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

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(288)

Michael Nielsen on Collaboration, Quantum Computing, and Civilization's Fragility

Michael Nielsen on Collaboration, Quantum Computing, and Civilization's Fragility

Take our Listener Survey Michael Nielsen is a scientist who helped pioneer quantum computing and the modern open science movement. He's worked at Y Combinator, co-authored on scientific progress with...

29 Mai 20241h 2min

Benjamin Moser on the Dutch Masters, Brazil, and Cultural Icons

Benjamin Moser on the Dutch Masters, Brazil, and Cultural Icons

Take our Listener Survey Benjamin Moser is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer celebrated for his in-depth studies of literary and cultural figures such as Susan Sontag and Clarice Lispector. His latest ...

15 Mai 20241h 6min

Coleman Hughes on Colorblindness, Jazz, and Identity

Coleman Hughes on Colorblindness, Jazz, and Identity

Coleman Hughes believes we should strive to ignore race both in public policy and in our private lives. But when it comes to personal identity and expression, how feasible is this to achieve? And are ...

1 Mai 202456min

Peter Thiel on Political Theology

Peter Thiel on Political Theology

In this conversation recorded live in Miami, Tyler and Peter Thiel dive deep into the complexities of political theology, including why it's a concept we still need today, why Peter's against Calvinis...

17 Apr 20241h 14min

Jonathan Haidt on Adjusting to Smartphones and Social Media

Jonathan Haidt on Adjusting to Smartphones and Social Media

In The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt explores the simultaneous rise in teen mental illness across various countries, attributing it to a seismic shift from a "play-based childhood" to a "phone-ba...

3 Apr 202459min

Fareed Zakaria on the Age of Revolutions, the Power of Ideas, and the Rewards of Intellectual Curiosity

Fareed Zakaria on the Age of Revolutions, the Power of Ideas, and the Rewards of Intellectual Curiosity

Those who know Fareed Zakaria through his weekly column or CNN show may be surprised to learn he considers books the important way he can put new ideas in the world. But Fareed's original aspiration w...

27 Mar 20241h 7min

Marilynne Robinson on Biblical Interpretation, Calvinist Thought, and Religion in America

Marilynne Robinson on Biblical Interpretation, Calvinist Thought, and Religion in America

Marilynne Robinson is one of America's best and best-known novelists and essayists, whose award-winning works like Housekeeping and Gilead explore themes of faith, grace, and the intricacies of human ...

20 Mar 202449min

Marc Andreessen on AI and Dynamism

Marc Andreessen on AI and Dynamism

In this interview, recorded at a16z's 2024 American Dynamism Summit, Tyler and Marc Andreessen engage in a rapid-fire dialogue about the future of AI, including the biggest change we'll see in the nex...

13 Mar 202427min

Populært innen Fakta

fastlegen
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-bisarr-historie
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem
foreldreradet
treningspodden
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
rss-kunsten-a-leve
jakt-og-fiskepodden
rss-sunn-okonomi
mikkels-paskenotter
sinnsyn
hverdagspsyken
gravid-uke-for-uke
rss-bak-luftfarten
rss-sarbar-med-lotte-erik
hagespiren-podcast
rss-kull
fryktlos
rss-mind-body-podden