Harvard firebrand on intellectual freedom Steven Pinker with Natasha Mitchell

Harvard psychologist and bestselling author Steven Pinker is a fierce advocate for intellectual and academic freedom — and one of the world’s most prominent and provocative thinkers about human language, the mind, and how societies work. He joins Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell with an 800-strong Melbourne audience to discuss his latest book When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows: Common Knowledge and the Science of Harmony, Hypocrisy and Outrage. Steven Pinker doesn’t shy away from controversy — amidst the Trump administration's attacks on his own university he recently penned a NYT piece titled Harvard Derangement Syndrome — challenging the cancellation, character assassination and censorship of scholars who investigate controversial ideas. This event and Steven Pinker's Australian tour was organised by Thinkable.Events This event and Steven Pinker's Australian tour was organised by Thinkable.Events Speaker Steven Pinker Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University Co-founder, Council on Academic Freedom at Harvard Author of 13 books including When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows: Common Knowledge and the Science of Harmony, Hypocrisy and Outrage (2025). The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature. The Language Instinct. Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress . Rationality: What It Is, Why it Seems Scarce, and Why It Matters.

Big Ideas · Australian Broadcasting Corporation