John McWhorter on Linguistics, Music, and Race (Live at Mason)

John McWhorter on Linguistics, Music, and Race (Live at Mason)

Who can you ask about the Great American Songbook, the finer Jell-O flavors, and peculiar languages like Saramaccan all while expecting the same kind of fast, thoughtful, and energetic response? Listeners of Lexicon Valley might hazard a guess: John McWhorter. A prominent academic linguist, he's also highly regarded for his podcast and popular writings across countless books and articles where often displays a deep knowledge in topics beyond his academic training.

John joined Tyler to discuss why he thinks that colloquial Indonesian should be the world's universal language, the barbaric circumstances that gave rise to Creole languages, the reason Mandarin won't overtake English as the lingua franca, how the Vikings shaped modern English, the racial politics of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, the decline of American regional accents, why Shakespeare needs an English translation, Harold Arlen vs. Andrew Lloyd Webber, whether reparations for African-Americans is a good idea, how living in Jackson Heights shapes his worldview, what he learned from his mother and father, why good linguistics students enjoy both Russian and Chinese, and more.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

Recorded February 17th, 2020

Other ways to connect

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(288)

Margaret Atwood on Canada, Writing, and Invention (Live at Mason)

Margaret Atwood on Canada, Writing, and Invention (Live at Mason)

Margaret Atwood defines the Canadian sense of humor as "a bit Scottish," and in this live conversation with Tyler, she loves to let her own comedic sensibilities shine. In addition to many other thoug...

24 Huhti 20191h 14min

Ed Boyden on Minding your Brain

Ed Boyden on Minding your Brain

Ed Boyden builds the tools and technologies that help researchers think about and treat the brain, an organ we still know surprisingly little about. When it comes to how our brains make decisions, for...

10 Huhti 20191h 1min

Emily Wilson on Translations and Language

Emily Wilson on Translations and Language

In a recent Twitter thread, Emily Wilson listed some of the difficulties of translating Homer into English. Among them: "There aren't enough onomatopoeic words for very loud chaotic noises" (#2 on the...

27 Maalis 201956min

Raghuram Rajan on Understanding Community

Raghuram Rajan on Understanding Community

Raghuram Rajan thinks a lot about how to empower individuals, both at the community and international level. In his new book, Rajan draws upon experience both as an academic and policymaker to break d...

13 Maalis 201956min

Sam Altman on Loving Community, Hating Coworking, and the Hunt for Talent

Sam Altman on Loving Community, Hating Coworking, and the Hunt for Talent

Founders aren't superheroes, says Sam Altman.They may play extreme sports, respond to emails within seconds, and start billion-dollar companies, but they are rarely the product of extraordinary circum...

27 Helmi 20191h 8min

Jordan Peterson on Mythology, Fame, and Reading People

Jordan Peterson on Mythology, Fame, and Reading People

Jordan Peterson joins Tyler to discuss collecting Soviet propaganda, why he's so drawn to Jung, what the Exodus story can teach us about current events, his marriage and fame, what the Intellectual Da...

13 Helmi 201953min

Noel Johnson and Mark Koyama on *Persecution and Toleration*

Noel Johnson and Mark Koyama on *Persecution and Toleration*

How did religious freedom emerge — and why did it arrive so late? In their forthcoming book, fellow Mason economists Noel Johnson and Mark Koyama argue that while most focus on the role of liberal ide...

30 Tammi 20191h 16min

Larissa MacFarquhar on Getting Inside Someone's Head

Larissa MacFarquhar on Getting Inside Someone's Head

As a writer of profiles, Larissa MacFarquhar is granted the privilege of listening to, learning from, and sharing the stories of extraordinary thinkers like Derik Parfit, Noam Chomsky, Hilary Mantel, ...

16 Tammi 20191h

Suosittua kategoriassa Koulutus

rss-murhan-anatomia
psykopodiaa-podcast
voi-hyvin-meditaatiot-2
adhd-podi
rss-rahamania
rss-valo-minussa-2
rss-luonnollinen-synnytys-podcast
rss-narsisti
rahapuhetta
kesken
rss-liian-kuuma-peruna
rss-tietoinen-yhteys-podcast-2
rss-niinku-asia-on
filocast-filosofian-perusteet
ihminen-tavattavissa-tommy-hellsten-instituutti
rss-arkea-ja-aurinkoa-podcast-espanjasta
aamukahvilla
jari-sarasvuo-podcast
dear-ladies
rss-vapaudu-voimaasi