At the conclusion of each lecture, Chomsky received a thundering round of applause; by the third day the applause was deafening and sustained; it refused to stop. The applause, I am certain, was not for the specific points being made — points Chomsky has been making in some form for more than 50 years — but for the exemplary nature of the performance. The term “master class” is a bit overused, but I feel no hesitation in using it here. It was a master class taught by a master, and if someone were to ask me what exactly is it that academics do, I would point to these lectures and say, simply, here it is, the thing itself.