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Go Big Read

Each year Madison Public Library partners with UW-Madison to extend the perennially popular Go Big Read program into the broader community.

David McRaney’s “How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion” has been selected as the 2023-2024 Go Big Read book.

Bridging emergent research in psychology and neuroscience with conversations among political activists, cult members, and conspiracy theorists, How Minds Change interrogates the mechanisms that determine personal and collective opinion and belief. Crafted by international bestseller and expert in the psychology of reasoning, David McRaney, How Minds Change is both an exploration into the art of persuasion and a practical guide for navigating polarization and enacting social change.

Approachable and empathetic, How Minds Change is a thoughtful and pressing text for the current age. McRaney condenses dense scientific research into useful, ethical techniques for anyone interested in not just how we come to form beliefs, but why we come to identify ourselves with particular schools of thought. How Minds Change suggests that transformation is not just possible, but necessary as we strive towards meaningful connection in divisive times.

Author Event

An Evening With David McRaney
Tuesday, November 7th from 7-8:30pm in UW Madison's Shannon Hall

Book Availability

Book Club Kits for the 2023-24 UW-Madison Go Big Read selection will be available to check out beginning Monday, August 28th. Please call the Central Library at 608-266-6300 to reserve a kit.

Individual copies of How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion by David McRaney in print eBook, and eAudiobook can be requested using LINKCat.

Events

There are no scheduled events at this time.

About the Author

David McRaney is a bestselling author, science journalist, and lecturer. In 2009 McRaney created the blog and podcast You Are Not So Smart, interviewing scientists who study the psychology of reasoning and decision-making. In 2012 the blog became an internationally bestselling book by the same name, followed by You Are Now Less Dumb in 2013. McRaney received a degree in Journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi, and his writing has been featured in Politico, Salon, Boing Boing, The Atlantic and elsewhere.

Sponsor(s)

This program was made possible in part by generous support from: