Today it’s great to have the legendary Noam Chomsky on the podcast. Noam is a public intellectual, linguist, and political activist. He’s the author of many influential books, including Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, and his latest book with Robert Pollin called Climate Crisis and The Green New Deal: The Political Economy of Saving The Planet. Chomsky is also known for helping to initiate and sustain the cognitive revolution. He’s the Laureate Professor of Linguistics at The University of Arizona and Institute Professor Emeritus at MIT. Topics [02:06] The cognitive revolution of the ‘50s and ‘60s [03:49] Noam’s first encounter with behaviorism [12:41] What it was like to be part of the cognitive revolution [17:49] Implicit learning and artificial grammar [26:30] Noam’s view on modern-day behavioral genetics [28:05] Noam's thoughts on intelligence [32:02] Noam’s take on creativity [38:41] Chomsky's view vs. Foucault's view [42:49] Noam’s thoughts on modern-day social justice movements [45:50] Is there such a thing as human nature? [49:06] Identity vs. human nature [54:54] Noam’s views on race consciousness in America [59:16] Why Noam thinks Trump is the worst criminal in human history [1:00:34] How can democrats appeal to Trump supporters? [1:03:47] Cancel culture [1:05:10] The complexities of the slogan "defund the police" [1:08:36] Noam reflects on his life regrets [1:10:17] Chomsky's life adviceSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we welcome David Epstein, the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, and of the bestseller The Sports Gene, both of which have been translated in more than 20 languages. His TED Talks on performance science have been viewed more than 11 million times. He has master's degrees in environmental science and journalism and has worked as an investigative reporter for ProPublica and a senior writer for Sports Illustrated. In this episode, I talked to David Epstein about greatness. If there's one thing we know for sure about greatness, it's that there is no linear path to it. David and I discuss the complex relationship of talent and hard work in specific domains. Although there is no formula, we can both agree that persistent effort and fierce determination are necessary ingredients—but so is talent. We have a nuanced discussion of the dance between nature and nurture on the path to talent. It’s a very delicate dance. We also touch on the topics of self-actualization, creativity, fulfillment and moral greatness. Website: davidepstein.com Twitter: @DavidEpsteinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.