So You've Been Publicly Shamed

Jonah Lehrer (b. 1981) is a best-selling writer of popular science texts, including Proust Was a Neuroscientist (2007) and Mystery: A Seduction, A Strategy, A Solution (2021). Lehrer has an undergraduate degree in neuroscience from Columbia University and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. He is infamous for his 2012 book Imagine: How Creativity Works, which was recalled after it was revealed by reporter Michael Moynihan for containing fabricated Bob Dylan quotes. In his public apology after being exposed for falsifying Dylan’s quotes, he expressed remorse and acknowledged the seriousness of his actions, particularly his betrayal of readers’ trust and his violation of the ethical standards of journalism. However, Ronson and others found the apology unsatisfying and it failed to completely restore Lehrer’s career and reputation. Ronson uses this event and its aftermath as a key example of public shaming that he refers back to continually throughout the book.

In So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, Ronson often compares Lehrer to other popular science writers, particularly Malcolm Gladwell, but also Steven Pinker, Yuval Noah Harari, and Dan Ariely. Like Lehrer, these writers are known for writing best-sellers that purport to make complex scientific concepts accessible to lay audiences, but which have also been criticized for overly simplifying, misrepresenting, or outright fabricating evidence. As Ronson notes in So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, this tendency is not particular to Lehrer but rather is a negative aspect of the pop-science genre as a whole.

Michael Moynihan (b. 1974) is a writer and investigative journalist who in 2023 was cultural news editor at The Daily Beast/Newsweek and co-host of The Fifth Column podcast. Prior to these positions, he founded and ran an English-language publication, The Stockholm Spectator, in Sweden, was associate editor at the libertarian magazine Reason, and wrote for The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and the Jewish magazine Tablet.

In 2012, Michael Moynihan wrote a story in Tablet magazine about Jonah Lehrer, a respected science writer, fabricating Bob Dylan quotes in his book Imagine: How Creativity Works. Moynihan’s extensive research and fact-checking revealed that Lehrer had indeed invented or misattributed several quotes. Moynihan’s exposé led to Lehrer’s public admission of his ethical breaches and eventual resignation from prominent publications.

Reporting this story took a psychological on Moynihan, as he felt badly about the outcome and public shaming of Lehrer that ensued and did not want to be seen as unfairly targeting other reporters. Ronson uses Moynihan’s story as an example of how public shaming can be detrimental to the mental health of the shamer as well as the shame.