You've Done a Lot of Weird Things in America

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Our americans, by character, weirder than then the british. But i do think maybe there's something in the nature of the American experience which is an experience of self. You see those twin impulses in american society though and they sort of underlie a lot of work i do. And you've got such a vot, you kno, it's a vast nation, 300 million people, lots of space, plenty of room to start a cult or meet a u f o or an alien so and for me, because i'm half american, my dad's american, i've always had a sort of foot in both worlds. So i've always enjoyed

Shermer and Theroux discuss: how documentary films are made • religious fanaticism and why people believe • UFO cults, end-times sects, and cognitive dissonance • Scientology: religion or cult? • neo-Nazis and anti-Semitism • prisons, pornography, and prostitution • Jeffrey Epstein and Jimmy Savile • self-help movements and gurus • deception and self-deception • social proof and human conformity • are humans naturally rational, irrational, or both?

Louis Theroux is a genre-defining documentary filmmaker best known for his explorations of controversial and complex topics. Using a gentle questioning style and an informal approach, Louis has shone light on intriguing beliefs, behaviors, and institutions by getting to know the people at the heart of them — from the officers and inmates at San Quentin prison to the extreme believers of the Westboro Baptist Church; from male porn performers in California to young women with eating disorders in London.