The Republican Brain

The Science of Why They Deny Science - and Reality

By: Chris Mooney

Narrated by: William Hughes

Best-selling author Chris Mooney uses cutting-edge research to explain the psychology behind why today’s Republicans reject reality - it’s just part of who they are. From climate change to evolution, the rejection of mainstream science among Republicans is growing, as is the denial of expert consensus on the economy, American history, foreign policy, and much more.

Why won’t Republicans accept things that most experts agree on? Why are they constantly fighting against the facts? Science writer Chris Mooney explores brain scans, polls, and psychology experiments to explain why conservatives today believe more wrong things, appear more likely than Democrats to oppose new ideas and less likely to change their beliefs in the face of new facts, and sometimes respond to compelling evidence by doubling down on their current beliefs.

Certain to spark discussion and debate, The Republican Brain also promises to add to the lengthy list of persuasive scientific findings that Republicans reject and deny.

Chris Mooney is the best-selling author of The Republican War on Science, the host of the Point of Inquiry podcast, and the author of The Intersection blog for Science Progress. He has written several books, as well as articles for Mother Jones, American Prospect, Harper’s, Washington Post, USA Today, and Slate. He has appeared on The Last Word, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Book TV, Science Friday, Morning Joe, and Fresh Air, among other programs.

©2012 Chris Mooney (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Mooney has bravely tackled a gigantic and complex topic.” (The Washington Post on The Republican War on Science)

"Nothing short of a landmark in contemporary political reporting.” ( Salon on The Republican War on Science)

Super Interesting

Amazing look at how differently people view information. Every Dem should read this book.

incompetent and biased author. though breadth is fine

The author does not understand research methods and, more so, statistics (e.g. interpretation of effect size, so he often overestimates power of discoveries).
He also does not know some issues mentioned in the book in depth (e.g. relationship of big5 with polit. orientation is not that tight, which has been shown by meta-analyses); Breadth (of psychological aspect) is good (did miss a few important findings, but that's ok).
On the political side through the book is rubbish it accentuates irrelevant and useless information while doing this in a biased and shallow way; The worst maybe that this very part is the biggest in the book, e.g. chapters 7 to 13 is occupied by this kind of bs.

Explains the unexplainable

If you are conservative you won't like this book (or books in general), but we knew that. The funny thing is that the reasons you won't like this book are scientifically explained in this book.

The author tries too hard to be fair to conservatives and balance out the wackyness like its both sides of the aisle. Most Science deniers vote for the Republicans and they will go to all four corners of the flat earth to defend thier confidently held wrong beliefs. This is the best book I've found at attempting to explain why that is.

Good - if it is actually a psychology experiment

I would raise my 2 Star rating of the story if it turns out this is really a large sample psychology experiment to see if by complimenting liberals on their smartness the book can convince them to conflate the Democratic Party with liberalism, David Frum with credibility, nuclear "waste disposal" with nuclear waste disposal (when there is only "temporary storage") and supporting Obama with Occupy Wall Streets objectives. God I hope the experiment gets negative results!

Do you wonder why people support Trump?

One of the discussions I have within my brain and with other like minded friends is "why do many intelligent people support Trump and the "new" Republican party! Listening to this excellent book, as well as John Dean's equally outstanding and even handed book on "Authoritarians"" largely answered answered the question. ( My Republican friends do not see the observations in these books as objective, rather they are viewed as anti-Trump "Fake News".)
One of the reasons I don't read nearly as much as I used to is time, I simply don't have much of it! Audible books let me use my driving time very productively; I split it 1/2 and 1/2 between listening to the books and thinking.
I look at both of these books as well researched and documented "scholarly" works and in order to delve into their complex details and references in depth I also purchased the books. Spoken and written words each have their place in helping me understand complex topics.