Cults, Culture & Coercion with Dr. Steve Hassan

I talk with the forensic psychiatrist and an internationally recognized expert on violence who edited the best-selling book, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 37 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President. Years after she and other mental health experts warned Trump was unfit and a danger to the public, we continue to see vivid proof that the public has suffered by censoring expe...

Did you know that my BITE Model of Authoritarian Control was translated into Chinese and used by Chinese netizens during the November 2022 protests in China against the zero covid lockdown policy? This week’s fascinating interview is with Matt Bywater, who lived in China for years teaching English and who is now on a quest to do a PhD to create a new internationally recognized human right: Freedom...

In my book, The Cult of Trump, I identify many groups who are deeply involved in politics and influence believers to vote according to the leader’s direction of who is “godly.” Here to discuss his experiences with this and his evolution away from religion is Dr. Darren M. Slade, a graduate of the controversial Liberty University’s seminary and apologetics program. Darren is a professor of history...

Pam is a 70-year-old Boise, Idaho resident, who, while recovering from cancer treatment traveled to Washington, DC and was arrested, charged and sentenced for her connection to the January 6th 2021 attack. Hemphill pled guilty and was sentenced to 60 days in jail, 36 months of probation and fined $500 in restitution. Jack Smith has now announced that Trump has been indicted and faces four counts o...

Kelvin’s father, Dr. William Pierce, was a notorious white supremacist and founded the National Alliance, a prominent hate group. Dr. Pierce wrote the novel The Turner Diaries, which racists widely cite as inspiration for their racist beliefs and actions. Kelvin was subjected to physical and emotional abuse and was taught to believe that Jews and non-whites were responsible for society's ills. Des...

Gun-related deaths are already over 17,000 as of May of this year. In 2021, they were at their highest ever at almost 50,000 murders, suicides, and accidental deaths involving firearms. These statistics are personal to me due to my experiences in the Moonies cult with the Rod of Iron Ministries, Kahr Arms, the AR15 factory, and two compounds (TN and TX) training people for civil war. I spoke with...

Under the Yoga Mat: The Dark History of Bhajan’s Kundalini Yoga, is a new book that helps expose the destructive authoritarian cult of Yogi Bhajan, Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization (3HO). When allegations of half a century of concealed abuse and criminal actions by Bhajan and his associates came to light in early 2020, which impacted the lives of hundreds of his followers and their children, Els...

Michelle’s memoir, Forager: Field Notes on Surviving a Family Cult, showcases her life growing up on an isolated mountain in California as part of an apocalyptic cult and how she found her way out of poverty and illness by drawing on the gifts of the wilderness. Michelle was raised on a mountain in the Angeles National Forest, where she learned to identify flora and fauna, navigate by the stars, f...

The Breach: The Untold Story of the Investigation into January 6th is former Republican congressman Denver Riggleman’s book as a senior technical advisor for the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol. Denver Riggleman has served for over two decades as an intelligence officer, NSA adviser, federal contractor, research and development technology lead, and su...

There are few people in the field of forensic psychology with the training, background, and experience of Dr. Steve Eichel. In 1975, almost a year before I was deprogrammed from the Moonies, he decided to do his dissertation research on my former cult. He has had a long distinguished career, serving as the President of the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA), and remains an active memb...

With Trump’s Indictment, the GOP is being described as the Cult of Trump, and the other GOP candidates are scrambling to figure out how to position themselves. Come listen to a fascinating talk with the award-winning documentarian Jen Senko on her film, The Brainwashing of My Dad, and the book based on it. Jen Senko’s experience with her father, Frank, hits close to home for many Americans today. ...

Parental alienation is a highly destructive form of undue influence where one parent systematically manipulates their children to reject the other parent. This damaging form of psychological abuse not only disrupts family dynamics but can also leave lasting emotional scars on the child, potentially impacting their development, mental health, and future relationships. Often, children are not only a...

Dr. Austin and Dr. Bock are accomplished Christian scholars with extensive experience in ethics and philosophy. Although I am Jewish by faith, I support the principles of Christianity and all major religions that promote truth, peace, love, and forgiveness. Their collaborative work, QAnon, Chaos, and the Cross, is a compendium of essays exploring the rise of conspiracies like QAnon, an online cons...

Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO of Theranos, was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 11 years in jail. Her company claimed to be able to determine health issues from merely a pinprick of blood. She conned many famous, educated people, and the company was valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. Dr. Dennis Tourish is a Professor of Leadership and Organization Studies at the University of Sussex...

For anyone interested in understanding why religious extremism has such a large influence in America, this fascinating interview focuses on an elite group of Catholic Bishops who oppose the current Pope and his policies of wishing to move the Church away from its abusive authoritarian past. Want to understand more about our current Supreme Court and why they demonstrated that they lied during thei...

The term ‘gaslight effect’ was introduced by Dr. Robin Stern in her 2007 book to describe the long-term consequences of persistent gaslighting, a subtle and often hidden form of emotional abuse. Gaslighting is a devastating form of undue influence. It occurs when an individual manipulates another person by distorting, twisting, and dismissing their experiences, making them question their memories,...

The Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA) is a widely recognized Christian organization with around 20 million members worldwide. However, many of its beliefs and practices fall under my BITE Model of Authoritarian Control, which I developed to evaluate control of Behavior, Information, Thoughts, and Emotions. To gain more insight into this organization, I invited Dr. Steve Daily, a former pastor of...

Did you know most people need 7-9 hours of quality sleep to function optimally? Sleep deprivation is one of the most common and powerful techniques for weakening psychological defenses. It is one of the most significant policies in the Behavior Control criteria of the BITE Model of Authoritarian Control. I recently had the opportunity to interview sleep expert Dr. Lauren Broch to gain a deeper ins...

International corporate attorney and strategic business advisor Faith Jones is a phenomenon. She authored two books: Sex Cult Nun and I Own Me. She explains her model for utilizing the law regarding undue influence in a great TEDx talk: I Own Me: Understanding Our Property Rights to Our Own Bodies. Faith Jones is an inspiration to all women and especially to those born and raised in authoritarian...

Shepherding/discipling Bible cults like the International Churches of Christ have an authoritarian structure with the “apostle” or “prophet” being the person closest to God and everyone else having a human to disciple over them all the way down. It is patently abusive by its nature as it is based on submission of one’s own conscience and following directions of a person who is in the “role of Jesu...

The Jehovah's Witnesses have millions of members and are well-known for their door-to-door solicitation and distribution of materials, such as their Watchtower and Awake! magazines. However, most people do not realize the authoritarian BITE Model policies that affect their believers. Former elder Isaac Carmignani, a friend and colleague, shares the critically important facts about the Jehovah's Wi...

On the ethical side of the Influence Continuum, we invite an expert to discuss preparing how to do ethical parenting. Julie Hartman is a Certified Birth Doula, Certified Lactation Counselor, and New Parent Educator. She supports families in the perinatal period through support groups and teaching classes on living with a newborn. Most importantly, she is the mom of three adult children and can con...

Working with people in cults or who have escaped them requires much empathy, compassion, and knowledge. Rachel Bernstein has all those and more, which she’s used for the last 30 years in her work in cult intervention and re-acclimation. I have known and worked with Rachel for many decades now. Bernstein is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) from Los Angeles, California. She is the hos...

Rachel Maddow’s podcast, Ultra, is about Nazism in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s. She based her podcast on the scholarly work of a Jesuit historian Professor Charles R. Gallagher, and his award-winning book. I was fascinated to learn more and discovered that he teaches at nearby Boston College. So we met for lunch, and he kindly consented to this fascinating interview. I learned that th...

An international researcher and author, Chloe Combi, is a leading authority on Generation Z (those born between 1999 and 2009). Having interviewed over 10,000 members of Gen Z, she provides invaluable insights into what the next decade and beyond will bring. The digital age has brought about a massive change in the way we think, feel, communicate, and behave. For young people born and raised in a...