Sander van der Linden, Ph.D.
Professor, Author, and Speaker
Featured in the BEST NON-FICTION BOOKS of 2023 By Cosmopolitan, BBC, Apple, Inc.com, Men's Health, Financial Times, & Nature
One of Nature's BEST SCIENCE PICKS and TOP Books of 2023
Behavioral Scientist's Notable Behavioral Science Book of 2023.
A Financial Times Best Book of the Year 2023
A Waterstones Best Book of the Year 2023
*Winner of the 2024 SPSP Book Prize for the Promotion of Social and Personality Science (SPSP)
*Winner of the 2023 Best Psychology Book Prize* (British Psychological Society)
*Winner of the 2024 William James Book Award (American Psychological Association)
*Winner of the 2024 Harvard Shorenstein Goldsmith Book Prize* (Harvard University)
*Global Asssociation of Applied Behavioral Science Book Award* (Runner-Up)
*Winner of the 2024 Nautilus Book Award* (Silver)
"You will never look at your social media feeds in the same way again”
- Angela Saini, Author of the Patriarchs.
"I am so glad we now have this book. There's nothing else like it"
- Robert Cialdini, NYT Bestselling Author of Influence
"This brilliant book....provides a set of powerful evidence-based 'antigens' designed to protect us from false claims"
- Sir David Spiegehalter, Author
of The Art of Statistics.
US
"[Prebunking] is probably our best strategy for winning the misinformation wars". - The Washington Post
"A must-read for anyone who cares about misinformation, fake news, and discerning truth".- David Robson, author of The Expectation Effect
"This is one of those books I could read even if my hair were on fire" - Lee McIyntire, author of Post-Truth and On Disinformation"
"If you are interested in being inoculated against disinformation, be sure to get this [terrific] book". - Gale Anne Hurd, Executive Producer, The Terminator, The Walking Dead, & The YouTube Effect
"His work suggests that the brain....can form a sort of habit of seeing the patterns in misinformation and recognising it as it arrives" - David Aaronovitch, The Times
"Van der Linden has taken a highly creative approach to the problem of fake news and supported it with excellent research." - Skeptical Inquirer
"Simple but brilliant idea.......if you want to know why people believe fake news... then this is the book to read." - The Skeptic.
"Van der Linden has captured public imagination in a way few others haves" - Science Magazine
'Fascinating' - The Observer
'Authoritative' - Financial Times
'Powerful' - Kirkus
'Riveting' - Waterstones
'Encouraging' - The Times
'Important' - Forbes
'Stand-out guide' - Publishers Weekly
'Must-Read' - Psychology Today
Help the fight against misinformation with a book review!
Praise for Foolproof
Sir David Spiegelhalter, Author of The Art of Statistics.
“This brilliant book vividly illuminates the challenges of countering misinformation, showing how human psychology can make us vulnerable to manipulation and conspiracy theories. Van der Linden’s analysis would be utterly depressing, were he not to provide a set of powerful evidence-based ‘antigens’ designed to protect us from false claims. They have never been more needed."
Marianna Spring, BBC Disinformation and Social Media Correspondent
"‘An insightful and forensic examination of why our brains entertain disinformation - and the remedies that can protect us all from its real-world harm. For everyone who messages me asking how they can speak to someone who has fallen victim to online conspiracies - this is the book for you!”
Angela Saini, Author of Superior and the Patriarchs
"A fascinating, in-depth investigation into the complex landscape of misinformation from someone who has spent his career trying to combat fake news. You will never look at your social media feeds in the same way again"
Dr. Seema Yasmin, Emmy-Award winning journalist, former epidemic intelligence officer, and Author of What the Fact!?
"Reminding us that we are all susceptible to believing lies, Foolproof is a highly necessary do-it-yourself guide for building mental resilience against false information.”
Robert Cialdini, New York Times Best Selling Author of Influence
“In the nick of time, this book provides straight information about the origins, workings, and consequences of misinformation-infused messaging. I am so glad we now have this book. There's nothing else like it"
Jay Van Bavel, Author of The Power of Us
"Sander van der Linden is one of the world’s leading experts on combating misinformation, and Foolproof is the ultimate handbook for navigating—and fighting back against—the tsunami that threatens to drown us in bullshit."
Mitch Prinstein, Chief Science Officer, American Psychological Association (APA)
"This outstanding and easy-to-read summary of the science, offered by the foremost scientific authority on the subject, is essential reading for us all, explaining precisely why misinformation is so powerful, and how we help others to be less susceptible to it."
Clare Wardle, Director, Information Futures Lab, Brown University
"Bringing the psychology of misinformation to life, Foolproof is one of the smartest and, ultimately, most optimistic books on the subject I’ve read."
Cambridge Professor and
Author of FOOLPROOF
Biography
Educating the Next Generation
Sander van der Linden, Ph.D., is Professor of Social Psychology in Society and Director of the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge. His research looks at how people process (mis)information, how it spreads in online networks, and how we can most effectively prebunk and inoculate people against false information. He leads national consensus reports on the psychology of misinformation and serves on the World Health Organization's (WHO) infodemic alliance, the UK National Security Risk Assessment, and the Citizen Data Advisory Group (Office of National Statistics). He has won numerous awards for his research on human judgment, communication, and decision-making, including the Rising Star Award from the Association for Psychological Science (APS), the Sage Early Career Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), the Frank Prize in Public Interest Research from the University of Florida, and the Sir James Cameron Medal for the Public Understanding of Risk from the Royal College of Physicians. His research papers have received awards from organizations such as the American Psychological Association (APA), the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI). He co-developed the award-winning fake news game, Bad News, which has been played by millions of people around the world and he regularly advises governments, public health authorities, and social media companies on how to combat the spread of misinformation. He is ranked among the top 1% of highly cited social scientists worldwide and has published over 200 research papers. He frequently appears on international TV and radio and his work is regularly featured in outlets such as CBS 60 Minutes, the New York Times, Rolling Stone, NPR, and the BBC. He has been described by WIRED magazine as one of “15 top thinkers” and by Fast Company Design as one “four heroes who are defending digital democracy online”. Before joining Cambridge, he held academic positions at Princeton, Yale, and the LSE.
Credit: Jo Shepherd
Alex Winter Gale Anne Hurd
(Actor/Director) (Producer)
How "prebunking" misinformation works
How "prebunking" misinformation works
The Vaccine for Fake News
Decoding Deception: The Psychology of Combating Misinformation
Publicist
United States
Rachel Salzman
United Kingdom
Literary Agent
Will Francis
Foreign Rights