lights are on but nobody's home type of thing or as a sovereign cryptocurrency is you've got venezuela turkey iran. you know the countries are starting to look at this as a way to solve some of their issues where what's that trend all about where as i go and do things. well the main reason that i find it interesting is from a standpoint that you know at least some of the countries that are doing this are under economic sanctions by the united states so this may be a new type of play you know to to try to skirt various economic sanctions whether or not it's going to be successful i'm very skeptical i don't know why anyone outside of those countries would want to invest in them given their history right overall not not a real positive kind of take on those go back now back to the drama kind of missed the drama of twenty seventeen now that the summer of twenty seventeen that they you know it was really an intense time i think as it actually it claims face to someone existential crisis that is that fair i mean it was really touching go there for a second you know we've got a couple of minutes thi

lights are on but nobody's home type of thing there is a sovereign cryptocurrency is you've got venezuela turkey. iran. you know the countries are starting to look at this as a way to solve some of their issues where what's that trend all about where as i go and do things. well the main reason that i find it interesting is from a standpoint that you know at least some of the countries that are doing this are under economic sanctions by the united states so this may be a new type of play you know to to try to skirt various economic sanctions whether or not it's going to be successful i'm very skeptical i don't know why anyone outside of those countries would want to invest in them given their history right overall not not a real positive kind of take on those go back now back to the drama kind of missed the drama of twenty seventeen now the summer of twenty seventeen that they you know it was really an intense time i think as it actually it claims face to someone existential crisis that is that fair i mean it was really touching go there for a second you know we've got a couple of minutes this is

that the lights are on but nobody's home type of thing whereas a sovereign cryptocurrency that venezuela turkey. iran. you know the countries are starting to look at this as a way to solve some of their issues where what's that trend all about where as i go and do things. well the main reason that i find it interesting is from a standpoint you know at least some of the countries that are doing this are under economic sanctions by the united states so this may be a new type of play you know to to try to skirt various economic sanctions whether or not it's going to be successful i'm very skeptical i don't know why anyone outside of those countries would want to invest in them given their history and rights overall not not a real positive kind of take on those go back now back to the drama kind of missed the drama of twenty seventeen now that the summer of twenty seventeen that they you know it was really an intense time i think as it actually it claims face to someone existential crisis that is that fair i mean it was really touch and go there for a second you know we've got a couple of minutes t

there definitely is back sliding from democracy in countries in russia and venezuela and turkey. the overall trend is towards democracy. and even when i was a student in the 1970s, there were maybe 31 democracies, now there are more than 100. countries like spain and portugal were fascist dictatorships. greece was ruled by the military colonels. latin american. south korea, taiwan, all of the military dictatorships, now they are all democratic. >> martha: big picture to look at. very interesting. thank you so much dr. pinker, i hope to have you back because there is a lot more to talk about and we are short on time. good to see you tonight. thank you so much. >> thanks for having me on. >> martha: quick break. more story whe when we come back.e veggie dish ever? california walnuts. the best simple dinner ever? great tasting, heart-healthy california walnuts. so simple, so good. get the recipes at walnuts.org. and when you switch to esurance, in the modern world, it pays to switch things up. you can save time, worry, hassle, and yup, money. in fact, drivers who switched from geico

we still retain freedoms that people in russia and turkey and venezuela no longer have. so let's use it, and if we do that i am pretty optimistic. >> that's a perfect way to end. it really is. thank you. thank you all. thanks, panelists. thank you. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> here's a look at some of the current best-selling nonfiction books according to indiebound, group of independent bookstores for members of the american booksellers association. >> many of these authors have appeared on booktv. you can watch them on our website, booktv.org. >> good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the 2018 libertarian party of pennsylvania state convention. [applause] >> thank you. my name is ken krawchuck. today i have a great honor to introduce scott horton who comes all the way from austin to speak to us today. he's a host of

freedom in rights -- despite obvious backsliding in russia, in turkey, in venezuela, and just today in -- in china. the overall trend towards, has not been reversed. the world has never been more democratic than it has been in this decade. in 1971, the world only had 31 democracies. half of europe was behind the iron curtain. even in western europe, spain and portugal fascist grief under control of a military hunter most of latin america was under the control of military governments. taiwan, south korea, all dictatorships today they've all become democratic and from 31 countries in 1971, today, 103 countrieses are democracies compromising about two-thirds of the world's countries and two-thirds of the world's population. within krpghts as well, the power of governments took to brutalize their citizens has been garage yulely curtailed capitol punishment which used to be pretty much universal has been abolished in country after country. if current trends continue they probably won't but if you were to tex trap late for abolition of capital punishment it will vanish from the face of the e