Mumbo Jumbo

Francis Wheen is a great defender of the values of The Enlightenment and feels that by the end of the 20th century the reassertion of these values had become increasingly unfashionable.

There were countless indications of a general retreat from reason – the search for millennial portents, the revival of interest in Nostradamus, the appearance of horoscopes in even serious broadsheets, the flood of books about angels and fairies.

Now he’s written an impassioned polemic on the retreat of reason in this age of irrational panic, new age mysticism and quackery. And an age in which self-help gurus and financial charlatans promise to deliver happiness, health and wealth to an unquestioning public.

Guests in this story:

Francis Wheen

Publications:

How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered the World
Author: Francis Wheen.


Publisher: Harper Perennial

Story Producer and Researcher:

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