Ep. 85: John McWhorter

"There are all sorts of things in linguistics that would be fascinating to discover: how language started, what the beginnings were, why language evolved. There are some languages that are easier to learn because grownups had to learn them a lot. English is one of those, partially because of what Vikings did to it starting in the year 787."

Linguist and social commentator John McWhorter is on the show, discussing his early passion for language, current trends in linguistics, musicology, and academia, and his deep love of Broadway and 'The Great American Songbook.' He and Daniel delve into many of the fundamental questions people have about language-- how did it all start? How many languages are there in the world? Why are some so difficult? McWhorter also spends some time analyzing the extreme polarization in which our country finds itself right now-- the far left and the far right pulling increasingly apart-- and he offers a potential remedy, while acknowledging it probably isn't very likely to happen any time soon. Never afraid to speak his mind, even when it goes against the grain, he is a source of great knowledge about our American cultural fabric. In the closing segment, he gives us great recommendations for some songs and musicals to listen to right now. A few may surprise you. 

John H McWhorter is an associate professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University. He earned his B.A. from Rutgers, his M.A. from New York University, and his Ph.D. in linguistics from Stanford. Professor McWhorter has taught the American Studies seminar "Language in America," a study of American linguistic history that considered Native American languages, immigrant languages, creole languages, and Black English -- their development, interactions, and preservation. He has also taught the seminar "Language Contact," which focused specifically on the mixture of language in North America, and studied the development of creoles, pidgins, koines, "vehicular" languages, and nonstandard dialects. The seminar considered perceived legitimacy of languages, and the standing of language mixtures in media and education.

Professor McWhorter is an author of more than a dozen books including The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language, Losing the Race: Self Sabotage in Black America and Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English. In 2016 he published Words on the Move: Why English Won't - and Can't - Sit Still (Like, Literally). He also regularly contributes to newspapers and magazines including The New Republic and The Atlantic. Some might be particularly interested in his article on how immigrants change languages in The Atlantic and an essay on policing the "N-word" in Time.