logo
episode-header-image
Jul 29
24m 49s

‘African American’ Is Awkward. It’s Time...

THE NEW YORK TIMES OPINION
About this episode

The linguist John McWhorter on how language around racial identity is evolving.

Trump urged the Washington Commanders to revert to their former name. They dropped “Redskins” in 2020 following years of pressure. In this episode of The Opinions, linguist John McWhorter joins David Leonhardt, the editorial director of New York Times Opinion, to discuss the politics of language and how we talk about race.

Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.

Up next
Today
Trump Is a Totem For Wealth. What Happens If the Economy Crashes?
Three Opinion writers on Trump’s most recent power grabs. 
35m 28s
Aug 6
This Pastor Thought Being Gay Was a Sin. Then His 15-Year-Old Came Out.
It was the worst thing that ever happened to Bill White — and then it became the best.Changing your mind can be a difficult thing to do, especially when it also means reconsidering the foundation of your faith. For Evangelical Pastor Bill White, that’s what happened when his 15-y ... Show More
19m 23s
Aug 5
Is There a Smart Way to Cede Power to Donald Trump?
Three Opinion writers debate whether universities should make a deal with the administration.In this episode of The Opinions, David Leonhardt, an editorial director in Opinion, debates his colleagues Binyamin Appelbaum and Emily Bazelon on the agreements Ivy League universities h ... Show More
26m 46s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2024
Thomas Mundy Peterson: The Story of the 1st Black Voter in the United States
On this episode of Our American Stories, this is the story of what happened shortly after the ratification of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibiting a citizen’s right to vote “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Here to tell a ... Show More
9m 29s
Dec 2024
Noam Chomsky on Identity Politics, Free Speech, and China (from 2021)
Noam Chomsky and Yascha Mounk discuss America and the world, past and present. Noam Chomsky, professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has for many decades been one of the most prominent critics of U.S. foreign policy. In a conversation from ... Show More
55m 8s
Feb 2021
The Crazy Train
Maria and Julio break down the week's news with two ITT All-Stars. They are joined by Wajahat Ali, contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, and Jenni Monet, founder of the newsletter Indigenously. They talk about how white supremacy shows up among members of Congress, ... Show More
37m 12s
Aug 2024
Kennedy Is Expected to Drop Out, and Revised Data Shows Job Market Cracks
Plus, the Mennonites making the Amazon home.   Tune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Tell us what you ... Show More
10m 47s
Aug 2024
Racism Rears its Ugly Head ... Again
Just as soon as Kamala Harris' presidential campaign began nearly four weeks ago, so too did the ugly, age-old racist attacks, with Donald Trump questioning his rival's race in a sit-down interview with Black journalists. Bianna speaks with Randall Kennedy, a law professor at Har ... Show More
1h 1m
Oct 2018
Mistaken Identities: The Conflict Over Culture, Class, Gender and Nation with Kwame Anthony Appiah and John Gray
Race, religion and identity are being talked about as never before. While minority groups raise their voices for recognition and inclusion, others feel that their culture is being eroded. In these increasingly febrile times, Intelligence Squared brought together two of the world’ ... Show More
1h 4m
Sep 2024
"Take That Down." A Very Inconvenient Interview
Subscribe to Mamamia The former first lady of the USA, Melania Trump, is defending her right to express herself through nudity. We unpack why, and the timing of her new memoir.  Plus, there’s a surge in breast surgery among young women. But it’s breast reductions, not enlargement ... Show More
41m 3s
Oct 2023
Chrissy Yee Lau, "New Women of Empire: Gendered Politics and Racial Uplift in Interwar Japanese America" (U Washington Press, 2022)
This episode, which is co-hosted with Mika Thornburg, features a conversation with Dr. Chrissy Yee Lau, the author of the newly published New Women of Empire: Gendered Politics and Racial Uplift in Interwar Japanese America (U Washington Press, 2022). The book centers the compell ... Show More
56m 21s
Listen to millions of songs and podcasts on Anghami