I’ve heard lots of substantive criticism of Enlightenment Now, but less of The Better Angels of Our Nature. Do you have sources to rebut the latter? I read Better Angels, and some associated reviews, and most of the critical reviews seemed to stipulate all the facts in the book and were left to express sour grapes, or a hang-up with the perceived idea of de Chardin-esque progress (which I don’t think Pinker was advocating; he was clear he believed in the factors, and that those factors were not inevitable or inexorable).

There was a long back and forth between Pinker and NN Taleb. To me it seemed that Pinker didn't properly address any of Taleb's concrete critical points.