Malcolm Gladwell

I always find this question, if it's asked of me, deeply annoying. So you don't have to answer it if you don't want to. But I wanted to talk about your kind of place in the culture right now, which is really interesting to me. And I have a grand unified John McWhorter theory.

Here's my theory. At any given moment in sort of popular culture or intellectual popular culture, there is someone who is allowed to get away with saying anything. You're that person. I think you get to say whatever you want. For a variety of reasons, which I'd like you to unpack.

Here's my theory. At any given moment in sort of popular culture or intellectual popular culture, there is someone who is allowed to get away with saying anything. You're that person. I think you get to say whatever you want. For a variety of reasons, which I'd like you to unpack.

Well, you wrote a beautiful, was it an op-ed? I can't remember where you wrote it. a thing about your own experience with affirmative action. Yes. Nobody else could write that. True. You write about... You, in your column, are constantly... in a very beautiful way, kind of setting down the rules for discourse, particularly around your code-switching column of yesterday.

Well, you wrote a beautiful, was it an op-ed? I can't remember where you wrote it. a thing about your own experience with affirmative action. Yes. Nobody else could write that. True. You write about... You, in your column, are constantly... in a very beautiful way, kind of setting down the rules for discourse, particularly around your code-switching column of yesterday.

Like, all right, you're not allowed to do that. You're going to do it this way.

Like, all right, you're not allowed to do that. You're going to do it this way.

Jasmine Crockett. You said very gently and nicely, you said to her, come on now. You get to do that. I do. You know what? Who else can do that?

Jasmine Crockett. You said very gently and nicely, you said to her, come on now. You get to do that. I do. You know what? Who else can do that?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Part of it is, well, I think there's other layers. But one is that as a linguist, as someone who pays as much attention to language as you do, you're better at it. By which I mean that just the example you just gave, on parsing the difference between cowardly and hopeless. That someone who was not as attuned to the nuances of language might have said cowardly.

Part of it is, well, I think there's other layers. But one is that as a linguist, as someone who pays as much attention to language as you do, you're better at it. By which I mean that just the example you just gave, on parsing the difference between cowardly and hopeless. That someone who was not as attuned to the nuances of language might have said cowardly.

There's quite a dramatic difference in the way that would be perceived and read. But you are professionally alert to those nuances. And that permits you a great deal more freedom. I think that most people dramatically underestimate how important word choices and how acutely sensitive we are to the words that are used, particularly if they're directed at us.

There's quite a dramatic difference in the way that would be perceived and read. But you are professionally alert to those nuances. And that permits you a great deal more freedom. I think that most people dramatically underestimate how important word choices and how acutely sensitive we are to the words that are used, particularly if they're directed at us.

I want to talk about my favorite chapter in the book. What's the favorite? It's the chapter about you.

I want to talk about my favorite chapter in the book. What's the favorite? It's the chapter about you.

It is. So just to explain briefly to everyone the structure of the book.

It is. So just to explain briefly to everyone the structure of the book.

But you, so tell us the problem with you. You is a problem.