How to Be Right

Caller: 'It was a big thing voting Brexit. I was willing to take that sacrifice so we control our own laws.' James O'Brien: 'So I'm just wondering what those laws are that you won't have to obey any more, that made you vote for this economic hit. Can you name one?' Caller: 'I wouldn't be able to, no.' James O'Brien has made a career of listening to people phoning in to his daily show on LBC to point the blame at benefits scroungers, the EU, Muslims, feminists and immigrants. But what makes James's show such essential listening - and has made James a standout social media star - is the careful way he punctures their assumptions and dismantles their arguments live on air, every single morning. In How to be Right, James provides a hilarious and invigorating guide to talking to people with faulty opinions. With chapters on every lightning-rod issue in current affairs, James tells the stories of the conversations he's had, explains why people have been fooled into thinking the way they do, and in each case outlines the key questions to ask to reveal fallacies, inconsistencies and double standards. If you ever encounter ardent Brexiteers, Daily Mail readers or little England patriots, this book is your conversation survival guide. Forget agreeing to disagree - it's time to learn how to be right. 'I have had a ringside seat as a significant swathe of the British population was persuaded that their failures were the fault of foreigners, that unisex lavatories threatened their peace of mind and that 'all Muslims' must somehow apologise for terror attacks by extremists. I have tried to dissuade them and sometimes succeeded... The challenge is to distinguishes sharply between the people who told lies and the people whose only offence was to believe them.' - James O'Brien