Watch Julian Casablancas interview famed Philosopher Noam Chomsky

Julian Casablancas had an extra special guest on the latest episode of his Rolling Stone interview series S.O.S. — Earth Is a Mess: Noam Chomsky. The 92-year-old famed philosopher appeared virtually as a Wizard of Oz-style floating head and chatted with The Strokes/Voidz frontman about topics ranging from politics to his work in linguistics.

When asked whether he believes words are important or secondary to ideas, Chomsky answered: “That depends whether you see yourself as a propagandist who wants to control people or as somebody who wants to induce people to think for themselves and solve their own problems. That’s a decision.”

Following its sci-fi theme, Casablancas ended the interview by asking the social critic what he would do if he had a magic wand. “If I had a magic wand, I would get people to understand," Chomsky said. "Let’s take the environment, which is the most crucial issue we face. You can’t overestimate, we have maybe a decade or two, that’s it, in which we can decide to get the heating of the environment under control. If we don’t do it, we’re finished. It’s not that everybody’s going to die the next year, but we’ll be on a course that is irreversible.”

Watch the whole episode above.