This interview originally aired on Sept. 13, 2018.
In August 2015, The Atlantic published a piece describing how the rise of trigger warnings and other efforts to protect students from potentially offensive material was not only bad for education, but society as a whole. “The Coddling of the American Mind” sparked a national conversation about fragility and a callout from President Obama on the importance of diverse viewpoints. Now, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and co-author Greg Lukianoff have expanded the article into a book. Haidt joins us to discuss what he sees as the danger of “emotional reasoning accepted as evidence” and how to regain a balance between safe spaces and free speech.
The Coddling of the American Mind (The Atlantic)