Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
    • The Best of Reason Magazine
    • Why We Can't Have Nice Things
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Print Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

Politics

Steven Pinker's Favorite Thing: A Chunk of the Berlin Wall

Nick Gillespie | 6.26.2013 9:11 AM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Best-selling author, scientific polymath, and friend of Reason (in every sense of the term) Steven Pinker appeared recently on the podcast Person, Place, and Thing, in which guests lay out their top picks in each category. The half-hour conversation is worth listening to in full, but I wanted to draw attention to Pinker's "thing": a chunk of the Berlin Wall given to him by his father.

Pinker explains:

It means something to me as a human being who lived through this just stupendous event in human history: Namely, a gargantuan totalitarian empire vanished overnight, with no violence. Now, this is just astonishing.

The Berlin Wall discussion starts around the 18-minute mark. Click above to listen.

Follow Pinker on Twitter: @sapinker

Don't miss Ron Bailey's 2011 interview with Pinker about his great (and controversial) book The Better Angels of Our Nature:

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NEXT: Zimmerman Trial Continues With Witness Testimony

Nick Gillespie is an editor at large at Reason and host of The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie.

PoliticsCommunismWorldScience & TechnologyCultureCivil LibertiesHistoryNew MediaScience
Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Show Comments (7)

Latest

How the NCAA Helped Trump Score Big on Transgender Issues

Billy Binion | 7.2.2025 5:34 PM

Under the 'Big, Beautiful Bill,' Car Companies Won't Be Fined for Failing To Hit Arbitrary Fuel Efficiency Goals

Joe Lancaster | 7.2.2025 5:15 PM

The 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Keeps Most of Joe Biden's Energy Subsidies

Jeff Luse | 7.2.2025 4:44 PM

Florida Plans To Deputize 9 National Guardsmen as Immigration Judges To Increase Deportations

Autumn Billings | 7.2.2025 4:08 PM

The Tax Bill Rewards States for Higher Rates of Food Stamp Fraud

Eric Boehm | 7.2.2025 3:25 PM

Recommended

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS

© 2024 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

r

Do you care about free minds and free markets? Sign up to get the biggest stories from Reason in your inbox every afternoon.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

This modal will close in 10

Reason Plus

Special Offer!

  • Full digital edition access
  • No ads
  • Commenting privileges

Just $25 per year

Join Today!