How myths undermine the nations that build on them

Nesrine Malik and her book cover
Nesrine Malik is a columnist for The Guardian and the author of “We Need New Stories: The Myths that Subvert Freedom.”
Author image courtesy of Nesrine Malik, cover art courtesy of W.W. Norton

Myths are tricky things.

At first, they bind civilizations together with a common idea. But too often, those same ideas turn rancid if left unchallenged and form a soft spot on the nation’s citizenry.

In her new book, “We Need New Stories,” Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik identifies six key myths of contemporary Western society that she believes are poisoning the well of public thought. They include identity politics, political correctness and the illusion of virtuous origin.

Wednesday morning, MPR News host Kerri Miller spoke with Malik about how and why we need to deconstruct the myths and find new stories to tell.

Guest:

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above

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