The Ideological Brain cover art

The Ideological Brain

A Radical Science of Susceptible Minds

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Ideological Brain

By: Leor Zmigrod
Narrated by: Tania Rodrigues
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.
Cancel

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
activate_mytile_page_redirect_t1

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)

What listeners say about The Ideological Brain

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.com.au reviews

Amazon Reviews
No Reviews are Available
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.