This is the best profile of John McWhorter ever written. How do we know? He tweeted it, as follows: "Wow! @stanfordmag did a profile of me (I did my doctoral work there) that precisely gets what I am and am not. That's understandably rare in pieces like this. I am, dammit, touched!
From the Judges
This was delightful and enlightening, with such welcome touches of humor. As one of our judges said, “To start an article about a linguist with the Tower of Babel is a lovely choice.” The writer very deftly connected the thread between McWhorter’s view of politics and his view of language. It all felt original and fun, and appropriately nerdy. Another judge said, “The quotes were often shimmering and eloquent".
