Think with Pinker

Latest Episodes:

Being right Feb 03, 2022

Show notes

Why getting it right might mean admitting you're wrong.

What if we were to replace intellectual combat with genuine discussion and treat beliefs as hypotheses to be tested rather than treasures to be defended?

In his guide to thinking better, Professor Steven Pinker is joined by:

Julia Galef of the Center for Applied Rationality and author of ‘The Scout Mindset’

Daniel Willingham, professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and the author of ‘Cognition and Raising Kids who Read’

Producers: Imogen Walford and Joe Kent Editor: Emma Rippon

Think with Pinker is produced in partnership with The Open University.

Headlines and trendlines Jan 27, 2022

Show notes

The media fills our minds with vivid images of rare events from plane crashes to terrorist attacks. In his guide to thinking better, Professor Steven Pinker explores how we can stop the news from distorting our understanding of the world.

He’s joined by:

James Harding a former editor of The Times and director of BBC News, and now the co-founder of Tortoise Media.

Anna Rosling Rutland, co-founder and vice president of the Gap Minder Foundation and co-author with Hans and Ola Rosling of “Factfulness; Ten Reasons Why We're Wrong About the World and Why Things Are Better Than You Think”

Producers: Imogen Walford and Joe Kent Editor: Emma Rippon

Think with Pinker is produced in partnership with The open University

Sentence first, verdict afterwards Jan 20, 2022

Show notes

Decision making in the courtroom: In his guide to thinking better, Professor Steven Pinker explores the life and death choices made by judges and juries.

To help him sift signals from noise, he’s joined by:

Judge Nancy Gertner: former United States district judge and now professor of law at Harvard University

Elizabeth Loftus; professor at the University of California and one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century

Producer: Imogen Walford Editor Emma Rippon

Think with Pinker is produced in partnership with The Open University.

Nudges and noise Jan 13, 2022

Show notes

The way we think makes us vulnerable to bad decision making, but in his guide to thinking better, Steven Pinker explores how we can exploit our cognitive biases to make better choices.

Professor Pinker is joined by:

Daniel Kahneman, Professor Emeritus at Princeton University, Nobel Prize in Economics winner and author of “Thinking Fast and Slow” and “Noise A Flaw in Human Judgement” Robyn Scott, writer, entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Apolitical, a peer to peer learning platform for public servants designed to make government smarter and more effective.

Producers: Imogen Walford and Joe Kent Editor: Emma Rippon

Think with Pinker is produced in partnership with The Open University.

Rational soothsaying Jan 06, 2022

Show notes

Making predictions can be hard, especially about the future. In his guide to thinking better, Professor Steven Pinker explores the cognitive flaws that hobble us as forecasters.

He’s joined by Barbara Mellers, the George I. Heyman University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and co-founder of the Good Judgement project, and by Thomas Friedman, foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times and author of 'Thank You For Being Late: An optimist’s guide to living in the age of accelerations.’

Together they’ll help you evaluate your ideas, your cognitive blind spots and maybe even think a little more accurately about the future.

Producers: Imogen Walford and Joe Kent Editor: Emma Rippon

Think with Pinker is produced in partnership with The Open University.

The Climate Game Dec 30, 2021

Show notes

How flaws in the way we think make it harder to tackle climate change. In his guide to thinking better, Professor Steven Pinker examines how global warming is also a problem in the psychology of judgement and decision making.

To search for solutions, he’s joined by Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and author of ‘How to Avoid a Climate Disaster’ and by Professor Hannah Fry, senior lecturer at University College London’s Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, co-presenter of Rutherford and Fry on Radio 4 and author of ‘Hello World: How to be human in the age of the machine.’

What can the game rock, paper scissors teach us about preventing a climate catastrophe?

Producer: Imogen Walford Editor: Emma Rippon

Think with Pinker is produced in partnership with The Open University.

Future you Dec 23, 2021

Show notes

Should we eat, drink and be merry or make sacrifices now to benefit our future selves? In his guide to thinking better, Professor Steven Pinker explores what's called 'future discounting' in decision making.

He's joined by...

Dr Maria Kournikova, psychologist, poker champion and author of ‘The Biggest Bluff; How I learned to pay attention, master myself and win’ and Bina Venkataraman, an editor at The Boston Globe, former senior advisor in the Obama administration, and the author of ‘The Optimists’ Telescope; Thinking ahead in a reckless age.’

Producers: Imogen Walford and Joe Kent Editor: Emma Rippon

Think with Pinker is produced in partnership with The Open University.

You Can’t Think That! Dec 16, 2021

Show notes

Are some thoughts too evil to think? Sometimes we avoid seemingly rational lines of reasoning, not because of logic, innumeracy or ignorance, but for morality. In his guide to thinking better, Professor Steven Pinker explores the trade-offs between taboos and our ability to reason clearly.

Steven’s joined by Philip Tetlock, professor at the University of Pennsylvania, author of ‘Super Forecasting’ and the psychologist who originated the modern study of taboo. And by Sally Satel, a psychiatrist and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. When she needed a kidney transplant, and then another, should she have been able to simply buy one online?

Producers: Imogen Walford and Joe Kent Editor: Emma Rippon

Think with Pinker is produced in partnership with The Open University.

Don’t expect a zebra Dec 09, 2021

Show notes

Why medical students are advised - if you hear hoofbeats behind you, don't expect to see a zebra. In his guide to thinking better, Professor Steven Pinker explores Bayesian reasoning.

Steven is joined by Talithia Williams, professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College and author of ‘Power in Numbers The Rebel Women of Mathematics’, and by Siddartha Mukherjee, professor of medicine at Columbia University and the author of the Pulitzer Prise winning ‘The Emperor of All Maladies A Biography of Cancer’

Together they’ll help you evaluate ideas, recalibrate your credences and maybe even think a little better.

Producers: Imogen Walford and Joe Kent Editor: Emma Rippon

Think with Pinker is produced in partnership with The Open University.

In touch with reality Dec 02, 2021

Show notes

Why do so many of us believe in quackery and conspiracy? In his guide to thinking better, Professor Steven Pinker tries to make sense of the senseless.

Steven is joined by Jonathan Rauch, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and the author, most recently, of ‘The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of the Truth’ and by Ellen Cushing, Senior and Special Projects Editor at The Atlantic. What was it that finally convinced her that there isn’t really a global organisation communicating in cryptic symbols and masterminding world events by planting agents in governments and corporations.

Producers: Imogen Walford and Joe Kent Editor: Emma Rippon

Think with Pinker is produced in partnership with The Open University.