booksmart colleague . You'll learn a ton.

    1:05
    On today's Banished, talks with about how politics stymied scientific research into the true origins of COVID-19, and why she continues to advance a lab-leak theory even in the face of overwhelming fear. FULL EPISODE:
    6 replies . 16 retweets 58 likes
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  17. Apr 5

    Why exactly do we think of four years of school after high school as normal? Yes, you need a BA to be hired for so many things -- but should it be that way? 16-year-olds going right out into the world to ply their trade is less archaic than unexamined.

    36 replies . 46 retweets 302 likes
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  18. Apr 2

    Both are blurring the line between vernacular and mainstream, because our times encourage it. And yes, I intend the parallel sincerely. As soon as the slap got around I thought "Oh, more of what Biden pulled, with a different flavor."

    29 replies . 8 retweets 97 likes
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  19. Mar 30

    A look at why Scott Joplin isn't just someone who wrote some pretty piano songs a long time ago that were played under The Sting. It's part of what my week happens to be about, but yes, next newsletter WILL be about The Slap.

    16 replies . 26 retweets 154 likes
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  20. Mar 29

    Let's talk about what the languages of West Africa are like. Too often we hear about them as just a bunch of names like Yoruba and Wolof, but they're just as varied and interesting as European languages if not more.

    9 replies . 14 retweets 140 likes
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