The science of ideology

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Society & Culture, News, Politics, News Commentary, Philosophy

4.6 • 10.8K Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What do you do when you’re faced with evidence that challenges your ideology? Do you engage with that new information? Are you willing to change your mind about your most deeply held beliefs? Are you pre-disposed to be more rigid or more flexible in your thinking? That’s what political psychologist and neuroscientist Leor Zmigrod wants to know. In her new book, The Ideological Brain, she examines the connection between our biology, our psychology, and our political beliefs. In today’s episode, Leor speaks with Sean about rigid vs. flexible thinking, how our biology and ideology influence each other, and the conditions under which our ideology is more likely to become extreme. Host: Sean Illing (@SeanIlling)Guest: Leor Zmigrod, political psychologist, neuroscientist, and author of The Ideological Brain Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:02.9	Find how to be a better human wherever you're listening to this.
1:07.7	A word you hear a lot these days is ideology.
1:15.6	In fact, you could argue this is the political term of the moment. When Trump is denouncing the left, he's talking about gender ideology or critical race theory or DEI. When
1:24.3	the left is denouncing Trump, they're talking about fascism or Project 2025.
1:31.5	Wherever you look, ideology is being used to explain or justify policies.
1:37.9	And buried in all that is an unstated assumption that the real ideologues are on the other side.
1:47.1	Often to call someone ideological is to imply that they're fanatical or dogmatic.
1:54.5	Most of us don't think of ourselves as ideological for that reason.
1:59.0	And as someone does call you an ideologue, you might recoil a little bit.
2:05.4	I mean, sure, you have beliefs, you have a worldview, but you're not an ideologue, right?
	...

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