Joss Hand's brilliant examination of past and present conceptions of the brain, in their own times and contexts, creates a deep and searching examination of social media, brains, science and ideas of truth, falsity and misinformation. Hands gives us a way to confront dilemmas of brain, personality and society, offering insights into how we can make a better world.

Tim Jordan, Professor of Digital Cultures, University College London, UK

While some view the brain as mere tissue or as the seat of the soul, The Public Brain places it as both a scientific object and ideological construct. In a highly original account, Joss Hands weaves historical, philosophical, and political threads into a critical, timely narrative essential for neuroscience and political theory scholars.

Eugenia Siapera, Professor of Digital Technology, Policy, and Society, University College Dublin, UK

At a time when generative AI is being reductively presented as intelligent and the answer to all our ills, and some of its most active proponents and developers are connected with the shift from democracy to oligarchy, this becomes an exceedingly urgent book. Written in an eminently readable style while also taking us through a detailed history of the neuroscientific turn this is a very timely and welcome addition to the literature trying to make sense of our time.

Neal Curtis, Professor and Associate Dean, University of Auckland, New Zealand