![The Brian Lehrer Show show](https://d3dthqtvwic6y7.cloudfront.net/podcast-covers/000/030/137/small/wnyc-s-brian-lehrer-show.jpg)
Summary: <p>John McWhorter, Columbia University linguistics professor, host of the Lexicon Valley podcast at Slate and the author of <em>Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever</em> (Avery, 2021), joins to discuss his new book on profanity, where swear words come from and why they hold so much power.</p>