The Ideological Brain Audiobook By Leor Zmigrod cover art

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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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 reading 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 History & Theory Ideologies & Doctrines Philosophy Political Science Politics & Government Science Human Brain Thought-Provoking Resilience Socialism

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Critic reviews

‘Leor Zmigrod’s hotly awaited debut…uses new research to show that polarised thinking isn’t something that just floats through the mind: it changes our entire neural architecture’ THE TELEGRAPH, BEST BOOKS OF 2025
'Zmigrod reveals the science behind dogma and shows us how to nurture cognitive flexibility instead’ THE GUARDIAN, BRILLIANT BOOKS IN READ IN 2025
'Massively important...Zmigrod is a joyful and compelling writer' (Tom Calver)
‘If I had to pick one, Zmigrod’s would be my book to watch out for in 2025’ (Simon Ings)
'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, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature)
'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)
'The Ideological Brain is a deeply fascinating and beautifully written investigation of the human mind‘s susceptibility to radical ideologies. Leor Zmigrod elegantly weaves together her ground-breaking research with vivid storytelling. The book is a treasure trove of surprising insights: from the epigenetics of extremism to the impact of stress on rigid thinking, and the role of parenting styles in cultivating authoritarian attitudes.'
'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)
All stars
Most relevant
Very insightful and enlightening book about the rigidity and flexibility of the brain, patterns and consequences in terms of propensity for ideological thinking.

Breakthrough science

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As an expert of this very topic, I can asssure you, this is neither for specialists, nor for laypeople. on one hand, book contains not enough detail and depth to give new knowledge to someone well versed in the field. On the other hand, it contains too much technical detail (e.g. long, detailed descriptions of methods and methodology) for laypeople.
To say few things I liked, it is balanced and unbiased ideologically; except when it comes to one issue: gender. couldn't have been more sexist. cites and describes in detail some obscure stuff from female authors while refers to males as "research team from barcelona", "papers authors", etc. cites obscure passages in tiresome volume from female authors, while not citing leading male authors in the field like john jost, Jonathan Haidt, Bob Altemeyer and others.
As for another thing I liked, the author is careful in interpretation, avoiding sensationalism (in a sense that she's not inflating importance of stuff).

However, in regards to the same issue - interpretation - author never indicates effect size, so, for all the readers know, all the patterns and phenomena the author discusses could just well be so insignificant that they should be ignored.

Additionally, she also counterbalanced all this careful interpretation by the horrible epilogue; besides it being poorly written, it may be boiled down to justifying some distopia where poeple are judged by their dispositions revealed by unconscious, few millisecond-long brain actions.

Also, it's funny that the book named the Ideological Brain contains nothing about brain until the very few last chapers.
Ironically, the book dedicates almost a whole chapter on the distinction between mind and brain.
the book spends about an hour on biography of researchers.
Dedicates whole chapters to almost a century-old outdated research.
For example, i could just read frenkel brunswick... she just copies/recounts her work, while also writing extensively about how she didn't get enough credit because of sexism... Now this book is some sort of sexism police?
On the other hand, it has to be said, that the book does contain new and valuable knowledge in few chapters towards the end.

The author strays into some artistic passages which are very long, very distasteful and quite useless.

Also, clearly not unabridged. I don't care much about a book being unabridged or not in general, but if someone does, I'm warning and also, if the book claims to be unabridged, then it's a problem.

Don't waste time on this!

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Deserves a public discussion parallel to Darwin’s Origin of species. Remarkable clarity and depth. Reflects our Zeitgeist and is yet filled with knowledge that has the potential to transcend time. Hope it sparks!

Easy to follow, vivid storytelling, super interesting thoughts

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