An acclaimed historian of science uncovers the history of brainwashing—and its troubling implications for today.

Because brainwashing affects both the world and our observation of the world, we often cannot recognize it while it’s happening—unless we know where to look. In The Instability of Truth, Rebecca Lemov exposes the myriad ways our minds can be controlled against our will, exploring the history of brainwashing techniques from those employed against POWs in North Korea to the “soft” brainwashing of social media doomscrolling and behavior-shaping.

Lemov reveals that anyone can fall victim to mind control, especially in our increasingly data-driven world, and identifies invasive forms of emotional engineering that exploit trauma and addiction to create coercion and persuasion in everyday life. Offering lessons learned from mind-control episodes past and present, Lemov equips us for the increasing challenges we face from social media, AI, and an unprecedented, global form of surveillance capitalism.