The Age of Magical Overthinking Audiobook By Amanda Montell cover art

The Age of Magical Overthinking

Notes on Modern Irrationality

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

The Age of Magical Overthinking

By: Amanda Montell
Narrated by: Amanda Montell
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $14.99

Buy for $14.99

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A BookPage Best Nonfiction Book of 2024

From the bestselling author of Cultish and host of the podcast Sounds Like a Cult, a delicious blend of cultural criticism and personal narrative that explores our cognitive biases and the power, disadvantages, and highlights of magical thinking.

Utilizing the linguistic insights of her “witty and brilliant” (Blyth Roberson, author of America the Beautiful?) first book Wordslut and the sociological explorations of her breakout hit Cultish, Amanda Montell now turns her erudite eye to the inner workings of the human mind and its biases in her most personal and electrifying work yet.

“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 modern 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 ultimately forgiveness for our anxiety-addled human selves. If you have all but lost faith in our ability to reason, Montell aims to make some sense of the senseless. To crack open a window in our minds, and let a warm breeze in. To help quiet the cacophony for a while, or even hear a melody in it.©2024 Amanda Montell (P)2024 Simon & Schuster Audio Editors Select Popular Culture Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Social Sciences Funny Witty Thought-Provoking Magic

Interview: Amanda Montell explains why everyone is guilty of "Magical Overthinking"

The Age of Magical Overthinking
I think a lot of us like to think that we aren't susceptible to misleading information or the charms of a cult leader...'
-0.00
  • The Age of Magical Overthinking
  • I think a lot of us like to think that we aren't susceptible to misleading information or the charms of a cult leader...'

Editorial Review

You’ll never look at a horoscope the same way again
I don’t believe in astrology, the law of attraction, or (most) conspiracy theories—but that doesn’t stop me from being obsessed with how many people do. And why not? Such supernatural thinking is practically de rigueur. Author, linguist, and podcast host Amanda Montell, writer of nonfiction hits Cultish and Wordslut, has a way with these topics, and her bracing take on today’s stickiest irrational beliefs—from influencer-peddled therapy speak to celebrity worship and positive thinking—might be her most brilliant yet. Drawing you in with personal stories, expert insights, and several cocktail parties’ worth of fun facts, Montell gradually reveals how the cognitive biases behind popular delusions spare no one, including her, me, and, yes, you. An infectious and engaging reader of her own work, Montell infuses The Age of Magical Overthinking with humor and passion, ensuring both die-hard skeptics and woo-woo acolytes will find something to love and learn within.. —Kat J., Audible Editor

Engaging Explanations • Warm Narration • Excellent Writing • Insightful Analysis • Accessible Concepts • Humorous Style
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
I am pretty sure that I am not the target audience for this book. The premise seems good, but it does not start strong.

Sorry. I could not make it out of the first chapter

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved this book. Montell has this passionate way of speaking that can make any subject fascinating. She highlights the different kinds of biases that influence our relationship with information, and now I can’t help but see these tricks in action everywhere I go (recency bias, haha). Thank you!

Eye Opening!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This books definitely broadened by view on society as a whole and really gave a feeling of humility. We get so caught up in our lives and forget we are a part of one big group. Each of us having our own version of the same reality. Love that this was read by the author to really get the feel and tone.

Modern-Day Sociology Recap

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Filtered in interesting concepts by scholars in a common sense manner. Some of the personal stories were useful and demonstrated how the concepts affect everyday life.
I wonder if some of the studies could have been cherry picking to fit with her narrative, but that is always a danger when trying to craft a narrative.
I will recommend this to people who might enjoy this style because the concepts are important.

Introduction of Research on Thinking in an understandable way

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Definitivamente es un gran libro, me motivó a comenzar a seguir a la escritora. Lo recomiendo.

Me encantó

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I get what she was trying to do but it fell flat because I didn’t pick up this book to hear personal stories from the author but I wanted to be well thorough researched book from someone that’s knowledgeable about the subject. The author was decidedly, not.

This was a memoir pretending to be something more scientific

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed her last book but found that while there were some interesting new points here, particularly about social media, the book was mostly rehashing a lot of pop psychology concepts.

Nothing new

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This was a quick fascinating read! Amanda Montell is an incredible explainer and story teller, and it was lovely getting to hear it in her voice!

Couldn’t put it down

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I am a big fan of Amanda’s work! Her previous books, her weekly substack posts, her published articles and pieces, and all of her other work is wonderfully written, thoughtful, well researched, interesting, informative, and fills a new niche in literature. This book does all of what Amanda’s work does best, but I may be biased because I love magical overthinking :)

Maybe my favorite of her work so far

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book was existential in all the best ways. Diving into the author’s other book Wordslut now. This was memorable and impactful ❤️ I learned a lot and I’m extremely moved in “awe”

I am in awe by the writing, and I truly learned so much

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews