Political messages gain added strength when they’re delivered in a way that matches how our brains process information. Pioneering cognitive linguist George Lakoff says that America’s leading progressive politicians have ignored the science, while Donald Trump and the right wing have connected with voters with dangerous effectiveness.
In October 2017, Lakoff, a former distinguished professor at UC Berkeley, sat down with journalist Daphne White at the fifth annual Uncharted Berkeley Festival of Ideas in Berkeley, to discuss how so many people underestimated the man who became the 45th president of the United States.