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Online Author Talk With Amanda Montell

Notes on Modern Irrationality

Join us online as we chat with bestselling author Amanda Montell about her newest book, "The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality." With a delicious blend of cultural criticism and personal narrative, Montell turns her erudite eye to the inner workings of the human mind and its biases. Adults. Register to get a link. A recording will also be available for later viewing.

Join us as we chat with the New York Times bestselling author, Amanda Montell about her newest book, "The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality."

With a delicious blend of cultural criticism and personal narrative, Montell turns her erudite eye to the inner workings of the human mind and its biases in her most personal and electrifying work yet, exploring our cognitive biases and both the power and disadvantages of magical thinking.

Magical thinking can be broadly defined as the belief that one’s internal thoughts can affect unrelated events in the external world: think of the conviction that one can manifest their way out of poverty, stave off cancer with positive vibes, thwart the apocalypse by learning to can their own peaches, or transform an unhealthy relationship to a glorious one with loyalty alone. In all its forms, magical thinking works in service of restoring agency amid chaos, but in "The Age of Magical Overthinking," Montell argues that in the information age, our brain’s coping mechanisms have been overloaded, and our irrationality turned up to an eleven.

In a series of razor sharp, deeply funny chapters, Montell delves into a cornucopia of the cognitive biases that run rampant in our brains, from how the “halo effect” cultivates worship (and hatred) of larger-than-life celebrities, to how the “sunk cost fallacy” can keep us in detrimental relationships long after we’ve realized they’re not serving us. As she illuminates these concepts with her signature brilliance and wit, Montell’s prevailing message is one of hope, empathy and forgiveness for our anxiety-addled human selves. 

Adults. Register to receive a link for viewing this online event.

About the Author: Amanda Montell is a writer and linguist from Baltimore. She is the author of the acclaimed books "Wordslut," "Cultish" and "The Age of Magical Overthinking." Along with hosting the podcast "Sounds Like a Cult," her writing has also appeared in The New York Times, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan and more. She holds a degree in linguistics from NYU and lives in Los Angeles with her partner, plants and pets. Find her on Instagram @Amanda_Montell.

This event is part of DBRL's Online Author Series, supported by David Lile honorarium funds. A recording will also be available for later viewing on the author series site.

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