We live in extraordinary times. Apocalyptic even, according to the true greek meaning: to reveal, unveil, lay bare.
Each week in The Free Mind I write about culture, politics, free speech, and the art of thinking for yourself. The name is the mission.
Look out for The Vanguard — interviews with the interesting and the brave, people at the forefront of their fields who have something worth saying.
Most weekly essays are for paid subscribers. Occasional pieces are free. If you value independent writing that answers to no editor and chases no commission, please subscribe.
About Laura Dodsworth
Peering over fences, not sitting on them.
I’ve been called a ‘Slayer of Taboos’ and a ‘latter-day punchy Cassandra.’ I like my work edgy but incisive, critical but kind. I don’t tend to loiter in the comfortable middle ground.
My background has been charitably called polymathic. While the subjects of my books, journalism, films and photography might seem eclectic, the same themes run through everything I do — my work is an exploration of people, and I’m always on a quest for truth.
I’m drawn to telling the untold story with integrity.
When it comes to both creative thinking and navigating an information battlefield, I’m in the vanguard. Join me, it’s where the fun is.
My books
Free Your Mind: The new world of manipulation and how to resist it was an instant Sunday Times bestseller when it published in July 2023, described as “an informative, and engaging read” by Forbes and “an important new book” by the Telegraph.
A State of Fear: how the UK government weaponised fear during the Covid-19 pandemic, was also a Sunday Times bestseller (despite the shocking difficulty readers had trying to obtain the book). It’s about how fear was used to encourage compliance during an extraordinary period in British life and politics, with stories from members of the general public and revealing interviews with psychologists, politicians, scientists, lawyers, Whitehall advisers and journalists. It’s been called “an important book”, “a chilling post-mortem” and “dark and compelling”. I also hope it offers a clarion call for transparency and a more effective democracy.
My recent focus on fear and psychology follows a trajectory of interest in the taboo and what makes us who we are. You might say I went from pillow talk to nightmares. You see, it all started with the Bare Reality series…
Bare Reality: 100 women, their breasts, their stories, Manhood: The Bare Reality and Womanhood: The Bare Reality attracted worldwide media coverage and critical acclaim. I gave a TEDx talk about the series. A Channel 4 documentary based on Womanhood called 100 Vaginas has now been aired around the world. That led to being commissioned by The Guardian to direct another documentary, SCARS.
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