Steven Pinker: Can Harvard Be Saved?

The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie

Today's guest is Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker. Pinker and Reason's Nick Gillespie discuss recent shifts at Harvard toward greater institutional neutrality and free speech, while warning that threats to academic freedom now come from both internal ideologies and external political forces—including pressure from the federal government under President Donald Trump.

Pinker defends the role of federal science funding but cautions against political micromanagement of academia, emphasizing the need for independent scholarly governance. The conversation also touches on Pinker's admiration for Richard Dawkins, the impact of declining religiosity on moral progress, and the concept of "common knowledge" as explored in Pinker's forthcoming book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows.

0:00— Introduction

1:27— The state of Harvard

4:42— Harvard is circumventing SCOTUS affirmative action ruling

6:02— How to foster true ideological diversity

7:25— Why does Harvard rank so highly?

10:16— Threats to academic freedom under Trump

18:58— Do universities really need federal funding?

23:14— History of government interference in higher education

27:20— Is the Trump administration uniquely anti-intellectual?

30:47— Is academia historically unpopular now?

36:55— How universities can regain trust

40:25— Richard Dawkins' influence on Pinker

49:51— Societal progress was propelled by secularism

52:50— Why are public intellectuals pushing for religious revival?

54:23— Pinker's new book: When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows

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