Today's guest is Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker. Pinker and Reason's Nick Gillespie discuss recent shifts at Harvard toward greater institutional neutrality and free speech, while warning that threats to academic freedom now come from both internal ideologies and external political forces—including pressure from the federal government under President Donald Trump.Pinker defends the role of federal science funding but cautions against political micromanagement of academia, emphasizing the need for independent scholarly governance. The conversation also touches on Pinker's admiration for Richard Dawkins, the impact of declining religiosity on moral progress, and the concept of "common knowledge" as explored in Pinker's forthcoming book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows. 0:00— Introduction1:27— The state of Harvard4:42— Harvard is circumventing SCOTUS affirmative action ruling6:02— How to foster true ideological diversity7:25— Why does Harvard rank so highly?10:16— Threats to academic freedom under Trump18:58— Do universities really need federal funding?23:14— History of government interference in higher education27:20— Is the Trump administration uniquely anti-intellectual?30:47— Is academia historically unpopular now?36:55— How universities can regain trust40:25— Richard Dawkins' influence on Pinker49:51— Societal progress was propelled by secularism52:50— Why are public intellectuals pushing for religious revival?54:23— Pinker's new book: When Everyone Knows That Everyone KnowsSubscribe to the new YouTube channel for The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie!Subscribe at YouTube: http://youtube.com/reasontvLike us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.MagazineFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reasonVisit the archive: https://reason.com/tags/reason-podcast