{"title":"Susan Jacoby","description":"SUSAN JACOBY is the author of twelve previous books, most recently Strange Gods, Never Say Die, The Great Agnostic: Robert Ingersoll and American Freethought, The Age of American Unreason, Alger Hiss and the Battle for History, Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism, and Half-Jew: A Daughter's Search for Her Family's Buried Past. Her articles have appeared frequently in the op-ed pages of The New York Times and in forums that include The American Prospect, Dissent,  and The Daily Beast.","products":[{"product_id":"the-age-of-american-unreason-in-a-culture-of-lies-paperback","title":"The Age of American Unreason in a Culture of Lies - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eNATIONAL BESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe prescient and now-classic analysis of the forces of anti-intellectualism in contemporary American life--updated for the era of Trump, Twitter, Breitbart and fake news controversies.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe searing cultural history of the last half-century, \u003ci\u003eThe Age of American Unreason In A Culture of Lies\u003c\/i\u003e focuses on the convergence of social forces--usually treated as separate entities--that has created a perfect storm of anti-rationalism. These include the upsurge of religious fundamentalism, with more political power today than ever before; the failure of public education to create an informed citizenry; the triumph of internet over print culture; and America's toxic addition to infotainment. Combining historical analysis with contemporary observation and sparing neither the right nor the left, Susan Jacoby asserts that Americans today have embraced \"junk thought\" that makes almost no effort to separate fact from opinion. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e At today's critical political juncture, nothing could be more important than recognizing the crisis described in this impassioned, tough-minded book, which challenges Americans to face the painful truth about what the flights from reason has cost us as individuals and as a nation.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51366007996639,"sku":"9780525436522","price":21.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/xDix-wxJ1f9780525436522.webp?v=1789077292"},{"product_id":"freethinkers-a-history-of-american-secularism-paperback","title":"Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e \"Jacoby accomplishes her task with clarity, thoroughness, and an engaging passion.\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003ci\u003e-Los Angeles Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e At a time when the separation of church and state is under attack as never before, \u003ci\u003eFreethinkers\u003c\/i\u003e offers a powerful defense of the secularist heritage that gave Americans the first government in the world founded not on the authority of religion but on the bedrock of human reason. In impassioned, elegant prose, celebrated author Susan Jacoby traces more than two hundred years of secularist activism, beginning with the fierce debate over the omission of God from the Constitution. Moving from nineteenth-century abolitionism and suffragism through the twentieth century's civil liberties, civil rights, and feminist movements, \u003ci\u003eFreethinkers\u003c\/i\u003e illuminates the neglected achievements of secularists who, allied with tolerant believers, have led the battle for reform in the past and today. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRich with such iconic figures as Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Paine, and the once-famous Robert Green Ingersoll, Freethinkers restores to history the passionate humanists who struggled against those who would undermine the combination of secular government and religious liberty that is the glory of the American system.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51366144508127,"sku":"9780805077766","price":30.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/ZfSYTuF-099780805077766.webp?v=1789084417"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/susan-jacoby.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}