John Hamilton McWhorter V is an associate professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University with a specialty in creole languages, sociolects, and Black English. McWhorter is also a major pundit on social issues, and currently a columnist for the New York Times. Our conversation is as much about the use of the language we use to exchange ideas, as about the ideas themselves.

McWhorter is the author of more than twenty books including Woke Racism, The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language, Losing the Race: Self Sabotage in Black America and Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English. In 2016 he published Words on the Move: Why English Won't - and Can't - Sit Still (Like, Literally). He has written for many publications including The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, The Chicago Tribune, The New Yorker and CNN.

You can find John McWhorter on Twitter: @JohnHMcWhorter