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Latest Episodes:

Approaches to Trump supporters with Jeremy Sherman Oct 26, 2024

Show notes

Jeremy is anxious to prevent a dissociation death spiral in our culture. We explore further his approach to Trump supporters and Jon offers some portmanteau words - Jeremy's speciality - including Magavellian, utopiates and fascilitators. Links: Jeremy's videos: "Ruin A Trumpist's Day The Nice Way" and "How to Stage Interventions With Trump Addicts"

Is the work of Zimbardo, Milgram and Sherif valid? with Joe Szimhart Oct 21, 2024

Show notes

The social science that supports our work with cults has been questioned in the last decade. We discuss the complaints about Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment, Stanley Milgram's Yale shock machine studies, and Sherif's Robbers Cave Experiment. Note: this was recorded a few days before Dr. Zimbardo passed. He was truly a titan of our field and will be sorely missed. Links: Dr. Zimbardo's Heroic Imagination project At the center of 'Veneer Theory': Are people fundamentally good or evil? Jane Eliott's brown-eyed/ blue-eyed study on racism Muzafer Sherif's Robbers Cave Experiment A Painful Reminder #Zimbardo

Cult experts talk about Trump with Joe Szimhart Oct 12, 2024

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Many of us in the counter-cult world are alarmed at the prospect of a Trump presidency. Trump has proved himself to be an authoritarian. His following accept the vague promises of greatness and the lack of policy, despite hundreds of leading Republicans declaring for Harris. Buy the NEW edition of Steven Hassan's Cult of Trump!

books and movies to untangle someone from Scientology Oct 05, 2024

Show notes

Spike joins Jon to discuss the books, movies, and documentaries that can help people wean themselves from Scientology's problematic beliefs. Please leave your own viewing/reading recommendations in the comments below! As always, please be kind and respectful of others' viewpoints. Links: Jon on Andrew Gold Jon on LadBible Secret Lives: L. Ron Hubbard The Shrinking World of L. Ron Hubbard Scientology: Inside the Cult (featuring 1980's Jon!) Captive Minds Stolen Youth (on Hulu) Steven Hassan's interview with Larry Ray Cult survivor Daniel Barban Levin Spike's Cialdini infographic poster

The Getting Clear videos on our channel NOTE: Spike misspoke; it's only videos 1 & 2 that we have here The Getting Clear Toronto 2015 conference for rent on Vimeo Spike's story, also known as "Toledo, Tarot & Trouble" And one last bit of penguin paraphernalia

how can we stop Trump? with Jeremy Sherman Sep 29, 2024

Show notes

in his "How to roll trolls and stump Trumpists", Jeremy has outlined his own approach to disappointing Trump's followers. Jeremy lays out his fascinating analysis of the 'herobot' the follower who avoids self-doubt by attaching to the 'dumbergogue' Trump. As usual, Jeremy is eloquent and spills over with ideas that will make you smart. Jon suggests an approach to deconverting Trumpsters. Watch for some excited moments as we find that far from playing three-dimensional chess, Donald Trump is simply eating the pieces.

extreme authoritarian sects with Christian Szurko Sep 29, 2024

Show notes

Christian is an expert on those groups most often called 'cults'. He explains his own less emotive description of such groups. As usual, Christian dispenses with psychobabble and offers a useable and useful model for the better understanding of the 'cult' experience. Spike's note: Zoom cut this discussion a bit short; we apologize for the abrupt ending. Spike's other note: usually there are links to these talks; there were none this time. So enjoy this short video of my budgies playing with some string. https://youtu.be/79A1sCrTy-M?si=3KGpE2ehBNI9Mor1

leaving a belief with Hoyt Richards Sep 14, 2024

Show notes

Belief doesn't simply evaporate when we leave a group. Hoyt and Jon talk about their own experiences on the road to claiming authority for their own beliefs. Jon suggests an easy way to kickstart the process. To the outside world, Hoyt seemed to exemplify success - a sports star, Princeton graduate who earned a fortune as the first man ever called a supermodel. In reality, his life was a mess of anxiety keeping to the cult's rules and giving millions to the leader. After years of turmoil, Hoyt has become a successful actor and documentarian. Links: Jon's book, Opening Our Minds The Big Picture - Rethinking Dyslexia Allegre’s Miserere Secret Lives: L. Ron Hubbard and another documentary on Scientology featuring 1980's Jon: Scientology: Inside the Cult

the science of herbal medicine with Chris Kilham Sep 07, 2024

Show notes

Chris Kilham talks about a lifetime searching the world for health-giving plants. Not only has he travelled across continents and helped to establish local production, he has also been consulted by many pharmaceutical companies that are finally moving towards the use of tried and tested natural remedies. Chris talks about his own legal cannabis crop, the mind-altering aspects of chocolate, lemon balm as a safe calming agent and his upcoming trip to the Champagne region to see the extraction of medicine from grape seeds. Links: Chris' website the Report of the India Hemp Drugs Commission Roman Vishniac's photography

jazz and joy with Dr Steven Moffic Aug 31, 2024

Show notes

Steve is a lifelong jazz fan. He even used to write a column under the name Dr Jazz. Jon and Steve both believe in the redeeming qualities of music. Steve expresses his enthusiasm at finding that a current presidential candidate shares his love of jazz. The usual wide-ranging conversation about jazz and music in general peppered with fascinating facts and opinions about such topics as cultural appropriation and the huge contribution of black Americans to the arts. Links: Kamala Harris and her jazz records Obama's speechwriter and jazz The Gloaming Lonesome Touch Son House, Death Letter Ralph Von Williams, Lark Ascending Dragonfly Kirwan Blues from Laurel Canyon Shadows and light Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter Spike Robinson, Cicada

love, narcissism, defaultilogic and scornography with Jeremy Sherman Aug 25, 2024

Show notes

Jeremy gifts us some of his new words that portmanteau concepts. Criticism of Malkin's model of narcissism ('feeling special') and Jeremy's embrace of the doctrine of foregone inconclusions. A delight for the eager mind. Jeremy's Book, Neither Ghost Nor Machine, can be bought here: https://www.amazon.com/Neither-Ghost-nor-Machine-Emergence/dp/0231173334/ Notes: From Scouting for Boys, 1908: “The practice is called ‘self-abuse’. And the result of self-abuse is always - mind you, always - that the boy after a time becomes weak and nervous and shy, he gets headaches and probably also palpitations of the heart, and if he still carries it on too far he very often goes out of his mind and becomes an idiot. The use of your parts is not to play with when you are a boy but to enable you to get children when you are grown up and married. But if you misuse them while young you will not be able to use them when you are a man: they will not work then. So for all reasons be on the look out against this temptation, it is easier to stop it at first than when it becomes a habit. The next time you feel the desire coming on don't give way to it; resist it. If you have the chance just wash your parts in cold water and cool them down. Wet dreams come from it especially after eating rich food, or too much meat, or from sleeping with too warm a blanket over your body or in too soft a bed or from sleeping on your back. Therefore avoid all these. Avoid listening to stories or reading or thinking about dirty subjects. You will soon find that the temptation will not worry you so much. Be strong and don't give way to it.” And this, from Scouting For Boys, 1911: In this chapter much has been said of the active measures which a boy should take in order to become strong and well. We should be equally concerned in saving and storing up natural forces we already have. In the body of every boy, who has reached his teens, the Creator of the universe has sown a very important fluid. This fluid is the most wonderful material in all the physical world. Some parts of it find their way into the blood, and through the blood give tone to the muscles, power to the brain, and strength to the nerves. This fluid is the sex fluid. When this fluid appears in a boy's body, it works a wonderful change in him. His chest deepens, his shoulders broaden, his voice changes, his ideals are changed and enlarged. It gives him the capacity for deep feeling, for rich emotion. Pity the boy, therefore, who has wrong ideas of this important function, because they will lower his ideals of life. These organs actually secrete into the blood material that makes a boy manly, strong, and noble. Any habit which a boy has that causes this fluid to be discharged from the body tends to weaken his strength, to make him less able to resist disease, and often unfortunately fastens upon him habits which later in life he {233} cannot break. Even several years before this fluid appears in the body such habits are harmful to a growing boy. To become strong, therefore, one must be pure in thought and clean in habit. This power which I have spoken of must be conserved, because this sex function is so deep and strong that there will come times when temptation to wrong habits will be very powerful. But remember that to yield means to sacrifice strength and power and manliness. For boys who desire to know more of this subject we would suggest a splendid book by Dr. Winfield S. Hall, entitled, "From Youth into Manhood." Every boy in his teens who wants to know the secret of strength, power, and endurance should read this book. And if you want to read the whole thing (it's really fascinating, actually): https://www.gutenberg.org/files/29558/29558-h/29558-h.htm And to learn more about the Portuguese Man O' War: https://animalia.bio/portuguese-man-o-war

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