How Not To Be Wrong

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

There's no point having a mind if you never change it

In his bestselling How To Be Right, James provided an invigorating guide to how to talk to people with bad opinions. And yet the question he always gets asked is 'If you're so sure about everything, haven't you ever changed your mind?'

In an age of us vs. them, tribal loyalties and bitter divisions, the ability to change our minds may be the most important power we have. In this intimate, personal new book, James's focus shifts from talking to other people to how you talk to yourself about what you really think. Ranging across a dazzling array of big topics, cultural questions and political hot potatoes, James reveals where he has changed his mind, explains what convinced him, and shows why all of us need to kick the tyres of our opinions, check our assumptions and make sure we really think what we think we do.

Coloured with stories of changing minds from the incredible guests on his podcasts and callers to his radio show, and spanning big ideas like press regulation and brexit, through to playful subjects like football and dog-ownership, How Not To Be Wrong is packed with revelations, outrage, conversations and lots of humour.

Because in a world that seems more divided than ever, if you can't change your own mind you'll never really be able to change anyone else's.

© James O'Brien 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Critics Review

  • A model of lucidity, humour and humanity – we should be thankful that we have him

    Times Literary Supplement

  • Simply brilliant … Its calm but brutal honesty makes for compelling reading. This book is needed now more than ever

    The Secret Barrister

  • James is more right than ever — particularly in our entrenched, binary thinking culture — about the importance of being able to admit to being wrong

    David Baddiel

  • An admirably personal guide to the lost art of changing your mind. James showed me how often a change of mind is really a change of heart

    Marina Hyde

  • The conscience of liberal Britain

    New Statesman

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