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John McWhorter is one of the greatest living experts on the English language—and many others, too. He's an associate professor of linguistics at Columbia, a columnist at The New York Times, and he's an unsung Broadway aficionado. He once told us he could not do an interview because he was busy rehearsing a cabaret show for his bungalow colony. It all sounds like a scene out of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. But in his day job, he is thinking about words, language, and—the not-so-controversial topic of pronouns. John is a true independent mind. He has been one of the most outspoken critics of liberal excess—his last book was called Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America. But now? Now he's taking a position that we suspect will provoke the other side. In his new book, Pronoun Trouble: The Story of Us in Seven Little Words, John makes the provocative case that the English language evolves in ways that don't always make sense. But, he says, that's okay. And he takes it a step further—saying the wide adoption of they/them in the singular, instead of he/him or she/her, works. What are the stakes of these little words? For example, as a society, are we disrespecting women (and men) when we fail to acknowledge, in our language, who has dealt with the challenges of womanhood or manhood and who has not? And what are the consequences of letting children adopt they/them pronouns, especially if it pushes them toward medical transition? At the same time, how do we create a society that is kind and inclusive but also reflective of reality? And can we even have both? The broader context of this language conversation is about what can and cannot be said. We talk about this broader context—the state of the woke left, but also the rise of the woke right. Bari puts all of these questions to the premier linguist and culture expert John McWhorter on this episode of Honestly. If you liked what you heard from Honestly, the best way to support us is to go to TheFP.com and become a Free Press subscriber today. Ground News - Go to groundnews.com/Honestly to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on today's biggest news stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I have long wanted to meet John McWhorter. He's an extremely well-known public intellectual and opinion leader who, in my opinion, always talks sense. I have this rather eccentric idea that before becoming a public intellectual, you need to earn your credentials by having something important and interesting to be intellectual about, and John McWhorter qualifies in a big way. He is a world authority on linguistics, the study of the extraordinary phenomenon of human language, which I think is one of the most important and interesting subjects out there. We both spoke at the Dissident Dialogues conference in New York this year, and I seized the opportunity to invite him onto The Poetry of Reality. I was delighted and honored when he accepted. I began by asking him about linguistics, including the vexed question of the origin of language.Only later did we move on to his more controversial book, a book that I strongly recommend, “Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America.
Bestselling author John McWhorter is a linguistics professor at Columbia University, host of “Lexicon Valley,” and a regular guest on “The Glenn Show” with Glenn Loury. John's writing has been published in many venues, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New Republic, City Journal, Time Magazine, and Forbes. He writes a weekly opinion column for The New York Times.John's most recent book is “Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America.” He has authored more than twenty books on language and race relations, including “Nine Nasty Words,” “The Language Hoax,” and “Talking Back, Talking Black.” Woke Racism by John McWhorter Lexicon Valley SubstackNew York Times articlesWatch this episode on YouTube.
In a landmark ruling, The United States Supreme Court rejected affirmative action at US colleges, determining that race should not be a factor in achieving educational diversity. The controversial decision is expected to lower the admission rates of black and hispanic students at elite universities. Many supporters of the court's decision believe that affirmative action - that is, policies that aim to increase opportunities provided to underrepresented members of society - should be based on class, not race. Focusing on the disadvantaged of all races would create a more fair environment that is based on real need. Furthermore, they argue, affirmative action in its current form lowers standards for black students applying to universities, promoting different criterions based on race and therefore perpetuating a system of racism and inequality on campus. Others argue that replacing race-based affirmative action with economic need will hurt black students more as they will now be judged against a much bigger population percentage of poor whites and asians. Affirmative action was introduced in the 1960's in order to address the country's history of systemic racism towards black Americans that victims of class-based inequalities did not face. The decision by SCOTUS reverses years of racial progress and ignores the reality of racism in modern America, because, as Justice Ketanji Jackson wrote in her descent, “deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life.” Arguing for the motion is John McWhorter, Associate Professor of English at Columbia University, and the author of Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America Arguing against the motion is Randall Kennedy, Harvard Law Professor and the author of For Discrimination: Race, Affirmative Action, and the Law SOURCES: Associated Press The host of the Munk Debates is Rudyard Griffiths - @rudyardg. Tweet your comments about this episode to @munkdebate or comment on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/munkdebates/ To sign up for a weekly email reminder for this podcast, send an email to podcast@munkdebates.com. To support civil and substantive debate on the big questions of the day, consider becoming a Munk Member at https://munkdebates.com/membership Members receive access to our 10+ year library of great debates in HD video, a free Munk Debates book, newsletter and ticketing privileges at our live events. This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue - https://munkdebates.com/ Senior Producer: Ricki Gurwitz Editor: Kieran Lynch
For this week’s episode, I’m joined by NYU psychologist Jonathan Haidt, author of several books, including (with Greg Lukianoff) The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure and The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. Jonathan is also the co-founder of Heterodox Academy, where I serve on the advisory council. Despite that connection, this is our first extended public conversation. This is not, however, the first time I’ve engaged with Jon. After a talk some years ago, I asked Jon a question during the Q&A session, which I reintroduce here. Heterodox Academy’s mission is very important, but does focusing exclusively on viewpoint diversity prevent us from acknowledging that some viewpoints are more cogent than others? Jon’s recent Atlantic article “Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid” generated a lot of discussion, and he elaborates on his theory of “structural stupidity” here. He claims that, at the national level, the Republican Party’s hostility to moderation has made it structurally stupid and unable to examine its own premises, while left-dominated “epistemic institutions,” like journalism and academia, are mired in their own kind of structural stupidity. I find the structural analysis compelling, but I think it elides the fact that some of the Republicans’ policy position are not, in themselves, stupid at all. Jon is concerned that increasing intolerance on the left, especially on college campuses, may be caused by generational changes in child development. Gen Z is the first generation to have had access to social media as children, and they also had far less unsupervised free play than previous generations. I ask Jon whether this shift can account for groupthink around COVID-induced school shutdowns and drastic changes in attitudes toward trans and racial issues in the US. While the academy no doubt leans left, there is much more viewpoint diversity in economics departments than other areas. Jon has some interesting ideas about why. And finally, I ask Jon whether religion could play a role in increasing viewpoint diversity. It was great to finally connect with Jon. I hope and suspect it won’t be the last time we sit down for one of these conversations. This post is free and available to the public. To receive early access to TGS episodes, an ad-free podcast feed, Q&As, and other exclusive content and benefits, click below.0:00 Glenn asks: Is Jon’s heterodoxy insufficiently pugilistic? 5:23 Jon’s theory of social media-driven “structural stupidity” 16:18 Do the Republican Party’s structural flaws negate its policies? 26:53 The rise of social media and the disappearance of free play for kids 35:42 Race, trans issues, and the future of the country 45:34 Why are economists uniquely heterodox thinkers in the academy? 48:08 What fills the “God-shaped hole” in the hearts of putatively secular Americans?Links and ReadingsHeterodox AcademyJon’s Atlantic article, “Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid” Jon’s book, with Greg Lukianoff, The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for FailureElizabeth Noelle-Neumann’s book, The Spiral of Silence: Public Opinion—Our Social SkinBrown University President Christina Paxson’s letter about racial justiceGlenn’s rebuttal to Paxson in City JournalJon’s childhood independence advocacy organization, Let GrowJon’s social media researchJames A. Morone’s book, Hellfire Nation: The Politics of Sin in American HistoryJohn Tierney and Roy F. Baumeister’s book, The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule ItJohn McWhorter’s book, Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe
Publishing is one of the industries worst-affected by wokery. Staffed by young, left-leaning university graduates, most publishing houses have adopted draconian policies on who and what they will and won't publish. As a result, many top notch authors have found themselves essentially blacklisted, their worthy manuscripts rejected. Whilst international titans such as JK Rowling and Jordan Peterson are too big to cancel, many less well-known authors have struggled to get their works to the public. Until now. Our guest on this week's #SWYSI is George Owers, editorial director of Forum, an imprint of Swift Press that will focus on publishing books that question contemporary orthodoxies. Forum's first title is Woke Racism: How a New Religion has Betrayed Black America by the New York Times columnist John McWhorter. It will be followed in June by Reopening Muslim Minds: A Return to Freedom, Reason, and Tolerance by Mustafa Akyol. Books already acquired for 2023 include Mary Harrington's Feminism Against Progress, Rakib Ehsan's Beyond Grievance: What the Left Gets Wrong about Ethnic Minorities, and psychology professor Luke Conway's Liberal Bullies: Why the Left has an Authoritarianism Problem and How to Fix It. In his previous position at Polity Press, Mr. Owers commissioned and edited books including Despised by Paul Embery, The Case Against the Sexual Revolution by Louise Perry, and The Dignity of Labour by Jon Cruddas. He has a PhD in the history of political thought and was the youngest Cambridge city councillor ever elected. For more information about Forum & Swift Press please see here: https://swiftpress.com/swift-press-la... ---------------- SUBSCRIBE: If you are enjoying the show, please subscribe to our channel on YouTube (click the Subscribe Button underneath the video and then Click on the Bell icon next to it to make sure you Receive All Notifications) AUDIO: If you prefer Audio you can subscribe on itunes or Soundcloud. Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-923838732 SUPPORT/DONATE / JOIN OUR MEMBERSHIP SCHEME The NCF Channel is still very new and to continue to produce quality programming we need your support. Your donations will help ensure the channel not only continues but can grow into a major online platform challenging the cultural orthodoxies dominant in our institutions, public life and media. You can join our membership scheme or donate in a variety of ways via our website: http://www.newcultureforum.org.uk It is set up to accept one time and monthly donations. JOIN US ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Web: http://www.newcultureforum.org.uk F: https://www.facebook.com/NCultureForum/ Y: http://www.youtube.com/c/NewCultureForum T: http://www.twitter.com/NewCultureForum (@NewCultureForum)
Race is the subject of passionate and increasingly angry debate. But amidst all the talk of unconscious bias it's an area into which many fear to tread. In this podcast Professor McWhorter of Colombia University outlines his sometimes controversial views on these issues and explains why he wants to debate them in public. His latest book is Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America (Portfolio, 2021). Owen Bennett-Jones is a freelance journalist and writer. A former BBC correspondent and presenter he has been a resident foreign correspondent in Bucharest, Geneva, Islamabad, Hanoi and Beirut. He is recently wrote a history of the Bhutto dynasty which was published by Yale University Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/public-policy
Race is the subject of passionate and increasingly angry debate. But amidst all the talk of unconscious bias it's an area into which many fear to tread. In this podcast Professor McWhorter of Colombia University outlines his sometimes controversial views on these issues and explains why he wants to debate them in public. His latest book is Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America (Portfolio, 2021). Owen Bennett-Jones is a freelance journalist and writer. A former BBC correspondent and presenter he has been a resident foreign correspondent in Bucharest, Geneva, Islamabad, Hanoi and Beirut. He is recently wrote a history of the Bhutto dynasty which was published by Yale University Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/education
Race is the subject of passionate and increasingly angry debate. But amidst all the talk of unconscious bias it's an area into which many fear to tread. In this podcast Professor McWhorter of Colombia University outlines his sometimes controversial views on these issues and explains why he wants to debate them in public. His latest book is Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America (Portfolio, 2021). Owen Bennett-Jones is a freelance journalist and writer. A former BBC correspondent and presenter he has been a resident foreign correspondent in Bucharest, Geneva, Islamabad, Hanoi and Beirut. He is recently wrote a history of the Bhutto dynasty which was published by Yale University Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics
Race is the subject of passionate and increasingly angry debate. But amidst all the talk of unconscious bias it's an area into which many fear to tread. In this podcast Professor McWhorter of Colombia University outlines his sometimes controversial views on these issues and explains why he wants to debate them in public. His latest book is Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America (Portfolio, 2021). Owen Bennett-Jones is a freelance journalist and writer. A former BBC correspondent and presenter he has been a resident foreign correspondent in Bucharest, Geneva, Islamabad, Hanoi and Beirut. He is recently wrote a history of the Bhutto dynasty which was published by Yale University Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law
Race is the subject of passionate and increasingly angry debate. But amidst all the talk of unconscious bias it's an area into which many fear to tread. In this podcast Professor McWhorter of Colombia University outlines his sometimes controversial views on these issues and explains why he wants to debate them in public. His latest book is Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America (Portfolio, 2021). Owen Bennett-Jones is a freelance journalist and writer. A former BBC correspondent and presenter he has been a resident foreign correspondent in Bucharest, Geneva, Islamabad, Hanoi and Beirut. He is recently wrote a history of the Bhutto dynasty which was published by Yale University Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/book-of-the-day
Ralph welcomes professor John McWhorter, linguist and author of “Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America” and also Father Al Fritch to talk about his long project mapping and celebrating the various ethnic groups that make up the United States.
“Woke” anti-racism is ascendant in our culture. But contrary to the claims of its advocates, it encourages, rather than combats, racism. And it actively harms, rather than helps, the people it claims to care about. So argues John McWhorter in Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America. In this New Ideal essay published November 3, 2021, Elan Journo discusses McWhorter's trenchant book. “Woke” anti-racism, McWhorter argues convincingly, is animated not by a commitment to facts and evidence, but a zealot's mentality. It is in fact a new religion. Narrated by Alex Wigger.
I’m back with my friend John McWhorter for one of our regular conversations. A lot has happened on the race and politics front over the last two weeks, so we’ve got a full docket of topics to discuss.And speaking of dockets, after overcoming some technical difficulties, we spend a good chunk of time on matters relating to the Supreme Court. Ilya Shapiro, the incoming director of Georgetown University’s Center for the Constitution, was put on leave by the school after tweeting criticism of Joe Biden for passing over his preferred candidate for the Supreme Court in favor of a “lesser black woman.” Shapiro refers to Biden’s promise to nominate a black woman to fill Justice Stephen Breyer’s seat on the Supreme Court when he retires later this year. Was Shapiro’s tweet racist? Neither John nor I think so, though it was poorly phrased. We go back and forth over the how much representation should play into the composition of the Supreme Court. We’re talking about an extremely elite institution with very few people on it, so I don’t think proportional representation is possible or necessarily even desirable, but it’s a complex matter. I say if Biden had simply nominated a black woman instead of announcing he was going to do so ahead of time, this wouldn’t even be an issue. How much do ordinary black people care about representation on the Supreme Court, anyway? The nomination of Clarence Thomas is an instructive case. We then move on to discuss Whoopi Goldberg’s unfortunate comment about race and the Holocaust. Was she mistaken to say that Nazi persecution of the Jews had nothing to do with race? Absolutely. Do John and I think she should be pilloried for saying it? No. It’s a case of ignorance, not antisemitism. She apologized, and she should be allowed to get on with her life and career. The Joe Rogan affair is next. A montage of the comic and podcast host using “the n-word” several times over the years went viral last week. John raises the point that he wasn’t directing the word at anybody, he was citing it. There’s a difference between hurling a racial slur at someone and uttering a racial slur in order to discuss it. The word itself should not be off limits for the purposes of discussion, and we both think that anyone who simply can’t bear to hear it in any context needs to grow up. As you can see, we take our role as “The Black Guys” seriously in this one. Let us know what you think!This post is free and available to the public. To receive early access to TGS episodes, an ad-free podcast feed, Q&As, and other exclusive content and benefits, click below.0:00 Ilya Shapiro’s controversial tweet about Biden’s imminent Supreme Court nomination 6:03 John dips out and Glenn delivers a soliloquy13:22 John returns and clarifies his academic resume 17:40 Why John thinks that Georgetown shouldn’t fire Ilya Shapiro 23:07 Why should race be a factor in Biden’s Supreme Court pick? 33:43 Should Biden have announced the gender and race of his pick ahead of time? 40:55 John: “There’s real ideological diversity in the black community” 47:34 How bad was Whoopi Goldberg’s statement about the Holocaust? 55:07 Glenn and John agree that Joe Rogan’s use of the n-word is not cause for cancelation Links and ReadingsJohn’s NYT piece, “Don’t Assume Ilya Shapiro’s ‘Lesser Black Woman’ Tweet Was Racist”John’s NYT piece, “It’s Time to End Race-Based Affirmative Action”John’s NYT piece, “End Affirmative Action for Rich White Students, Too”Glenn’s audio essay, “The Call of the Tribe”John’s book, Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black AmericaDahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern, “The Nasty Double Standards That Make This SCOTUS Nomination So Toxic”James Scott’s book, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at glennloury.substack.com/subscribe
In this contentious conversation, Nathan speaks to Prof. John McWhorter about his book Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America. Prof. McWhorter is a linguist at Columbia University, regular New York Times contributor, and host of the Lexicon Valley podcast. His book argues that anti-racist social justice ideology is properly described as a "religion" and that its practitioners are beyond reasoning with. It's a thesis Nathan takes serious issue with and the conversation illuminates deep points of disagreement on questions like:- Whether something having "religious" qualities makes it irrational- Whether the people Prof. McWhorter describes are really "beyond reason" - Whether Prof. McWhorter's characterization of several incidents of excesses by "woke religion" are presented fairly and accurately - If the California Education Department's new mathematics teaching framework really does, as Prof. McWhorter argues, constitute an abandonment of standards of rigor - Whether it's right to say that certain questions are "off limits" - Whether Eminem disproves the idea that there is a prohibition on white people participating in Black culture - Whether Prof. McWhorter has tried hard enough to engage empathetically with those he disagrees with The conversation is brief, as Prof. McWhorter had a limited amount of time available, but touches on many of Prof. McWhorter's most provocative theses.
John McWhorter, associate professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University discusses his latest book, Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America (2021). Examining how “anti-racism” has become a religion in all but name that treats black Americans as simpletons despite being billed as “anti-racist,” McWhorter states that “what started out as a socio-political orientation has become a foundation of people’s identity…and something of an obsession,” pointing out that this religion demands that the masses suspend logic while it also pushes a narrative of moral purity. McWhorter notes that this religion commands the subject to pretend that nothing has changed all that much for black Americans, something McWhorter deems “anti-empirical” noting that today “it’s racially progressive to pretend that no real progress ever happens” which is anathema to reality. Get full access to Savage Minds at savageminds.substack.com/subscribe
John McWhorter is associate professor of linguistics at Columbia University and the author of several books including his latest title Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America Join our exclusive TRIGGERnometry community on Locals! https://triggernometry.locals.com/OR Support TRIGGERnometry Here:https://www.subscribestar.com/triggernometryhttps://www.patreon.com/triggerpodBitcoin: bc1qm6vvhduc6s3rvy8u76sllmrfpynfv94qw8p8d5Buy Merch Here:https://www.triggerpod.co.uk/shop/Advertise on TRIGGERnometry:marketing@triggerpod.co.ukJoin the Mailing List:https://www.triggerpod.co.uk/sign-up/Find TRIGGERnometry on Social Media: https://twitter.com/triggerpodhttps://www.facebook.com/triggerpodhttps://www.instagram.com/triggerpodAbout TRIGGERnometry: Stand-up comedians Konstantin Kisin (@konstantinkisin) and Francis Foster (@francisjfoster) make sense of politics, economics, free speech, AI, drug policy and WW3 with the help of presidential advisors, renowned economists, award-winning journalists, controversial writers, leading scientists and notorious comedians.
Jeffrey Brown visits Columbia University to talk to professor and author John McWhorter, whose new book, "Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America," pushes back on ideas that have gained popularity in recent years amid the ongoing national debate over race and racism. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders
“Woke” anti-racism is ascendant in our culture. But contrary to the claims of its advocates, it encourages, rather than combats, racism. And it actively harms, rather than helps, the people it claims to care about. What animates it is not a commitment to facts and evidence, but a zealot's mentality: it is a new religion. John McWhorter makes these provocative claims in his trenchant new book Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America. In this episode of the New Ideal podcast, Onkar Ghate and I talk with McWhorter about his analysis of the “woke” phenomenon. Topics we talk about include: How the debate over race issues has changed since the early 2000s;Key similarities between religion and the “woke” phenomenon;What explains the religious fervor over racial issues since the Civil Rights era;Why not all black Americans have the sense of having overcome oppression;Whether defeatism about race is a consensus among black Americans;Why the leaders of the “woke” religion are uninterested in solving real problems;How today's “anti-racists” oversimplify the influence of historical racism;McWhorter's proposed solution to the problems of racism;How the appeal of the “woke” religion relies more on “show business” than science;The wisdom of discarding the problematic concept of biological “race.” I've learned a lot from reading McWhorter over the years, and I enjoyed the conversation. If you're curious about his book, I wrote about it in New Ideal recently, and it is well worth reading. Let me also recommend a separate podcast that Onkar and I did on the occasion of Martin Luther King Jr. Day: “Racism, ‘Color Blindness,' and Tribalism,” a discussion informed by Ayn Rand's philosophic analysis of racism. In her essay “Racism,” which you can read online, she called it “the lowest, most crudely primitive form of collectivism.” The McWhorter interview was recorded on December 1, 2021. Watch or listen to the discussion below. Listen and subscribe from your mobile device on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher. Watch archived podcasts here https://youtu.be/NBmk_90W5gA Podcast audio:
John McWhorter is an author, a member of the Persuasion Board of Advisors, a Columbia University linguist, and a columnist for The New York Times. His latest book, Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America, argues that we must understand wokeness, quite literally, as a religion. In this week's conversation, John McWhorter and Yascha Mounk discuss the nature of today's social progressivism, whether it constitutes a religion, and how we can actually help to reduce racial disparities in the United States. This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity. Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone. Email: podcast@persuasion.community Website: http://www.persuasion.community Podcast production by John T. Williams, and Brendan Ruberry Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Connect with us! Spotify | Apple | Google Twitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasion Youtube: Yascha Mounk LinkedIn: Persuasion Community Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
My guest today needs no introduction. Joining me in today's episode is John McWhorter. John has a new book called "Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America". This is an excellent book and I highly recommend you to read it.In this episode, we talk about what "wokeness" is, as John defines it, and whether the woke can be persuaded. We also talk about the progress America has made on race, the extent to which actual racism is still a problem, Robin DiAngelo and White Fragility. Finally, we go on to talk about what a real programme of uplift would look like for Black America.I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.
My guest today needs no introduction. Joining me in today's episode is John McWhorter. John has a new book called "Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America". This is an excellent book and I highly recommend you to read it.In this episode, we talk about what "wokeness" is, as John defines it, and whether the woke can be persuaded. We also talk about the progress America has made on race, the extent to which actual racism is still a problem, Robin DiAngelo and White Fragility. Finally, we go on to talk about what a real programme of uplift would look like for Black America.I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.
My guest today needs no introduction. Joining me in today's episode is John McWhorter. John has a new book called "Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America". This is an excellent book and I highly recommend you to read it. In this episode, we talk about what "wokeness" is, as John defines it, and whether the woke can be persuaded. We also talk about the progress America has made on race, the extent to which actual racism is still a problem, Robin DiAngelo and White Fragility. Finally, we go on to talk about what a real programme of uplift would look like for Black America. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Michael starts the show by sharing his thoughts on Chris Cuomo being suspended. Josh Blackman of the South Texas College of Law in Houston joins the show to talk about the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court Case. American Politician Mark Meadows also joins to answer some questions and, Author John McWhorter joins to show to talk about his book Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America. Michael talks Milton Friedman and speaks with Stephen Moore.
This week, Ben sits down with linguist, professor, and author John McWhorter to discuss both of his new books, Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever and Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America. John shares why he decided to examine profanity from every angle: historical, sociological, political, and linguistic. Later, he argues that even as a black liberal, he thinks that the left has taken the idea of 'anti-racist' too far. Follow Ben on Twitter: @bdomenech
Michael speaks with John MchWhorter about his new book “WOKE RACISM:How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America”. The pair discuss the harm that is done by well-intentioned people bringing every conversation back to structural racism and an unachievable goal of eradicating all racism. This takes focus away from policies that will make black people's lives better right now.
John McWhorter, Columbia University professor, New York Times columnist, and author of Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America, joins the Realignment to discuss the state of civil rights discourse in America and how the country can move past our post-Summer 2020 stalemate. Subscribe to The Realignment's Substack Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Visit The Realignment's Bookshop to support the show and purchase Tim Marshall's books: https://bookshop.org/lists/the-realignment-bookshop Listen to our bonus segment and learn more about Lincoln Network's FACET Fellowship here: https://www.hackpolicy.org/facet Applications for Lincoln Network's FACET Fellowship close on November 30, 2021.
Linguist John McWhorter is the author of the new book, “Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America.” He joins Culture Editor Emily Jashinsky for a discussion on a new kind of leftist who clings to the new religion of race where the original sin is “white privilege,” and why they can’t be negotiated with. McWhorter explains how we need to normalize calling out “woke racism” for what it is, while also looking at what the right gets wrong in discussions on race.
Linguist John McWhorter is the author of the new book, “Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America.” He joins Culture Editor Emily Jashinsky for a discussion on a new kind of leftist who clings to the new religion of race where the original sin is “white privilege,” and why they can’t be […]
Linguist John McWhorter is the author of the new book, "Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America." He joins Culture Editor Emily Jashinsky for a discussion on a new kind of leftist who clings to the new religion of race where the original sin is “white privilege," and why they can't be […]
Since the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, Americans have been engaged in a vast discussion on the state of race in America. Like many topics in the country, the issue has become a divisive, tense debate about how the country faces its racist past, the meaning of systemic racism, the role of critical race theory in K–12 schools and universities, and what it means to be "anti-racist" during this challenging moment in American civic life. Renowned linguist and award-winning writer John McWhorter feels this debate and discussion has been dominated by a "woke mob" that subscribes to theories that are illogical, unreachable and, ultimately, racist in their impact, however unintentional those effects may be. In his book Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America, McWhorter argues that an "illiberal neoracism," disguised as antiracism, is hurting Black communities and weakening the American social fabric. In Woke Racism, McWhorter reveals the workings of this new progressive approach toward race, from the original sin of “white privilege” to the weaponization of cancel culture to ban heretics. His book sets out to show how efforts that claim to “dismantle racist structures” are actually harming his fellow Black Americans by infantilizing Black people, setting Black students up for failure, and passing policies that disproportionately damage Black communities. Some may call it “antiracism,” but to McWhorter, it features a racial essentialism that's barely distinguishable from racist arguments of the past. Please join us for an important discussion on the limits of antiracism with an increasingly visible writer who has a different roadmap to justice that he believes will help, not hurt, Black America. SPEAKERS John McWhorter Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University; Author, Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America Debra J. Saunders Fellow, Chapman Center for Citizen Leadership; Columnist, Creators Syndicate—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on November 2nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Since the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, Americans have been engaged in a vast discussion on the state of race in America. Like many topics in the country, the issue has become a divisive, tense debate about how the country faces its racist past, the meaning of systemic racism, the role of critical race theory in K–12 schools and universities, and what it means to be "anti-racist" during this challenging moment in American civic life. Renowned linguist and award-winning writer John McWhorter feels this debate and discussion has been dominated by a "woke mob" that subscribes to theories that are illogical, unreachable and, ultimately, racist in their impact, however unintentional those effects may be. In his book Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America, McWhorter argues that an "illiberal neoracism," disguised as antiracism, is hurting Black communities and weakening the American social fabric. In Woke Racism, McWhorter reveals the workings of this new progressive approach toward race, from the original sin of “white privilege” to the weaponization of cancel culture to ban heretics. His book sets out to show how efforts that claim to “dismantle racist structures” are actually harming his fellow Black Americans by infantilizing Black people, setting Black students up for failure, and passing policies that disproportionately damage Black communities. Some may call it “antiracism,” but to McWhorter, it features a racial essentialism that's barely distinguishable from racist arguments of the past. Please join us for an important discussion on the limits of antiracism with an increasingly visible writer who has a different roadmap to justice that he believes will help, not hurt, Black America. SPEAKERS John McWhorter Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University; Author, Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America Debra J. Saunders Fellow, Chapman Center for Citizen Leadership; Columnist, Creators Syndicate—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on November 2nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Michael speaks with John MchWhorter about his new book “WOKE RACISM:How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America”. The pair discuss the harm that is done by well-intentioned people bringing every conversation back to structural racism and an unachievable goal of eradicating all racism. This takes focus away from policies that will make black people's lives better right now.
History is often told in such a boring way that it might as well not have happened. And then, there are those who bring it so alive that the present seems so much clearer. Amit Schandillia joins Amit Varma in episode 250 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about how his historical storytelling made him a Twitter sensation -- and why both history and storytelling matter in these times. Also check out: 1. Select Twitter threads by Amit Schandillia: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. 2. Amit Schandillia on Storytel. 3. Nina's Journey -- Nina Markovna. 4. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Manu Pillai: 1, 2, 3, 4. 5. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Srinath Raghavan: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 6. Early Indians — Episode 112 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tony Joseph). 7. Early Indians — Tony Joseph. 8. Who We Are and How We Got Here -- David Reich. 9. Understanding India Through Its Languages -- Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan). 10. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages — Peggy Mohan. 11. The BJP Before Modi -- Episode 202 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati). 12. Jugalbandi: The BJP Before Modi — Vinay Sitapati. 13. Who Broke Our Republic? -- Episode 163 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Kapil Komireddi) 14. Churchill's Secret War -- Madhusree Mukerjee. 15. Churchill and the genocide myth -- Zareer Masani. 16. Churchill: Walking with Destiny -- Andrew Roberts. 17. The Expanding Circle -- Amit Varma. 18. A History of European Morals -- WEH Lecky. 19. The Expanding Circle: Ethics, Evolution, and Moral Progress -- Peter Singer. 20. Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America -- John McWhorter. 21. John McWhorter interviewed by Bill Maher and Vasant Dhar. 22. PN Oak on Wikipedia. 23. Tawaif -- Episode 174 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Saba Dewan). 24. The Seen and the Unseen episodes with Ira Mukhoty, Parvati Sharma and Rana Safvi. 25. Kavitha Rao and Our Lady Doctors -- Episode 235 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Kavitha Rao). 26. Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of India's First Women in Medicine — Kavitha Rao. 27. The Memoirs of Dr Haimabati Sen — Haimabati Sen (translated by Tapan Raychoudhuri). 28. The Intellectual Foundations of Hindutva -- Episode 115 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aakar Patel). 29. Archive.org, Google Books, Jstor and ResearchGate. 30. The Big Deal About Blogging -- Amit Varma. 31. The Book Club -- Amit Varma's old show on Storytel. 32. Two Girls Hanging From a Tree -- Episode 209 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sonia Faleiro). 33. Typefully. 34. Sake Dean Mohamed at Internet Archive and Wikipedia. 35. The Indianness of Indian Food -- Episode 95 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Doctor). 36. Public Opinion -- Walter Lippmann. 37. The World Outside and the Pictures in our Heads -- Walter Lippmann. 39. Irfan Habib on Amazon. 40. Pilgrim Nation: The Making of Bharatvarsh -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 41. History of Western Philosophy -- Bertrand Russell. 42. The Gulag Archipelago -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. 43. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. 44. Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire -- Alex von Tunzelmann. 45. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich -- William L Shirer. 46. Hardcore History by Dan Carlin. This episode is sponsored by Intel. This episode is co-sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader, FutureStack and The Social Capital Compound. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. Please subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It's free! And check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing.
Michael speaks with John MchWhorter about his new book “WOKE RACISM:How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America”. The pair discuss the harm that is done by well-intentioned people bringing every conversation back to structural racism and an unachievable goal of eradicating all racism. This takes focus away from policies that will make black people's lives better right now.
Associate Professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia discusses his new book "Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America."
Today, a conversation with John McWhorter, one of America's foremost Black public intellectuals. He's a linguist and historian who teaches at Columbia University and writes a column and newsletter for the New York Times. He hosts a podcast about language called Lexicon Valley, and is the author of more than 20 books. In his latest, he writes: “America's sense of what it is to be intellectual, moral or artistic, what it is to educate a child, what it is to foster justice, what it is to express oneself properly, and what it is to be a nation is being re-founded upon a religion.” That "religion," McWhorter suggests, is the philosophy of those he labels “The Elect,” by whom he means writers such as Ta-Nehisi Coates, Ibram X. Kendi, Robin DiAngeloand Nikole Hannah Jones, who have written extensively about how White Supremacy and structural racism are the root cause of racial inequity in America today.John McWhorter rejects this argument, finding it damaging and demeaning to Black people, and he dismisses the Elect as, quote, "charismatic but self-directed, and socio-politically futile.” He argues that Critical Race Theory is a “fragile, performative ideology that rejects linear reasoning,” and he asserts that what is needed to address inequity is “complexity, abstraction and forgiveness.” This is a book that fascinates and infuriates. Professor McWhorter asks difficult and important questions, and he does not shy away from offering controversial answers. It's called Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America. John McWhorter joins us on Zoom from New York City. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sean Illing talks with John McWhorter, linguist, New York Times columnist, and author of Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America. They talk about the effects of modern antiracism, why McWhorter compares it to a religion, and the societal implications of the way we talk — and don't talk — about racism. Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), Interviews Writer, Vox Guest: John McWhorter (@JohnHMcWhorter), author References: Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America by John McWhorter (Portfolio; 2021) How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi (One World; 2019) White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo (Beacon; 2020) “What Hope?” by John McWhorter (New Republic; Aug. 10, 2010), a review of Race, Wrongs, and Remedies by Amy Wax (Rowman & Littlefield; 2009) “The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates (The Atlantic; June 2014) The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks by Randall Robinson (Plume; 2001) “Alison Roman and Chrissy Teigen's feud is about more than selling out” by Alex Abad-Santos (Vox; May 11, 2020) “Professor Not Teaching After Blackface ‘Othello' Showing" by Colleen Flaherty (Inside Higher Ed; Oct. 11) “The Middle-Aged Sadness Behind the Cancel Culture Panic” by Michelle Goldberg (New York Times; Sept. 20) Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by: Producer: Erikk Geannikis Editor: Amy Drozdowska Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall Vox Audio Fellow: Victoria Dominguez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In her new memoir, “Going There,” Katie Couric writes about her career as a host of “Today and the first woman to anchor the “CBS Evening News” solo. She also, as the title suggests, writes about difficult personal subjects, including the deaths of her father and of her first husband. On this week's podcast, she says the most difficult part of the book to write was about her former “Today” colleague Matt Lauer and his downfall over allegations of sexual misconduct.“My feelings were so complicated, and they definitely evolved over time,” Couric says. “I felt like I was almost doing my own therapy sessions. I did original reporting — which sounds so pretentious — but I actually revisited some people who were affected by his behavior, and it was really, really helpful. And I talked to a lot of experts about this. I reached out to people who had written extensively about men in power. This was at the time it happened, because I was really trying to make sense of it in my head. I talked to gender studies people, I talked to lawyers who have represented victims. It was a real mission for me, and a lot of soul-searching honestly.”John McWhorter visits the podcast to discuss his new book, “Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America.”“I think that there is a certain kind of woke person who is caught in a frame of mind where the idea is that how you show that you're a good person is by showing that you are woke — that you're aware, for example, that racism exists, and it's not just the N-word and people burning crosses on people's lawns,” McWhorter says. “You want to show that you're aware of this. But it's narrowed to the point where a certain kind of person thinks that showing one's awareness of that is the key, regardless of what you prescribe's effects upon actual Black people. So although it's the last thing these people would suspect about themselves, They do not think of Black people as more important than their own showing that they are not racist. That is a woke racist, as far as I'm concerned.”Also on this week's episode, Tina Jordan looks back at Book Review history as it celebrates its 125th anniversary; Alexandra Alter has news from the publishing world; and Dwight Garner and Jennifer Szalai talk about books they've recently reviewed. Pamela Paul is the host.Here are the books discussed this week by The Times's critics:“The End of Bias” by Jessica Nordell“Colorization” by Wil Haygood
Cancel culture can be about consequences, but it can also damage the causes it attempts to champion. John McWhorter teaches linguistics, American studies and music history at Columbia University, and he joins host Krys Boyd to make the case that people of color are sometimes harmed by well-meaning antiracists who sometimes lose sight of the thing they are fighting against. His book is called “Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America.”
John McWhorter, Columbia University linguistics professor, host of the Lexicon Valley podcast, opinion writer at The New York Times, and the author of Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America (Portfolio, 2021), discusses a new book in which he takes aim at antiracism and "wokeness."
In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with John McWhorter about his new book “Woke Racism: How a New Religion has Betrayed Black America.” They discuss how the “social justice” narrative of the Left has become a religion, how this new faith has taken over institutions, and what to do about it. John McWhorter teaches linguistics, American studies, and music history at Columbia University. He is a columnist at The New York Times, a contributing editor at The Atlantic, and the host of the language podcast Lexicon Valley. He is the author of over twenty books, including Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter—Then, Now and Forever and Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America. Twitter: @JohnHMcWhorter Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.
In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with John McWhorter about his new book “Woke Racism: How a New Religion has Betrayed Black America.” They discuss how the “social justice” narrative of the Left has become a religion, how this new faith has taken over institutions, and what to do about it. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at samharris.org/subscribe. Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That's why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life's most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.
John McWhorter joins the show to discuss the mindset of victimhood, and Wokeness as a new religion. His new book is “Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America” Support the Show: www.patreon.com/andrewheaton Buy the book: mightyheaton.com/featured
John McWhorter, Columbia University linguistics professor, host of the Lexicon Valley podcast, opinion writer at The New York Times, and the author of the forthcoming Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America (Portfolio, 2021), talks about how words evolve, as listeners share words and phrases they now embrace or avoid as their meaning has shifted. →Event: New York Times subscribers can hear more from John McWhorter in a free virtual event exploring the evolving role of language in our lives, this Thursday at 7pm. R.S.V.P. at nytimes.com/WokeWords