Cults, Culture & Coercion with Dr. Steve Hassan

The host of the Mea Culpa podcast and author of the #1 best-selling book,  Disloyal: A Memoir, and now with his latest book Revenge: How Donald Trump Weaponized the Department of Justice Against His Critics. So much has happened that is timely with the 2nd anniversary of the Jan 6th violent attempted coup. His latest book is an indictment of Trump weaponizing the Department of Justice, headed by AG Bill Barr. Putting Cohen in jail- solitary confinement for 51 days! Learn more about this horrendous abuse of power. This is a great interview!Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Being raised in an authoritarian cult and exiting is usually a very difficult and traumatic experience. Many people have learned about the cult of Hubbard, Scientology, and Aaron Smith-Levin signed a billion-year commitment when he entered the SeaOrg- the elite troops of the cult. There have been many books, podcasts, and documentaries about Scientology. Aaron started a very successful YouTube Channel Growing up in Scientology and is the vice president of the Aftermath Foundation, a non-profit aimed at helping former members to recover. Three former Sea Org members who were inducted as children are currently suing the cult and David Miscavige, its head, for labor trafficking. Join us for this fascinating interview!Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My interview with the founder of the non-profit DialogCentre UK, Christian Szurko, shares his decades of experience helping people involved with abusive, controlling cults and relationships since 1973. A former member of Yogananda (Autobiography of a Yogi), Christian was mentored by a pastoral counselor, moved to England, and has been actively helping people reclaim their personal power and reenter society. This is a fascinating interview, and we cover many essential topics, from the need to focus more on helping people recover from authoritarian cults and not just “get them out.” We discuss the need for active listening, developing accurate mental maps, radicalization online, and the activism some of us have done over many decades offers a unique perspective to providing solutions. Join us in this fascinating discussion!Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A very important conversation with one of the top skeptics in the world about his new, excellent book, Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational. Dr. Shermer is the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine, the host of the podcast The Michael Shermer Show, and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University, where he teaches Skepticism 101. For 18 years, he has been a monthly columnist for Scientific American. In this interview, you will learn about the biology that motivates people to believe in conspiracy theories as well as understand there are, in fact, actual conspiracies. The important thing is understanding what one needs to consider in order to accept a belief about a conspiracy as “true.” Shermer gives very practical, good advice on how to interact with folks that mirrors my work of what is effective. Most importantly–being willing to be curious, respectful, ask good questions, don’t be emotional or attack the individual and much more. Please check it out.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Come join me in this fascinating interview with Frances Peters who lives in the Netherlands and has a coaching and counseling practice serving people who are former members of a large variety of authoritarian cults, including the one she was raised in. The journey out of a cult for someone raised in it differs from working with someone recruited later in life. This conversation will be of interest to all, but especially to second-generation cult members as well as counselors, spouses, and anyone interested in different approaches to helping. Working with former members is a unique specialization and Frances Peters has a wonderful reputation. I am so pleased to share this interview with her.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former Republican congressman and Tea Party advocate, Joe Walsh discusses his realizations about Trump and how he has been dissed by the MAGA powers in the GOP. He started “Center Street Pac” to help elect any politician devoted to putting country over party, in service of freedom. Joe has a podcast of his own, “White Flag with Joe Walsh” where he talks with progressives as well as GOD folks willing to discuss what has happened to the United States. Joe and I discuss Twitter, free speech, and libertarianism, and agree we all need to lower the temperature and get more people talking together to each other. Our current system is broken with dark money and bad actors manipulating the media and politics. So it is a fascinating important conversation that offers some ideas and directions for hope.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For anyone with a background in Evangelical Christianity, Francis Schaeffer is regarded as royalty. He has written books that sold many millions of copies and two films were made by his namesake son to promote them. This interview is one of the most important ones for people to listen to if they really wish to understand what has happened to Christianity in America. Frank Schaeffer, a New York Times best-selling author, and host of the podcast, In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer, was homeschooled and raised in an evangelical/fundamentalist home and bears firsthand testimony of how his father’s life work was corrupted into a movement that wishes to secure political power, money, and control over people’s lives. Frank Schaeffer is a brilliant, creative man who truly cares about people and improving the world. Come listen to this incredible interview! Learn more about Frank at www.lovechildrenplanet.com.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daniel Shaw is a psychotherapist in New York City, and author of 2 books on the subject of traumatic narcissism. He left the Siddha Yoga cult in 1994, after more than a decade of living and working for it. In this interview we discuss his concept of the relational system of the traumatizing narcissist, that explains the psychology of cult leaders and abusers and helps survivors of narcissistic abuse in their recovery. There are many “experts” on narcissist abuse but this framework is uniquely helpful.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Media shaming has been around for decades. Now, we live with the Internet and 24/7 information cycles. Sensationalism and misinformation can create harmful media which is accessible forever. The adverse effects on everyday people’s lives are monumental and sometimes deadly. Dr. Christine Marie specializes in media psychology, a field that is becoming more important than ever, given the proliferation of media sources. Media influence can lead to shame, humiliation, and complex PTSD. Join us in this important interview. Then we turn to her work with the nonprofit Voices For Dignity. A survivor and an academic, she and her husband live in Colorado City, Arizona, and help members of the FLDS cult.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rewired is one of the most important new books I have read that has yet to get significant media attention. Dr. Marci is a Harvard psychiatrist and social neuroscientist who uses incontrovertible scientific evidence in this remarkable and sobering book. He has a chapter titled ‘The Power of the Prefrontal Cortex’ that describes it as the ‘most highly evolved part of the modern human brain.’ It performs executive functions and is an ‘orchestral conductor of neuronal symphonies’ in our brain. One of the central premises of this book is that our obsession with social media and cell phones is rewiring our brains and causing irreversible damage. Specific advice on what we can do to have a healthy tech-life balance is given and discussed. Please listen to this fascinating and essential conversation at this pivotal time in human history. We need to control our technology and not allow our technology to control or unduly influence us.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices