I wish i could give more stars,but it's a book that i read on automatic pilot as it didn't cought me that much.

I really enjoyed listening to this book. It's impartiality is refreshing, espcially on such sensitive and much debated topics. It makes the listener think about the way that people now react to sensitive topics in such an inflammatory way.

It would be much better if people actually listened and discussed properly, rather than the hate that is posted online constantly The book gives hope that one day we can move back to human decency towards eachother and learn to be more respectful in society once again,

It covers a range of topics, such as NHS, media, mental health, climate change, into which Iain adds personal anecdotes, as well as insights into the media and political sphere, from his long standing as a journalist.

It's a very good listen, and I would love if society could go head back towards living with such division and hatred. A very positive and optimistic book.

Thank you to Iain Dale, Netgalley and Harper Collins for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

I was drawn to this book as it blurbed: "In an increasingly divided society, Iain examines why we’ve all become so disrespectful and intolerant. Using experiences from his career in politics and the media, he says it doesn’t have to be this way, and suggests how we can all emerge from tribalism and division and become more respectful to each other and those who govern us. It is a book that ... uses deeply personal anecdotes to explain why we can look forward in a positive way to a better life both in personal and material terms."

Unfortunately, this is completely mismarketed and it's actually more accurately described as a memoir or a collection of Dale's personal viewpoints with a loose framing device of the state of public discourse. The acknowledgements explain how this book ended up mashed together. For me, it didn't work and resulted in a messy and unsatisfying listening experience.

Firstly, a few notes on the audiobook itself. Dale, having his own radio show is a decent reader, if slightly robotic. The bit of emotion when he was talking about his relationship with his father was genuinely touching. One thing that did irritate me was his impression of working class accents when reading quotes from northern public figures. Since he also did a passable impression of Boris Johnson he probably didn't mean anything by it, but it's always rubbed me the wrong way.

Now, I didn't know who Iain Dale was before I started this audiobook. If I'd known I was picking up a book by a centre-right, ex-tory brexiteer I probably wouldn't have bothered considering I'm a left wing remainer, but there's something to be said for opening up to opinions different to your own. Dale is, like most of us, a mass of contradictions (I'll get to those later). He has a Thatcherite economic stance and more liberal social values. I would have loved a deep-dive into why he rejected party politics and left the Conservative Party, but that's absent from this work. I would also have been interested in what he made of the Conservatives' more controversial policies e.g. Section 28, considering he's gay. Instead, we get seemingly endless pontification on a wide variety of topics, such as the NHS, climate change, Brexit, Mental Health and so on, usually not backed up by any evidence (there are no citations in this book at all).

There are parts of this book that feel like he's in the middle of a job interview or promoting his radio show. I had to laugh when he said "All they need to do is listen to my LBC show" while he was talking about attitudes to Islam in the UK.

My views do align with his relatively well on some topics, but on others he wildly misses the point on some left wing stances, but with this being a book, there's no space for discourse - it felt like he was talking at me and I was held hostage to his opinons with no opportunity for rebuttal for the duration of the audiobook. Ironic considering the subject matter. Probably best to keep that stuff for the radio show.

I still can't quite figure out what his stance is on use of language in discourse and causing offence. At the beginning he seems very sensitive to people swearing on twitter and shows like Naked Attraction on Channel 4. It's all a bit 'pearl clutching'. He says early on that people are too easy to offend nowadays, but later talks about how we should use language sensitively as it can cause harm if we don't? It's all very contradictory. He's offended by the term 'climate change denier', so make of that what you will.

I think there's several different books in here all fighting amongst each other. Based on the blurb, I think an interesting take could have been examples of truly disastrous public discourse (he could have drawn on examples from his own life) and then examined why they had gone wrong and looked at how they could be improved. Being someone who does some coaching at work, I know that there's plenty of sources on effective listening and conversations in the business sphere that could be applicable here.

I'd probably recommend this for Dale's biggest fans only.

This is a wide ranging commentary by Dale on a multitude of topics that have inflamed, and enraged and incensed society. And it’s these reactions that are at the core of his message; it’s ok that we disagree with one another, it’s how we behave and verbalise our disagreement (and online) that’s the harmful thing. These topics include mental health (including references to suicide - so reader beware), climate change, sexuality, racism, the NHS, death, politics - the list goes on and it’s fascinating.

Not only does he give his opinions (in a calm and non-inflammatory manner) he also educates the reader/listener with suggestions on a better world when public discourse can be polite and not hurtful.

I cannot give feedback on this title as I cannot download the audiobook.
I have waited this long, as I wanted to make sure that iOS 14 did not make a difference (it hasn’t) and also wanted to try another internet source. I have now tried both of this and still cannot download the audiobook.
It is a real shame, as I was really looking forward to listening to and reviewing this title.

This is my first audio book in a while and I really enjoyed listening to it on a long drive home.

I’m not a huge political follower but as the book explores our political landscape and includes personal memoir I found it very interesting and thought provoking. The book is laced with humour and wit, throughout which held my attention.

Overall the message of listening more, being kinder and acknowledging other people’s options and views were very relevant in our modern social media world.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for my chance to listen to this fantastic audiobook.