Why our brains turn so easily to TikTok ‘advisors,’ celebrities, and conspiracy theories

Amanda Montell is a writer, linguist, and podcast host. She is the author of Wordslut and the bestseller Cultish and host of 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. Below, Montell shares five key insights from her new book, The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality. Listen to the audio version—read by Montell herself—in the Next Big Idea...