I teach linguistics, philosophy, and music history at Columbia University, host Slate’s language podcast Lexicon Valley, and am a Contributing Editor at The Atlantic. I have written about twenty books over the years — some of them about language and linguistics, some of them about race issues. I have also created five courses for the Great Courses company on language and linguistics. I have written columns at various outlets such as the New Republic (in its original version), the Daily Beast, The Root, Time, and The New York Daily News, and have also written from time to time for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and many other venues.
It Bears Mentioning will be where I express my views on various matters in an up-to-the-minute and unfiltered (although hopefully not intemperate) fashion. My main beats here will be race and language. Not usually the two combined - my main interests in language are actually race-neutral geekery (as I like to give vent to on my podcast), which I will sometimes use here to translate assorted language-related issues that come up in the news. Sometimes I will share my take on other matters entirely.
Then, I will also be releasing my new book on the excesses of today’s antiracist woke culture, THE ELECT, here. In May I have a book coming on profanity, NINE NASTY WORDS, and contractually I cannot release a different book before or near the publication of that one. Thus for now, I will share THE ELECT here in ten successive segments; the physical book will likely have to wait until sometime in 2022.
Thank you for visiting me here. I will do my best to make it worth it.
Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and website. Never miss an update.
Stay up-to-date
You won’t have to worry about missing anything. Every new edition of the newsletter goes directly to your inbox.
Join the crew
Be part of a community of people who share your interests.
To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.
