not exactly, no. He took the show over from a duo of other hosts.
He is a professor of linguistics and author of the bastard-tongue book. He is not an expert on sociology, though socio-linguistics is part of the curiculum. Neither is he a expert on history, politics, or all what linguisticis may be tangentially related to (everything!!1).
What he does seem to have on lock down is showmanship and theatrical inventory, but the latter part I'm sure is procured by a team behind the show. It's fa-bu-lush
By chance have you ever listened to the Conlangery podcast? It's primarily about constructed languages but there's a lot of info and cool factoids about natural languages contained within.
(On the musical theater bit: some people will hate McWhorter for his heterodoxy on race. I hate him for making me listen to scratchy showtunes to get to the good content.)
On linguistics? I'm willing to assume that for the sake of argument. On racial politics? Given his writing on that issue (and not just the current piece) the generous assumption is “no, not at all, he's just a blowhard that's been given a platform because he can spin a tale that people in power like to hear well”.
Being a “bona fide expert” in a different field plus being black doesn't make you an expert on racial politics/social movements.
John McWhorter (and Glen Loury) have hosted a podcast for 14 years on the issue of race in America. You may not like what they have to say, but to say they aren't 'qualified' is ridiculous and it denigrates their work. They are as capable of lending insight into the enigma that is 21st century Black America as any living person.
You could pontificate about me for 14 years without learning more than you know now. Saying robust interpretation just begs the question.
Number of books “put out” (especially for popular audiences) doesn't distinguish between actual experts on subject matter from hacks that are good at telling a story people in positions of privilege like to hear. Except perhaps negatively, as it's a whole lot less work to produce volume if you are worried only about the latter, if you are a skilled storyteller.
> John McWhorter (and Glen Loury) have hosted a podcast for 14 years on the issue of race in America.
Yes, and that's very good evidence that he is a storyteller that is good at connecting a narrative to an audience.
“Successful pundit” and “expert” are not entirely non-overlapping categories, but membership in one of them rarely has much bearing on the other.