John McWhorter

Which is unfortunate because I could do this until I expired.

But we have limited time.

And so thank you very much for being here to allow me to live out one of my life's fantasies.

This was wonderful.

Thank you very much.

Yeah, it was Tom Bradley, that's right.

Yeah, it was Tom Bradley, that's right.

And I was trying to figure out why... He sounded like a Disney announcer. Like a Disney announcer.

And I was trying to figure out why... He sounded like a Disney announcer. Like a Disney announcer.

I don't remember what I said then because it was before you know what, and therefore it feels like it was 75 years ago.

I don't remember what I said then because it was before you know what, and therefore it feels like it was 75 years ago.

But I know that I probably would have said that he would have grown up in a time when the unspoken cultural expectations of oratory culture were such that if you were trying to make your way in the world, whatever color you are as an American, there was an expectation that you would learn the standard dialect and be absolutely comfortable in it. Frankly, Booker T. Washington did that too.

But I know that I probably would have said that he would have grown up in a time when the unspoken cultural expectations of oratory culture were such that if you were trying to make your way in the world, whatever color you are as an American, there was an expectation that you would learn the standard dialect and be absolutely comfortable in it. Frankly, Booker T. Washington did that too.

He was born a slave. If you listen to recordings, you'd think he was Teddy Roosevelt. And that's because that's what you had to do, which was kind of unfair. But I was thinking he comes from the time when black people were expected to speak that way if they wanted to have public influence. And I'm sure that he spoke in different ways when he did not have the camera on him.

He was born a slave. If you listen to recordings, you'd think he was Teddy Roosevelt. And that's because that's what you had to do, which was kind of unfair. But I was thinking he comes from the time when black people were expected to speak that way if they wanted to have public influence. And I'm sure that he spoke in different ways when he did not have the camera on him.

No, no. That ended in the late 60s. And there was a new idea. And in some ways, a healthy idea that to be taken seriously, you don't have to learn to talk in the standard way you can express yourself, how you feel like it.

No, no. That ended in the late 60s. And there was a new idea. And in some ways, a healthy idea that to be taken seriously, you don't have to learn to talk in the standard way you can express yourself, how you feel like it.

Yeah, although I happen to be what's called a historical linguist, which means that I'm interested in how language changes. You can be somebody who's interested in just how language is right now. In which case, that Tom Bradley question would be less of interest. But for me, it's all about what was going on in the past. And especially nowadays, we're at the point where you have 100 years.

Yeah, although I happen to be what's called a historical linguist, which means that I'm interested in how language changes. You can be somebody who's interested in just how language is right now. In which case, that Tom Bradley question would be less of interest. But for me, it's all about what was going on in the past. And especially nowadays, we're at the point where you have 100 years.

It's actually technically 102 years of people recorded speaking and moving at the same time. And so there's some sound films starting in 1923. And that, to me, is history, especially now that we've got the internet. And so you can just see these things happening, and you can listen to the way people talk. And so that's something I do. Not all linguists would be inclined to do that.