I didn't see the documentary, but maybe it was better than the book. While I appreciated the narrative of the recent past and her own personal story, I think I would have preferred a deeper level of research.

An all-too familiar notion present in this book is fear. There has been so much fear mongering happening in almost the entirety of this nation’s history. However, with the rise of technology and digital media, so many well-intentioned individuals and compassionate people are being convinced of invisible dangers and ignoring facts because they don’t know who or what they can trust.
Personally, I have seen people I respect believe the anger that typically comes from the conservative media (with moral arguments tending to come from the left) and ignore any and all concerns of those who may be trying to help. We live in a stressful society and the trauma of past generations is being preyed upon in the digital age. This is one of those books that shows a problem that has yet to be acknowledged at this point in time.

A good explanation of what is happening in our country. It was fascinating how important Rush Limbaugh was to white men of a certain age and how Fox has perpetuated the hate. I could certainly relate to the author.

I thought it might make me too sad to read THE BRAINWASHING OF MY DAD by Jen Senko, but instead I felt a kind of kinship with the author who explains "How the Rise of the Right-Wing Media Changed a Father and Divided Our Nation—And How We Can Fight Back." Senko begins as early as the 1980s and shows how her Dad's long commute while listening to conservative talk radio changed his views. Senko produced a film (Webby award winning and funded by Kickstarter) about her Dad in 2016; the New York Times review acknowledged "the film's most heartfelt moments" are actually stories of other families who had contacted her. This and other reviews point out how there is much more to explore and Senko's film (and this subsequent text) are merely a starting point. She offers numerous specific suggestions about raising awareness regarding the "dangers of right-wing media." However, Senko is largely sharing anecdotes and opinions without much documented research in support of her views. Since political polarization is a high interest topic for our students, I do think they, too, will be curious to learn more about media's influence. We have been talking lately about works like One Nation, Two Realities, Prius or Pickup?, and How Democracies Die. Forthcoming in January are How Civil Wars Start and The Next Civil War.

Thanks very much to the publisher of The Brainwashing of My Dad for the ARC of this book. The Brainwashing of My Dad was an outstanding history of the progression of "fake news" generated by Fox News, and how it came to be. If you're a Fox News devotee, or a fan of Donald Trump and the Big Lie, you won't enjoy this book. If you wonder how we got to where we are with such tribalism and blind loyalty to party politics, rather than give-and-take, across-the-aisle politics and doing what's best for ALL the people in our country, you will be fascinated.

I found this to be a very interesting book. It was a fairly quick read, focused mainly on the tools used by Fox to get watchers to buy into the opinions they share related to current events. What I particularly enjoyed was Senko's chapter on what a family member or friend of a loved one who is buying into the conspiracy theories being propagated by far-right media can do to maintain a relationship and keep the door open for change.

I had heard of the documentary of the same title that Senko did and was interested in this topic. I have a family member that fits the description of Senko's father: a conservative radio and Fox News cult member who has seemed to turn away from their former values in support of the Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlsons of the world.

Senko does a wonderful job researching and describing the factors that went into the current alt-right Republican party. I didn't know much about how the media worked to form the political parties we have now, so this was really enlightening. My favorite section of the book was the end where she included several stories of other people with family members who have seemingly gone off the rails into the clutches of Trump. There were a few sections that felt a little dry (I would have loved Senko to include even more of her own personal stories throughout the text), but overall, this was a huge eye-opener to the effects that media can have on all of us.

1.5-2 Stars! DID NOT FINISH. Every argument the author has against ‘conservative news’, can be said for all news media outlets. I stopped watching or reading any mainstream media without fact checking it myself. I prefer watching independent journalist on YouTube - left leaning, right leaning and middle ground. I like to see stories from ALL points of view, to understand and make up MY OWN mind. To be honest, I found Fox News to be more truthful than the other news channels which tend to lean liberal. And no, I am not a republican. I’ve voted republican and democrat and consider myself more independent than anything. News corporations don’t care about informing people with actual truth, they just care about ratings. If you are a CNN/MSNBC/other liberal news lover and see conservative news as the evil liars, than you’d probably like this book.
*I received this book at no charge & I voluntarily left this review.*

Well written book that gave me that feeling in my stomach that I remember feeling everyday during 45’s term; tension, chaos, conflict. The strife in families was and is real and this well-researched book documents the fall into brainwashing of the author’s father. It broke my heart but I found myself nodding along as I have decided to disconnect from social media from those who watch FOX and participate in the hysteria propagated therein. It all makes me sick and makes me feel sad. That said, this book helped me feel less alone if that makes sense. Heartfelt thanks to Sourcebooks for the advanced copy.

“The Brainwashing of My Dad” examines the rise of right-wing media and its effects through the lens of the author’s personal experience with her dad. Jen Senko chronicles her dad’s descent from caring and somewhat nonpolitical into angry and combative conservatism (what she terms “Cult Republican”), fueled by rhetoric and rage from Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, and their ilk.

Ms. Senko has done a phenomenal job of combining her family’s story with meticulous research to create a compelling and relatable narrative. She clearly analyzes the evolution of the Republican Party as well as the legislative and regulatory changes that paved the way for the right-wing media explosion. Her conversational writing style makes complex subjects accessible, like the physiology of neurobiology and brain-washing. Although the issues are complicated and there’s no easy fix, Ms. Senko offers hope for the future and some ways that readers can take action.

Jen Senko also directed a documentary also titled “The Brainwashing of My Dad” on this topic. I highly recommend both this excellent book and the documentary to fans of politics and current events!

A fascinating scary look at how right wing media is sucking in average citizens by their right wing media is sucked into this vortex,Jen Senior shares with us her father’s transformation his belief in the right wing.This is a scary but also entertaining look at her fathers transformation and his return to his former opinions.Really enjoyed this enlightening entertaining read.#netgalley #sourcebooks,

The Brainwashing of My Dad- How the Rise of Right-Wing Media Changed a Father and Divided Our Nation – And How Can We Fight Back by Jen Senko
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. It lived up to its’ title and more so. Ms. Senko is roughly my age and I am from the same part of the North East US. I sense she is politically center-left not by Trump standards a socialist, communist instead as she makes clear in the book one who is tolerant of all.
The real bonus for me in this book is she explains how the right-wing media came about with changes in laws regarding cross ownership and more importantly no need to any longer present both sides or more of an issue in order to have an FCC license.
She mentions that the term “brainwashing” comes from the Chinese term of ‘washing the brain”. Having studied the Chinese language, I love this type of creative word creation. Also, the term “The Big Lie” come from mein kampf.
She describes the conversion of her father from a tolerant “old guy” to a hate filled person starting with the listening to Rush Limbaugh. I recall many years ago hearing Rush and finding his comments not informative but shocking and comedic. But her father like many bought into his diatribes I believe in part because as they aged, they saw life as well as their perception of the white guy’s future in America disappearing. Her father finds like-minded men mostly becoming “ditto-heads” and so he is part of a group.
The next big step was the creation of Fox “News” and large comfy chairs where he father and like brainwashed men could hear repetitively all day lies that became their beliefs.
I wish Ms. Senko could offer an easy fix but I think there is not one. I do agree perhaps if the rest of us and the “crooked’ media would label these people as cult Republicans or I would suggest cult conservatives, it might let the center Republicans take back their party.
Until something like this happens, it seems hard to see how we can have a governing center which is important for our democracy.

This is such a timely book. I really enjoyed how the author wove in history and her personal experience. I am glad that her dad was able to come out of his right wing slump at the end.
There was a few questions that I had.....she had mentioned early on in the book that her father helped a homeless man and soon would be homeless himself....yet there was no more mention of this anywhere in the book.
Did her dad stop hanging out with his friend who had also gotten into Rush Limbaugh?
I felt that there could have been twice the amount of information and just as good.
I liked the end of the book with suggestions on what to do to combat the Fox Media channel.
Overall a great book about the cult like brainwashing of the right in America.

Thank you to the publisher and to netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC for this honest review.

I wanted this because I felt I could relate to it. I have other family members who have seemed to be brainwashed as well. It wasn't what I expected.