logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2020
44m 49s

Steven Pinker – Talking About Talking

Alan Alda
About this episode
Steven Pinker and Alan explore the words we use that bind us together, even when asking someone to pass the guacamole. A conversation that explores the surprising ways we have of connecting through language – and why, despite our current crises, some things in the world really have become better. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid 
Up next
Oct 27
Angela Duckworth: When grit is not enough
Since her hugely successful book Grit was published a decade ago, she’s been thinking through situations when grit alone may not get you to your goals. As her new book suggests, your situation may need to change. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for i ... Show More
37m 5s
Oct 20
Jeremy Faust: An ER doctor speaks his mind
His influential newsletter Inside Medicine regularly challenges the misinformation coming from the current Health and Human Services Administration. Yet the busy ER doctor still finds time for music. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information ab ... Show More
36m 45s
Oct 13
Joy Behar: Her third act
Standup comedian, long time co-host of ABC’s The View, she is now entering what she calls her third act – as a playwright, with her play My First Ex-Husband, a hit in New York and London. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our coll ... Show More
35m 30s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2022
Steven Pinker
Claudia Hammond meets cognitive scientist and author Steven Pinker. He describes the times we are living in as a pandemic of poppycock and has advice on how to be more rational. 
28m 3s
Aug 2025
How common knowledge shapes the world | Steven Pinker
Common knowledge is the secret engine of social life, letting us coordinate everything from meet-ups to markets to international diplomacy. In this fascinating talk, experimental cognitive scientist Steven Pinker explores its momentous impact, threading together stories of why au ... Show More
15m 20s
Jan 2022
Impossible (?) Conversations: The Best and Worst of "Woke Culture"
Psychologists Dr. Hector Garcia and Dr. Valerie Tarico join us for a complex, nuanced, and thoughtful conversation about the dying of discourse in a hyper-divided world. When should we speak, and when should we shout? Are we picking the right battles? When should we declare war o ... Show More
56m 35s
Oct 2020
80: Can We Talk? (Dialogue)
The world is grappling with a lot of tough issues. Issues that are nuanced and layered. Issues that don't necessarily have a right or wrong answer. Issues that demand dialogue for progress. And yet we seem to mostly be doing something else. This week we are talking about talking. ... Show More
34m 24s
Aug 2025
How common knowledge shapes the world | Steven Pinker
Common knowledge is the secret engine of social life, letting us coordinate everything from meet-ups to markets to international diplomacy. In this fascinating talk, experimental cognitive scientist Steven Pinker explores its momentous impact, threading together stories of why au ... Show More
15m 20s
Jan 2021
Can We Build a More Rational World?
Steven Pinker dares to believe that human beings are better off than ever before in human history. A world-renowned linguist, Pinker has dedicated his career to unveiling the ways by which we express our human nature through our language, behaviors, and beliefs. In an era often p ... Show More
1h 14m
Aug 2020
Translation
<p>How close can words get you to the truth and feel and force of life? That's the question poking at our ribs this hour, as we wonder how it is that the right words can have the wrong meanings, and why sometimes the best translations lead us to an understanding that's way deeper ... Show More
1h 5m
Aug 2019
Progress, Despite Everything
Steven Pinker returns for a conversation with Dr. Jordan B. Peterson. Steven Arthur Pinker is a Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, linguist, and popular science author. He is a professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, and is known for his advocacy o ... Show More
2h 5m
Feb 2022
Mind Reading 2.0: Why Conversations Go Wrong
<p>Do you ever struggle to communicate with your mom? Or feel like you and your spouse sometimes speak different languages? In the final episode of our "Mind Reading 2.0" series, we bring back one of our favorite conversations, with linguist Deborah Tannen. She shows how our conv ... Show More
51m 56s
Aug 2020
Introducing “People I (Mostly) Admire"
<p>A new interview show with host Steve Levitt. Today he speaks with the Harvard psychologist and linguist Steven Pinker. By cataloging the steady march of human progress, the self-declared “polite Canadian” has managed to enrage people on opposite ends of the political spectrum. ... Show More
42m 52s