My guest today is Associate Professor Ted McCormick. Ted is a specialist in intellectual history and the history of science at Concordia University in Canada. He examines the intersections between science, technology, economy and empire in the early modern era.
Recently, he has taken an interest in how the concept of “the Enlightenment” has been taken up as something of an ideological cause by some popular writers. In particular he has critiqued the way the Enlightenment has been portrayed by Steven Pinker in his books The Better Angels of Our Nature and, particularly, his more recent work Enlightenment Now which Pinker has subtitled “The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress”. As a historian of the Enlightenment, Ted has serious problems with the way Pinker – a non-historian – characterises the Enlightenment and the rhetorical purposes to which he puts his version of history.
Ted has also provided a list of selected reading on aspects of the Enlightenment.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.