Harvard's Steven Pinker

Steven Pinker is a cognitive scientist and experimental psychologist. He mostly studies language behavior and human development in children. In this article he is interviewed by a Harvard staff writer who seems very interested and has prior knowledge about Mr. Pinker before the interview. She starts off by asking questions about his childhood to see how his interest in the human mind sprouts. Mr. Pinker grew up in Montreal, Canada in the 60's and 70's during a time of social struggles and changes. His parents encouraged him to go to college and wanted him to get a good job. However, they believed getting a PhD wasn't going to ensure him a job. He was interested in the mind but despite the pushing of his parents, he didn't want to go into medicine and didn't want to work with patients.
The interviewer then goes into asking specific questions about specific things that happened while he was growing up. She mentions an anarchy experiment he did while in high school on his own. During the 60's young people were against the government and believe society would be better off without one. He was influenced by his friends to believe that too although his parents disagreed. Without having to manipulate an actual experiment the police went on strike and the community went into ciaos. This event in his life was his first own, little experiment spiking his interest in human behavior.
Then she asks specific questions about his career and field asking how he started gearing more towards language rather than imagery. Pinker states that after doing experiments in both he saw more support and interest from others in regards to language so he continued solely on that. After she asks about his most proud moment his response being in regards to books he wrote, research he's done, and the works he's found. She then switches positions from asking positive questions to asking what the worst thing he's done, Pinker being a psychologist, most likely embraces the acceptance that people are not perfect and including himself, have flaws. He talks about his time in college where he was told to perform an experiment where he had to torture a rat to death. Although he didn't want to, he did. The experiment being scaring, he did end up learning about human behavior from this. Most people would end up doing what an authority figure says even if it's against their morals.
Something I really like about Pinker is when asked about his flaws and strengths he says, "That's for other people to judge!" and quotes La Rochefoucauld, "Our enemies' opinions of us come closer to the truth than our own."                                                          
The interviewer turns to asking questions about technology now. He says he doesn't think google and social media is making people stupid and actually has a twitter himself; he likes how non-time consuming it is. He points out how older people tend to be critical to young people and new things for no reason. "It is a failure of human nature to detest anything that young people do just because older people are not used to it or have trouble learning it."
The woman doing the interview seems excited to be talking to me and is constantly interested in what he has to say. She starts off with asking about background information trying to see where he's coming from. Then she goes on to asking about his schooling and studies, then more personal questions allowing him to feel comfortable and answer honestly. She seems to ask the right questions to allow you to get a good feel for his ideas. 

Harvard Gazette