How is it, that in an age of unprecedented access to information, ignorance and anti-reason could be so widespread in American society? Susan Jacoby author of Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism joins us to discuss her latest book, the Age of American Unreason. During the "golden age of American freethought" the great agnostic Robert Ingersoll could argue for religious skepticism before huge and ideologically diverse audiences. But in a world where video culture has replaced print culture, where sound-bytes and 24 hour infotainment have replaced thoughtful dialogue, Americans are able to isolate themselves from other viewpoints that might challenge their own. Can freethinkers learn anything from their own intellectual heritage, that will aid them in combating unreason today? Also: Buddhist violence, another installment of God Thinks Like You, listener e-mails and a totally psychedelic Stranger Than Fiction.
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2 comments:
It seemed during the second half of the interview the doubtcaster kept trying to drag Susan Jacoby into talking more about her previous book Freethinkers, but Susan Jacoby kept dragging the conversation back to her more recent book.
I must say I liked Freethinkers more; it was a pleasant book from which I learned a number of things about the history of freethought which I did not know. The Age of American Unreason, in contrast, was a very depressing book which primarily covered material with which I was already familiar, and most of which I already agreed with.
This will not work as a matter of fact, that is what I believe.
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