Language and Progress: A Conversation with Steven Pinker and John McWhorter

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Published 2018-12-07

An event held in New York City with the best selling authors and public intellectuals Steven Pinker and John McWhorter where they discuss their work in linguistics and progress denialism.

(no video for the end of the Q and A)

Here's a thread that I posted with a whole bunch of links to interesting things that are referenced in this talk: twitter.com/jay_shapiro/status/1071130575824551936

All Comments (21)

@HS-jw1wp 3 years ago

Black hat levitating above John's head. Enjoying trying to unsee that. :)
@NichaelCramer 3 years ago

I certainly have no technical training in Linguistics, but for years I’ve been reading everything each of these guys have published that I can get my hands on. So finding this video was a godsend. So thanks for posting it.
@chrisc7265 5 years ago

There is either a genius baby or a cartoon chipmunk in the audience
@daniyalrazakazmi7249 5 years ago

Two of my favorite people!
@Setha107 3 years ago

This is easily one of the most incredible discourse I've heard!
@edmey 3 years ago

Love John McWhorter and his partnership with Glenn Lowry!
@thebigredfish 5 years ago

Excellent conversation. Thanks for putting this on. Both of these guys consistently blow me away with their intelligence.
@austinm419 5 years ago

This was great! Thanks so much for doing this!
@soulfuzz368 5 years ago

The older I get the more I realize that intelligence and being “right” are far less correlated than most of us realize.
@davidanderson9664 5 years ago

THx for posting --- two top guests at my all time fantasy dinner party.! D.A., NYC
@Jemawin 2 years ago

A delightful, stimulating conversation. And the alternate version in the subtitles provided an added bit of levity.
@pr1musinterpares100 5 years ago

Amazing, amazing content. This video really needs more love. Loads of it.
@exponent8562 5 years ago

Thanks for this! I am all ears when these two gents are in the same room. Wish John would do more public speaking etc!!!
@MrC0MPUT3R 5 years ago

Wow, two of my favorite people sitting down together and talking about one of my favorite subjects D:
@uptik2000 5 years ago

Thanks for posting this.
@RussianLanguagePodcast 5 years ago

So interesting, thank you!
@pimwiersinga8822 5 years ago

Fabulous dialogue, misters Whorter and Pinker. A joy to behold, and intelligent to boot.
@mishka110 2 years ago

This was a truly wonderful show to listen to. This is what honest, intelligent people sound like. Great work.
@thechainedmonkey 5 years ago

Thanks for sharing!
@jmarcus110 1 year ago

I remember hearing that a grad student in Language & Linguistics from the University of Pittsburgh wrote his doctoral thesis on the similarities and comparisons of Elizabethan English and the man on the street back in Shakespeare's day, with the distinctive regionality of Pittsburghese!!