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)

Worth repeating

I had listened to this before, soon after its release, on CD. It's disconcerting at first hearing a familiar actor's voice reading Al Gore's words but the actor comes accross as believing the words he reads. Though I never really got used to it I soon learned to tune out the oddness. The book itself is extremely well reasoned, and well presented. I will probably listen to it again in a year or two,

Book based on facts

Al Gore, who certainly is not a fan of the Bush Administration, provides facts and sources of the conclusions he draws. This is not a hard book to understand, but reader should be open minded and willing to absorb -- although he/she may not like the material being presented. Then again -- just because we don't like what is being presented does not that it's not the truth. Sometimes the truth is very difficult to swallow.

VERY timely! Even though was originally © 2007

The prologue and epilogue (so to speak) speak directly to the 2016 election and much about how we arrived at this point. An excellent read (listen) and I will listen a couple more times too!
So if you are perplexed as to how the heck all of this craziness is even allowed to happen, then you must read this!

Critisism without solutions

Great thesis about the shift from scientific realism and elightenment to manipulating opinion and facts to fit what you want. Then 8 hours of why Bush is such a loser. Then some incoherent stuff about how the internet will change things....duh. I would have liked to know what Al would do. Well read by Patton.

Thank Gore for Reason

I really enjoyed listening this audiobook. I think Gore has hit the nail on the head with his analysis of the current assault on reason in the United States. While I think Gore's bigger agenda is a critique of the Bush Administration, I think his basic premise is dead on in this book.

Good book,but

Since all the info is out there about the trove of crimes committed and nothing has been done, then what was the point? Gore made money on the book and no one did anything. No longer are we a nation of laws.
Would rather have my money back.

Book somewhat dated and too repetitive.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, there is not much new in it. Gore is still legacy electronic mass media centric and seems not to appreciate power of social networks.

Would you recommend The Assault on Reason to your friends? Why or why not?

See avove

Which scene was your favorite?

NA

Could you see The Assault on Reason being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No.

Eye Opening

If you could sum up The Assault on Reason in three words, what would they be?

An honest analysis of how people opinions are so easily manipulated. and how politicians see us merely as voters, and how they forgot that the ultimate purpose of governments is to serve the people, and not the other way around.

inside his head

This book was a great way to get into Gore's head....and to better understand not only where he is on the key issues, but what his guiding philosophies are.
Although he has an ax to grind, it's a pretty clear and straight on treatise on where his head is at versus Dubya.
My only disappointment was that Gore did not narrate the book.

Why can't this man be President?

An extraordinarily articulate and sensible book. The World needs a man like this. A President who believes in Natural Selection? Think of the possibilities!

The book makes an excellent analysis of the effects of fear and TV upon reason, clouding judgment.

Seriously, maybe it's a good thing he wasn't President in 2000. If he had been, he couldn't run today, when we need him more than ever.