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Robert F. Barsky, Professor of Humanities and Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University

Noam Chomsky at 96: The linguist, educator, philosopher and public thinker has had a massive intellectual and moral influence

Noam Chomsky has lectured and debated in many forums on numerous topics throughout his long career. Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

Noam Chomsky, one of the world’s most famous and respected intellectuals, will be 96 years old on Dec. 7, 2024. For more than half a century, multitudes of people have read his works in a variety of languages, and many people have relied on his commentaries and interviews for insights about intellectual debates and current events.

Chomsky suffered a stroke in June 2023 that has severely limited his movement, impaired his speech and impeded his ability to travel. His birthday provides an occasion to consider the tremendous corpus of works that he created over the years and to reflect on the many ways that his texts and recordings still critically engage with contemporary discussions all across disciplines and realms.

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