Traces the current of anti-intellectualism from post-WWII to the present and argues that the nation's cult of unreason is both deadly and destructive.

The way we live now : just us folks -- The way we lived then : intellect and ignorance in a young nation -- Social pseudoscience in the morning of America's culture wars -- Reds, pinkos, fellow travelers -- Middlebrow culture from noon to twilight -- Blaming it on the sixties -- Legacies : youth culture and celebrity culture -- The new old-time religion -- Junk thought -- The culture of distraction -- Public life : defining dumbness downward -- Conclusion: Cultural conservation.