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The Ideological Brain

A Radical Science of Susceptible Minds

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The Ideological Brain

By: Leor Zmigrod
Narrated by: Tania Rodrigues
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Why do some people become radicalized?

Who is most susceptible to ideological thinking?

Can we unchain our minds from toxic dogmas?

Regardless of your political stance, this book will challenge you to reassess your convictions – and what they are doing to your brain.

Drawing on her groundbreaking research, Dr Leor Zmigrod uncovers the hidden mechanisms driving our beliefs and behaviours. She uses the powerful tools of neuroscience to show that our political beliefs are not transient thoughts in our minds – ideologies actually change our cells. And while some individuals are more susceptible to dogmatic thinking than others, all of us can strive to be more flexible. The Ideological Brain is essential listening in today’s polarized and polarizing world.

‘Filled with insightful findings, this book shows that ideological extremism and polarization are not just problems to fret about but puzzles that can be studied and understood’
STEVEN PINKER

‘Massively important...Zmigrod is a joyful and compelling writer’ THE SUNDAY TIMES

‘Mind-expanding, a joy, her findings really are extraordinary’ PROSPECT

© Leor Zmigrod 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

 Biological Sciences Philosophy Political Science Politics & Government Science Society Thought-Provoking Human Brain Resilience

Critic reviews

An extraordinary, eye-opening and startlingly original book, showing what ideology does to the human brain, and casting a bright new light on the sources and nature of dogmatism, ideology and open-mindedness. Packed with insights, this is a remarkable achievement (Cass R. Sunstein, co-author of Nudge)
Fascinating, insightful, lucidly and entertainingly written, Zmigrod's account illuminates the debate about the nature of ideology and the power it exerts, by bringing cognitive neuroscience – in fact, an intriguing development of it: ‘political neuroscience’ – to bear on both. An educative, rewarding, troubling, but ultimately hopeful, book (A. C. Grayling, author of The History of Philosophy)
A fascinating and important exploration of the causes of cognitive rigidity and of the factors that make some people more vulnerable to it than others. Leor Zmigrod draws on neuroscience, psychology and philosophy in her quest to understand why and how some people are drawn to authoritarian thinking and even to terrorism while others are able to question and resist dominant ideologies (Nigel Warburton, author of A Little History of Philosophy)
This remarkable book tells us something fascinating and heartening about the neuroscience of our inflexibilities and our dogmatisms. Lucid and eloquent, The Ideological Brain couldn't be more timely (Adam Phillips, author of Missing Out)
The notion that political phenomena would somehow exist in a realm separate from that of human life regulation is pure fiction, as Leor Zmigrod demonstrates so clearly. Her book is a must read (Antonio Damasio, author of Feeling and Knowing)

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Fascinating, witty and timely!

A great listen, filled with interesting findings, well narrated, and could not be more relevant to today’s political climate!

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