John H McWhorter is an associate professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University. He earned his B.A. from Rutgers, his M.A. from New York University, and his Ph.D. in linguistics from Stanford. Professor McWhorter teaches courses on language change, language in society, and the history of the English language, as well as on music history.

Professor McWhorter is an author of twenty books including <em>The Power of Babel</em><em>: A Natural History of Language,&nbsp;</em> <em>Losing the Race</em><em>: Self Sabotage in Black America&nbsp;</em>and <em>Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue</em><em>: The Untold History of English,&nbsp;</em>and <em>Words on the Move: Why English Won't - and Can't - Sit Still (Like, Literally)</em><em>.&nbsp;</em>He writes for The Atlantic and hosts Slate's language podcast Lexicon Valley.