Coverage of the open letter to the LSA regarding Steven Pinker
A timeline of media coverage and responses
For a timeline including blogs and open letters, see here.
For a list of all of Steven Pinker's interviews on this topic, see here.
Who speaks for us? Lessons from the Pinker letter LingBuzz article.
Appendix to Who speaks for us?, covering negative responses to TOL.
For submissions and corrections, please email us.
June 3, 2020
The LSA Executive Committee (EC) releases a statement on racial justice
July 1, 2020
July 3, 2020
TOL is open for signatures
July 5, 2020
Steven Pinker (SP) first tweets about TOL
July 6, 2020
TOL delivered to LSA leadershipEn defensa de Pinker, en defensa de la ilustración
Luis Espinosa Goded, Primicias
July 7, 2020
A Letter on Justice and Open Debate
Harper's MagazineNoam Chomsky REFUSES to cancel Steven Pinker, stands up for free speech
Zaid Jilani, The HillGood News About That Factually Flawed Anti-Pinker Letter: Its Dishonesty Has Been Widely Exposed
Daniel King, Mother JonesFrom Atwood to Chomsky, Intellectuals Come Out Against Cancel Culture
David B. Green, HaaretzCancel culture : des intellectuels progressistes se rebiffent
Frédéric Mas, Contrepoints
July 8, 2020
The LSA EC releases a statement on intellectual freedom which does not explicitly mention TOL or SPSP tweets that the LSA "repudiated" TOLSteven Pinker: They're Trying to Cancel Me
Freddie Sayers, The PostFar-left scholar activists attempt to cancel famed Harvard Professor Steven Pinker
The College Fixfor these tweets they want to expel the LSA investigator
ExplicaLefties Hate on Liberal Open Letter on Free Speech
Matt Welch, ReasonGrupo associa Steven Pinker a racismo e sexismo e pede intervenção de sociedade de linguistas
Lucas Alonso, Folha de São Paulo
July 9, 2020
Steven Pinker: I had to speak out. Cancel culture is Orwellian
Damian Whitworth, The TimesThe Forehead-Slappingly Stupid Attempt to Cancel Steven Pinker
Robert Verbruggen, National ReviewSteven Pinker won’t be cancelled – but you could be
Shaun Cammack, Spiked
July 10, 2020
If it’s Not “Cancel Culture,” What Kind of Culture is it?
Matt TaibbiSteven Pinker Beats Cancel Culture Attack
Ronald Bailey, ReasonHypocrites: How 150 Leftists Damned the 'Cancel Culture' By Bowing To It
Andrew Bolt, Herald SunThe problem with 'the letter'
Jeff Yang, CNN
July 12, 2020
The Ideological Corruption of Science
Lawrence Krauss, The Wall Street JournalA gag is no cure for this cancel culture
Philip Collins, The Sunday Times
July 14, 2020
Pattern of Smears
Aaron Brown, City JournalMore Speech Means More Of Everything, Including Intolerance
Tyler Broker, Above the Law
July 15, 2020
The LSA rearranges the order of names on its media experts list, with SP listed near the bottom under "Varia"The cancel-culture fightback: how the ‘Harper’s letter’ astonished the Twitter mob
The TelegraphHow a Famous Harvard Professor Became a Target Over His Tweets
Michael Powell, The New York TimesThe Effort To Cancel Academic Steven Pinker Isn’t Going Well
John Sexton, Hot Air
July 16, 2020
A Debate About Open Debate
Spencer Bokat-Lindell, The New York TimesIntolerancia en la academia
Moisés Wasserman, El TiempoHarvard professor Stephen Pinker attacked by 550 academics for tweets dating back to 2014
Harriet Alexander, The TelegraphLa carta de la LSA contra Steven Pinker no pide su expulsión: Joseph McVeigh mp3 file transcript
W Radio ColombiaSteven Pinker, il linguista star accusato di «razzismo». I colleghi ne chiedono la «cancellazione»
Marilisa Palumbo, Corriere della SeraOs sábios, os tolos e os covardes
Paula Schmitt, Poder 360
July 17, 2020
The LSA deletes the list of media experts from its websiteThe LSA EC releases a statement acknowledging TOL clarifying that they did not reject it, and announcing creation of task forces and plans to rethink the concept of the media experts listSteven Pinker: Linguists back professor in ‘urban’ race row
Will Pavia, The Times
July 18, 2020
SP closes his Twitter to public repliesCall it the cultural left. Do not call it liberal.
Matt Bai, The Washington PostCulture Wars
Stabroek NewsI’m a Nobody. The Harper’s Letter was for Me.
Angel Eduardo, Aero MagazineBerømt Harvard-professor brændemærket som kvindefjendsk racist. Nu langer han ud efter venstrefløjens censurlyst
Troels Heeger, BerlingskeTRC #595: Can The Oura Ring Detect COVID-19? + LSA vs Steven Pinker mp3 file transcript
The Reality Check podcastCreating Puentes transcript
Megan Figueroa and Carrie Gillon, The Vocal Fries
July 19, 2020
Steven Pinker - The man who refused to be cancelled
Tim Stanley, The TelegraphUS cancel culture puts ours in the shade
Dominic Lawson, The Times
July 20, 2020
Did Steven Pinker Just Cancel Cancel Culture?
Isadore Johnson, The FederalistThe stink of academic hypocrisy: Steven Pinker usurps the very humanist values he claims to hold
Tim Smith-Lang, The TelegraphThe Chilling Effect of an Attack on a Scholar
Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic"Der Opferstatus dient als Vorwand für Macht"
Mara Delius, Die Welt
July 22, 2020
Steven Pinker and the Debate Over “Cancel Culture”
Peter Isackson, Fair ObserverBBC World at One mp3 clip transcript
presented by Sarah Montague; interview starts at 36:45Americans tune in to ‘cancel culture’ — and don't like what they see
Ryan Lizza, Politico
July 23, 2020
The Harper’s ‘Letter,’ cancel culture and the summer that drove a lot of smart people mad
Sarah Ellison and Elahe Izadi, The Washington PostMost Americans are now self-censoring. We’re regressing.
Zaid Jilani, ForwardThe Future of Nonconformity
David Brooks, The New York TimesCultura do cancelamento vem criando debate público avesso ao risco e à divergência
Fernando Schüler, Folha de São Paulo
July 24, 2020
Le tribunal des bien-pensants
Peggy Sastre, Le Point
July 27, 2020
Freedom Requires Courage
Aaron Tao, Merion West
July 28, 2020
Cancel Culture Nie Istnieje
Wojtek Borowicz, Krytyka Polityczna