I spoke on Human Rationality and Academic Freedom at the Dissident Dialogues event in New York this year. Drawing from my book, Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters, I explore why rational thinking is essential yet slowly becoming elusive in our society.
Today we have what Dan Kahan calls expressive rationality which is allegiance to ... Show More
Nov 2022
Enlightenment Now (S1 EP20)
In his latest and last episode of the series, Steven Pinker discusses his magisterial book, Enlightenment Now. According to Steven, humanism, reason, and science—the three pillars of enlightenment, has historically fueled enormous advancement in virtually every facet of life and ... Show More
8m 43s
Nov 2022
Why Do We Deny The Existence of Human Nature? (S1 EP18)
On the latest episode of ‘The Life Of The Mind’, Steven discusses his most controversial book, The Blank Slate, the fabric of which is human nature's moral, political and emotional colorings. He also touches on the numerous aspects of human nature including fear, morality, and fi ... Show More
11m 23s
Sep 2025
The Rise of Cancel Culture, Distrust in Science & Misinformation: Dr. Steven Pinker Reveals The Hidden Psychology That Threatens Society.
The Rising Risks of Cancel Culture & The Psychology & Language That Built It! In this explosive episode of Mayim Bialik's Breakdown, Dr. Steven Pinker (renowned Harvard psychologist and author of When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows) joins Mayim Bialik and Jonathan Cohen for a ... Show More
57m 27s
Sep 2025
Part Two: The Rise of Cancel Culture, Distrust in Science & Misinformation: Dr. Steven Pinker Reveals The Hidden Psychology That Threatens Society.
The Rising Risks of Cancel Culture & The Psychology & Language That Built It! In this explosive episode of Mayim Bialik's Breakdown, Dr. Steven Pinker (renowned Harvard psychologist and author of When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows) joins Mayim Bialik and Jonathan Cohen for a ... Show More
54m 41s
Apr 2023
Does emotion rule over reason? | Tommy Curry, Güneş Taylor, Julian Baggini
<p>Philosopher and acclaimed author, Julian Baggini, leading molecular biologist, Güneş Taylor, and critical race theorist, Tommy Curry, debate the relationship between reason and emotion. </p><p>Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: <a href="https://linktr.ee/philosop ... Show More
47m 45s
Dec 2024
#395 — Intellectual Authority and Its Discontents
<p>Sam Harris discusses the breakdown of trust in institutions, the nature of intellectual authority, the danger of bad incentives, the epidemic of conspiracy thinking and misinformation, Trump and Elon, and other topics.</p> <p dir="ltr">If the Making Sense podcast logo in your ... Show More
31m 28s
Apr 2025
#411 — The Victimhood Pandemic
<p>Sam Harris speaks with Scott Barry Kaufman about Scott's new book, <em><a href="https://amzn.to/42Is3JI">Rise Above: Overcome a Victim Mindset, Empower Yourself, and Realize Your Full Potential</a></em>. They discuss victimhood culture, narcissism and psychopathy, the personal ... Show More
31m 12s
Feb 2025
#401 — Christian Nationalism and the New Right
<p>Sam Harris speaks with Katherine Stewart about her new book, <em>Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy</em>. They discuss Project 2025, Christian nationalism, white supremacy, whether the backlash against wokeness has been overblown, the asymm ... Show More
32m 37s
Nov 2024
#392 — Technology & Culture
<p>Sam Harris speaks with Christine Rosen about how technology is changing our culture. They discuss the courage of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, lost practices like handwriting, tradeoffs in our use of technology, social media, conspiracy thinking, X as a platform for breaking news, the futu ... Show More
52m 59s
Jul 2024
Is This the Death of Harvard? - Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker is a Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, psycholinguist, popular science author and Harvard College Professor. One of the world's leading authorities on language and the mind, he is an advocate of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind. P ... Show More
1h 2m