The Intelligence Trap

Simon Slater’s performance is the secret weapon here. He doesn’t just read the words; he performs them with a sly, understated energy that makes Robson’s sharper insights land like punchlines. The chapter on ‘the overconfidence cycle’—where he mimics the smug certainty of experts predicting doom only to be proven wildly wrong—was my favorite moment, delivered with a smirk that made me laugh while cringing. That’s the book in a nutshell: it’s as entertaining as it is unsettling. My one quibble? The production occasionally muffles Slater’s voice in quieter passages, which is jarring when Robson dives into dense academic research. Still, the pacing never drags, and the audiobook’s strength lies in its relentless parade of ‘wait, *that* happened?’ anecdotes. By the time Robson gets to the practical antidotes, you’ll be hooked—and horrified by how much you’ve been fooling yourself.