Feb 4, 2022Thanks, Joe Rogan!Remember a month ago when the heterodox academia-adjacent were tweeting #ThanksJoeRogan in some goofball attempt to defend him from criticism? I know it was one thousand years ago but maybe you do. I jumped on the “Thanks Joe Rogan” train because I really do have something to thank him for: …13 min read13 min read
Jun 2, 2021Beyond “Mention vs. Use”: The Linguistics of SlursThere is a group of people who are extremely concerned that they might get in trouble for saying the N-word. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Eiynah, the host of the podcast “Polite Conversations,” about this concern. Since we’ve both been keeping our eye on the Intellectual Dark…Linguistics20 min readLinguistics20 min read
Sep 21, 2020This is a linguistics controversy. Now there are two of them. There are two ____.The newest major disagreement in linguistics appears to be about a cute little blue guy who looks vaguely like a peep. What on earth is going on? Let’s find out together. [WARNING: this baby is looooong. If you’re not interested in the particulars of trademark law, or you’re already well…Linguistics35 min readLinguistics35 min read
Jul 25, 2020How Bad is That LSA Letter, Though?Wherever I look these days, I see the claim that the letter to the LSA had no logic to it at all, that it was full of misconstrued or manipulated claims, and that the evidence in it didn’t make the case for its request. So, I thought I’d dedicate one…Steven Pinker20 min readSteven Pinker20 min read
Jul 21, 2020Pinker Propaganda II: The Re-PinkeningThe guy just won’t stop. Well, I’m back, for some reason. Since I took you in-depth into the deceitful rhetoric of one Daniel King, many events have transpired. …Steven Pinker13 min readSteven Pinker13 min read
Jul 9, 2020Bad News About That Pro-Pinker Mother Jones Piece: It Doesn’t Make Any Fucking SenseDaniel King, a copy editor at Mother Jones, wrote this smug little sigh of an op-ed calling the authors and signers of the LSA open letter “dishonest on facts, closed to counterevidence, masochistically cannibalizing.” What fun! …Linguistics17 min readLinguistics17 min read
Jul 6, 2020Member-onlyDon’t Kid Yourself: We Are All Karenall these Karen exposés help white people distance ourselves from the stereotype without engaging with our own inner Karen — On May 25, 2020, Amy Cooper “said the quiet part out loud” in the Ramble at Central Park. She accidentally tipped her hand that we white women know the actual job of the police is to enforce the subjugation of Black people when she threatened to “tell them there’s an…White Supremacy10 min readWhite Supremacy10 min read
