Hi everyone,
Everybody has heard of cults, but could you define what they are? You might imagine a small, isolated group following a deceitful leader into all kinds of evil. But do cults have to be small? Do cults even have to be bad?
Rick Alan Ross is a cult expert and deprogrammer, as well as founder and executive director of the nonprofit Cult Education Institute. He has been involved in both voluntary and non-voluntary deprogramming interventions, met cult leaders, and studied cults extensively.
Critics of a group will often brand it as a “cult”. Religion, the manosphere, the MAGA movement, Taylor Swift fans; any group of sufficient enthusiasm will suffice. Is there any truth to such ideas? And if not, how can we define a cult so as not to include them?
Rick joins me in this episode to discuss such questions, and to explore some of the stranger and lesser-known cults he has encountered, some of which still function today.
I’m looking forward, as always, to your early comments. The rest of the world gets this in a few days.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Are All Cults Bad?
5:50 – Is Christianity Just a Big Cult?
20:59 – Do Cult Leaders Actually Believe It?
26:04 – When Rick Met a Cult Leader
31:32 – Which People are Most Susceptible to Cults?
36:44 – Are the Charles Manson Followers Victims?
43:23 – Are Bigger or Smaller Cults More Dangerous?
56:14 – What are the Signs Someone is Joining a Destructive Cult?
58:56 – What Destructive Cults are Active Now?
01:04:14 – Is the Manosphere a Cult?
01:10:50 – What Makes People Leave Cults?
01:19:01 – Staging Interventions for Cult Members
01:24:01 – Are Involuntary Cult Interventions Ethical?
01:33:25 – Where Do Interventions Go Wrong?
01:36:34 – Groups Commonly Mistaken for Cults
01:38:54 – Is Donald Trump a Cult Leader?
01:44:18 – What is the John Frum Cargo Cult?
