In our latest episode, Steven Pinker, a Harvard University cognitive psychologist, linguist, and author, sheds light on the quest for human progress, the Enlightenment period, and the importance of maintaining – and burnishing – our democracy. 

Pinker is the author of “Enlightenment Now,” a book that dedicates its pages to the great many advances we’ve made as a society and the reasons world is actually getting better, not worse. Bill Gates calls it his “new favorite book of all time.” It’s not all roses, but Pinker’s belief system — one based on data and fact — is grounding when applied through the lens of examining today’s political polarization. His optimism for the future is both encouraging and informative. Expand your mind and have a listen.

Episode Notes:

• Ideas Beyond Borders

• Why translation matters for the Arab world, The Arab Weekly, Jun. 2019

• 2004’s Time 100: Steven Pinker, Time Magazine, April 2004

• ‘Reason is non-negotiable’: Steven Pinker on the Enlightenment, The Guardian, February 2018

• Meet the Renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web, The New York Times, May 2018

• CNN Holds Morning Meeting To Decide What Viewers Should Panic About For Rest Of Day, The Onion, July 2014

• One thing to change: Anecdotes aren’t data, The Harvard Gazette, June 2019

• Why are we so Pessimistic?, Brookings, June 2019

• Top Harvard Psychologist Steven Pinker: Go Ahead and Get Emotional in Negotiations, Inc. Magazine, July 2019

• StevenPinker.com