Steven Pinker: Can Harvard Be Saved?

Steven Pinker: Can Harvard Be Saved?

Author: The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie May 7, 2025 Duration: 59:26
The Harvard psychologist discusses recent gains for free speech at Harvard, growing political and ideological threats to academic freedom, and the importance of shared knowledge in sustaining truth and progress.

The conversations on The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie move beyond the day's headlines to explore the deeper ideas shaping our world. Host Nick Gillespie engages with a wide range of guests-from politicians and policy experts to novelists, tech founders, and cultural critics-in dialogues that are substantive yet accessible. This podcast delves into the intersection of individual liberty, innovation, and societal change, examining how libertarian principles apply to contemporary debates. Each episode is a long-form discussion where guests explain their work and worldview in detail, offering listeners a nuanced perspective often missing from soundbite-driven media. You'll hear analyses of political movements, discussions on artistic expression, and debates about the future of technology and free speech. The tone is curious and challenging, favoring open inquiry over partisan talking points. For anyone interested in the forces driving politics and culture, this series provides thoughtful context for understanding both current events and the underlying trends that will define what comes next. Tune in for consistently engaging interviews that illuminate the people and ideas actively constructing the twenty-first century.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
Podcast Episodes
Did the Internet Break Our Sense of Reality? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:45
Katherine Dee examines how living online reshapes attention and behavior and makes the case for a more grounded, realistic way of using digital tools.
How Foreign Governments Police U.S. Speech [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:26
Sarah McLaughlin reveals how foreign governments pressure American universities through speech codes and satellite campuses, and examines the broader threat international authoritarianism poses to free expression.
Why Science Lost Its Way [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:06
Author Matt Ridley examines how science became centralized and dogmatic, why public trust collapsed during COVID, and how open dissent is essential to restoring credibility.
What We Get Wrong About the American Revolution [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:29
Filmmaker Ken Burns breaks down the myths surrounding America’s founding, explains how the Declaration’s own contradictions ultimately expanded American freedom, and argues for the continued funding of public broadcastin…
Rand Paul: Congress Is 'Afraid of the President' [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:51
Sen. Rand Paul explains why he wants the Epstein files released, lays out his case against Trump’s tariffs and military strikes in Venezuela, and argues that he and Rep. Thomas Massie are the last voices in Congress stil…
Is The Washington Post Becoming Libertarian? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:29
The Washington Post opinion editor Adam O’Neal outlines his vision for a more classically liberal editorial voice, examines how both parties turned against free speech and free markets, and explains why the paper is endi…
There's More Than One Way To Get Sober [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:11:50
Author Katie Herzog examines new approaches to treating addiction, the cultural obsession with moralizing sobriety, and why she believes freedom means choosing how to heal.
Campus Activism in the Wake of Charlie Kirk's Murder [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:14
Dr. Wolf von Laer and Sean Themea join Nick Gillespie to discuss how Kirk’s murder is reshaping student activism and where libertarian ideas fit in today’s campus climate.
Jake Tapper on Censorship, Media Failings, and Presidential Power [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:10
Jake Tapper examines the growing pressure on the news media to serve political interests, Donald Trump’s attacks on the press and peaceful protesters, as well as the lasting damage Joe Biden may have done to the Democrat…