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John McWhorter

Published podcast speaker

Claims
18
Episodes
1
Shows
1
Named items
0

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What John said.

8 transcript-backed records

01 / evaluation

I would say that we tend to suppose — and I’m not sure what the answer to this is; I really am not sure what the answer to this is — we tend to suppose the conditions in a certain post-industrial society — starting in the late 20th century after the death of Christ, that particular time, and then going into the early 21st century — that somehow conditions then made it uniquely impossible for a certain group, the descendants of several generations past, of African slaves, to succeed.

“I would say that we tend to suppose — and I’m not sure what the answer to this is; I really am not sure what the answer to this is — we tend to suppose the conditions in a certain post-industrial society — starting in the late 20th century after the death of Christ, that particular time, and then going into the early 21st century — that somehow conditions then made it uniquely impossible for a certain group, the descendants of several generations past, of African slaves, to succeed.”
Speaker
John McWhorter
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

02 / evaluation

If you’re talking about having an utterly opaque writing system that doesn’t fit the language structure meaningfully at all, that’s going to exert a certain downward pressure on the ability of the masses to express themselves in writing, and therefore, you’re not going to have creativity from down below that anybody is going to record because nobody can write.

“If you’re talking about having an utterly opaque writing system that doesn’t fit the language structure meaningfully at all, that’s going to exert a certain downward pressure on the ability of the masses to express themselves in writing, and therefore, you’re not going to have creativity from down below that anybody is going to record because nobody can write.”
Speaker
John McWhorter
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

03 / evaluation

Oh, the New York subway — it gets worse and worse. It was worse two years ago, but just in terms of what the experience is like with the lateness, with the layers of obnoxiousness that you have to put up with.

“Oh, the New York subway — it gets worse and worse. It was worse two years ago, but just in terms of what the experience is like with the lateness, with the layers of obnoxiousness that you have to put up with.”
Speaker
John McWhorter
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

04 / evaluation

” No, there was more to Weegee than that. And Bonanos’s biography last year of Weegee, and I’m not just pushing this because I happen to be on the National Book Critics Circle — that’s over, but that was a really good book that I suspect is going to get lost amidst some glossier biographies.

“” No, there was more to Weegee than that. And Bonanos’s biography last year of Weegee, and I’m not just pushing this because I happen to be on the National Book Critics Circle — that’s over, but that was a really good book that I suspect is going to get lost amidst some glossier biographies.”
Speaker
John McWhorter
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

05 / evaluation

I think speech expresses our full range of humanity, and to the extent that any society — unless there are only three people — has some sort of status marking, some sense of hierarchy, at least the sense of what’s formal and what’s not.

“I think speech expresses our full range of humanity, and to the extent that any society — unless there are only three people — has some sort of status marking, some sense of hierarchy, at least the sense of what’s formal and what’s not.”
Speaker
John McWhorter
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

06 / evaluation

Porgy and Bess, to me, is a human being. They’re times when, if life isn’t going well, I will put on the Houston Opera production of Porgy and Bess and lay down on a couch, and just sit there and listen and lose myself in somebody having created something where you wonder where it came from.

“Porgy and Bess, to me, is a human being. They’re times when, if life isn’t going well, I will put on the Houston Opera production of Porgy and Bess and lay down on a couch, and just sit there and listen and lose myself in somebody having created something where you wonder where it came from.”
Speaker
John McWhorter
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

07 / evaluation

In the same way, if you’re thinking of being black as a burden, and I don’t know what your personal circumstances are, but often you’re taught that you’re working against all of this flak from the outside because people are leveling microaggressions at you, et cetera.

“In the same way, if you’re thinking of being black as a burden, and I don’t know what your personal circumstances are, but often you’re taught that you’re working against all of this flak from the outside because people are leveling microaggressions at you, et cetera.”
Speaker
John McWhorter
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

08 / evaluation

My answer is not going to be that each language is a window into the souls of its speakers because, frankly, that idea is surprisingly dangerous despite all of its attractions.

“My answer is not going to be that each language is a window into the souls of its speakers because, frankly, that idea is surprisingly dangerous despite all of its attractions.”
Speaker
John McWhorter
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler
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