A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast EXPLOITING THE VOID: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MODERN PROPAGANDA
Nov 25, 2025
Peter Pomerantsev, a Johns Hopkins University scholar and author specializing in propaganda, joins Michael Neiberg to explore the psychology of modern propaganda. They reveal how Sefton Delmer's covert WWII radio tactics subverted German morale. Pomerantsev connects these historical strategies to present-day Russian propaganda in Ukraine, emphasizing how propaganda thrives amid identity crises. The discussion also delves into social media's role today, the importance of cultural understanding, and techniques for countering conspiracy beliefs.
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Cosplaying The Enemy To Break Its Hold
- Sefton Delmer weaponized radio by cosplaying Nazi voices to create space for Germans to express resentment safely.
- He deliberately wanted Germans to know the British understood them better than Hitler, widening the emotional gap from Nazi propaganda.
Propaganda Fills Identity Voids
- Propaganda fills identity voids during social and technological upheaval by offering simple superior-group identities.
- Disrupting such propaganda requires entering and unsettling the toxic roles it offers people.
Raised Between Two Worlds Shaped His Method
- Delmer grew up split between German and English identities and was bullied for both, which taught him the power of performance and disguise.
- He used disguises and social experiments as a journalist to penetrate Nazi rallies and probe collective psychology.