Messianic Con Men, Past and Present: Cult History and the Cult of Trump with Don Lattin

One of the most troubling aspects of cult dynamics is the way they generate self‑reinforcing histories that can become chaotic and fragmented, leaving individuals disoriented within the broader narrative. We need knowledgeable guides who can help us navigate these stories while providing a grounding in their historical context. I wrote Chapter Three of my book, The Cult of Trump, about the parallels with Jones, Moon, and Hubbard. Don Lattin, this week’s podcast guest, concurred, though he personally likened Trump more closely in his mind to Jim Jones, whose leadership culminated in the historic tragedy at Jonestown. Lattin is a long-established and award-winning religion reporter. His work has been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The San Francisco Chronicle. Both of us agreed that Trump exhibits traits of malignant narcissism and appears to be steering the United States toward escalating threats and harms.

The MAGA movement itself is a cult, is led by cults, and has demented authoritarian leadership written all over it. Don Lattin is a journalist who has specialized in writing about religions, cults, psychedelic history, cultural norms, and other fascinating topics since the 1970s. He’s written seven books, including Jesus Freaks – a True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge and Changing Our Minds: Psychedelic Sacraments and the New Psychotherapy. He is also the author of The Harvard Psychedelic Club: How Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for America. I had the great pleasure of listening to his Substack channel recently and am honored to bring him on for an episode of Cults, Culture & Coercion.

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