Local author Jenara Nerenberg (Divergent Mind) presents her new book, Trust Your Mind, an urgent examination of self-silencing culture and the toxic impact of groupthink. Nerenberg empowers readers with tools to understand the mind and navigate an increasingly polarized world, from campuses and workplaces, to the media and beyond.

Connected across geography and culture via the internet, the world is both a vast, limitless landscape and an ever-shrinking echo chamber. Communication, especially discourse over free speech, is becoming increasingly divisive; one person’s right to speak comes into conflict with another seeking to prevent harm. Our tolerance for differing opinions is also narrowing. A “wrong” remark or comment, no matter how seemingly innocent, can result in banishment, and contradictory ideas spark hysteria and backlash—what is referred to as “cancel culture.” This polarization affects every one of us—among friends and families, workplaces and communities—and threatens the fabric of society.

In this timely book, Jenara Nerenberg analyzes this phenomenon of “self-silencing,” asking potent questions about how harmful groupthink has become accepted.

Jenara Nerenberg lectures widely on neuroscience, innovation, sensitivity, leadership, and diversity. Selected as a “brave new idea” presenter by the Aspen Institute for her work on re-framing mental differences, Jenara is also the founder and host of The Neurodiversity Project. She holds degrees from the Harvard School of Public Health and UC Berkeley. Her work has been featured in Fast Company, New York magazine, Susan Cain’s Quiet Revolution, Garrison Institute, Elaine Aron’s HSP, Healthline, and on KQED, and elsewhere. In addition to her work as a journalist, Jenara is a frequent workshop facilitator, speaker, and event host for institutions, including the Stanford Graduate School of Business and others in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she lives.