The Assault on Reason

Our Information Ecosystem, from the Age of Print to the Age of Trump - 2017 Edition

By: Al Gore

Narrated by: Will Patton

Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Now with a New Preface and Conclusion: "Post-Truth: On Donald Trump and the 2016 Election"

What has happened to our country and how can we fix it?

We are in the midst of a deepening crisis for our democracy. After the strangest election cycle in modern American history, it is important that we address the grave threats to our way of life that were glaringly revealed in this campaign. In The Assault on Reason, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Vice President Al Gore examines how faith in the power of reason - the idea that citizens can govern themselves through rational debate - is in peril. Our democracy depends on a well-informed citizenry and a two-way conversation about ideas, but our public sphere has been degraded by fake news and the politics of fear, partisanship, and blind faith. Now updated to investigate the rise of Trump and post-truth politics, The Assault on Reason is a call to rebuild the vitality of American democracy by restoring the nation's information ecosystem so that we can start making good decisions again.

Listen to more by Gore.

©2007 Al Gore (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc.

Critic reviews

"This book shows a fiery, throw-caution-to-the winds Al Gore, who...has decided to lay it all on the line with a blistering assessment of the Bush administration and the state of public discourse in America." (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times)

"Gore’s faith in human nature is braver and sharper than (the cynics).... This book isn’t about him; it’s about the republic whose freedoms depend on increasing reasoned debate and reducing intimidating noise." (The Boston Globe)

Brilliant Ideas from Politics, Gov, Internet Heart

Gore saw it all: as a politician's son, a congressman, Senator, VP, and as author of the law converting the Arpanet to Internet. He is brilliant and knowledgeable. This book is filled with great ideas. My only complaint is that he made no changes to the middle of the book. He should have added Trump throughout. Will Patton has a great Southern male voice and is a wonderful reader.

Excellent

There are many books out there which identify problems. This one critically evaluates our society and offers reasonable solutions. In addition, reading it was like getting a massage for my brain. This was one of the few mainstream books I have read lately that actually expected me to have a brain with something inside it, as opposed to an empty vessel to be filled. It made me sad to listen to such wise counsel from someone who was denied the ability to use it to help our society. I thought about where we might be as a country if only we had a thoughtful leader instead of one that seems to believe that thinking is someone else's job...

Excellent and insightful

After reading this book and coming to realize what this country has gone through since the fiasco that resulted in Bush leading this country instead of Gore, I was really saddened. I didn't not come to realize, before this read, how insightful and deep Mr. Gore is and truly wish he was on the ballot this go round because someone of his stature is truly what we need at this point in our country's history. The book is fantastic. It is demonstrates how a tyrannical and corrupt administration has been allowed to sink our democracy to the lowest levels in history aided by an unthinking, unreasoning populace. Kudos! A wake up call for all.

Please read this book

The introduction alone is worth the price of the book. I have studied cognitive and behavioral sciences as part of a doctorate and found Mr. Gore’s presentation of these subjects in relation to our response to fear and the manipulation of that response to be state of the art and highly fluent. It was so well done that I felt like I gained understanding in areas I know quiet well. My respect for the man’s intellect, integrity, and gift of communicating went up substantially.

The middle chapters were a bit repetitive, and I did get a little weary of the well documented but restrained presentation of Bush Administration actions. The accounts of activities that resulted in needless death and destruction were so numerous and so well founded that Gore’s anger was not up to the level of the offenses.

I was disappointed that Mr. Gore did not project on likely long term damages that will come because of the war in Iraq and the willful destabilization of an already perilous environment. Having done substantial work in the Middle East over a long period I fear that we do not yet appreciate the long term harm that will continue to spiral upwards for years to come.

The final recommendations of the book calling for increased and deeper use of the Internet as a way of recapturing some political and informational balance are personally inspiring. As a way of broadening the content of media information and mitigating the near monopoly of a small number of corporations that control the news, Gore’s call for the production of video “content” by broader and more diverse voices is critical. I plan to make the soon to be completed video version of my own book available through his web service.

Altogether this is a well researched and literate book that is an essential read. Although I am liberal and proud to be so, I was previously lukewarm to Mr. Gore as a presidential candidate. I now pray that he will run in 2008.

Political Junkies Will Love

If you want a clearly explained, rational explanation of everything that's gone on in the last seven years, you'll love this book. It's for the political junkie, tough. I think Republicans and Democrats alike will find value in this resource. For serious conservative and moderates, this book shows how Bush has betrayed the Constitution and the United States. It paints a very clear, sometimes far too "rational" explanation of the crimes of the Bush Administration, and the guilt of the mass media, both "liberal" and "conservative" in abandoning "reason" for entertainment about celebrities. When profit comes before country, we get what we have. Gore shows how. And while his meanderings on climate change detract a bit from the reasoned approach of the rest of the book. The rest of the book makes this one well worth listening to.

Good listen

Makes me wonder how long this administration can continue to abuse the constitution.

Political Talk

This is the most reasoned and well though out discorse on US politics that I have ever had the pleasure to read. Just think what it would have been like to have had this man in the office of the president rather than what we now have.

Excellent summer read

This book is insightful and offers solutions to the problems it poses. Gore for President again!

assault on reason

Excellent thought provoking read. Gore is really bright. A must read.

An eye opener on climate & fake news.

Will Patton is certainly on of my favorite readers and he keeps my attention more than anyone else. This book outlines an unbelievable number of serious actions that has eroded the international community’s view of the United States.

American citizens need to better understand the three branches of government and the Constitution of the United States before casting votes in elections.