Common Knowledge in the Trump Era (with Steven Pinker)

Stay Tuned with Preet

Vox Media Podcast Network

Society & Culture, Politics, Government, News

4.8 • 32.3K Ratings

🗓️ 25 September 2025

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How does common knowledge become… common knowledge? Steven Pinker is a cognitive psychologist and professor at Harvard University. He joins Preet to discuss his latest book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows...: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life, about how shared awareness shapes norms and shifts collective behavior. Then, Preet answers your questions about America’s very first law enforcement agency and Border Czar Tom Homan’s alleged $50,000 bribe. In the bonus for Insiders, Preet and Pinker discuss how laughter and comedy informs common knowledge and vice versa. Show notes and a transcript of the episode are available on our website. Have a question for Preet? Ask @PreetBhararaon Twitter or Bluesky with the hashtag #AskPreet. Email us at [email protected], or call 833-997-7338 to leave a voicemail. Stay Tuned with Preet is brought to you by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	From Cafe and the Vox Media Podcast Network, welcome to stay tuned.
0:06.0	I'm Preet Bharara.
0:08.4	It's a state sometimes called pluralistic ignorance or a spiral of silence,
0:13.8	where everyone mistakenly thinks that everyone else believes something,
0:18.6	and no one actually believes it.
0:25.7	Music else believes something, and no one actually believes it. That's Stephen Pinker.
0:27.6	He's a cognitive psychologist, a psycholinguist, and a professor at Harvard University.
0:33.3	Pinker is a prolific author.
0:35.2	His books probe how the human mind works, from language and human
0:38.7	nature to rationality and morality. He joins me to discuss his latest book, When Everyone
0:45.0	Knows That Everyone Knows, Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday
0:49.8	Life. In it, he explores how shared awareness drives coordination, shapes norms, and shifts
0:56.2	collective behavior. After the interview, I'll answer your questions about border czar Tom
1:01.3	Holman's alleged $50,000 bribe and about America's very first law enforcement agency. That's coming
1:08.2	up. Stay tuned. Introducing the new Dell AI PC powered by the Intel Core Ultra processor. It helps do your
1:22.6	busy work for you so you can fast forward through enhancing security, simplifying IT management, automating
1:29.4	workflows, synthesizing data, improving user experience or responding to James's long emails.
1:36.2	Ooh.
1:38.2	Leaving all the time in the world for the things you actually want to do.
1:41.5	No offence, James.
1:42.7	Get a new Dell AIPC at Dell.com.uk slash AI-PC.
1:48.2	Dell.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Vox Media Podcast Network, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Vox Media Podcast Network and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.