Cults, Culture & Coercion with Dr. Steve Hassan

Paul Chang serves as a Regional Anti-Human Trafficking Coordinator at the U.S. Department of Labor – Wage and Hour Division. In his 25+ years with the agency, Paul worked on some of the most notorious cases as an investigator and Assistant District Director. He’s developed numerous training materials and programs that also utilize my BITE Model and Influence Continuum. He has also been on a special assignment to the White House Initiative on Asian Americans Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI) since 2013 where he currently serves as the National Co-Chair of the Regional Network.Learn more about Dr. Steven Hassan's work and find more resources at his website FreedomOfMind.com.Follow Dr. Hassan on Twitter here.Remember to subscribe to ALL the Meidas Media Podcasts:MeidasTouch: https://pod.link/1510240831Legal AF: https://pod.link/1580828595The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://pod.link/1595408601The Influence Continuum: https://pod.link/1603773245Kremlin File: https://pod.link/1575837599Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://pod.link/1530639447Zoomed In: https://pod.link/1580828633The Weekend Show: https://pod.link/1612691018 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

n this episode, I interview Joe Szimhart. Joe is a cult information specialist I have known for decades. He is also an author and knows a great deal about psychology. Joe appears in the unearthed 1986 former member video I recently shared as a former CUT and Agni Yoga member. Like me, Joe is a former cult member who uses his experience to help others understand and reevaluate destructive cults. Joe and I talk about current events and cult behaviors we recognize all over the world. We talk about Clarence Thomas’s wife Ginni, her deprogrammer Kevin Garvey, Vladimir Putin, and the ideology that binds them.For more of Joe’s work, visit his website: jszimhart.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A tweet thread I wrote about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s wife Ginni went VIRAL two days ago. I shared a video from 1986 few people have seen from a conference for former cult members. Ginni Thomas spoke in this video about her past experience in a cult. Ginni later went on to do a great deal of anti-cult work, but as is the case with so many former members, she joined a new authoritarian cult (The Cult of Trump). Steve is interviewed by Freedom of Mind’s own Dan McCollister about the issues surrounding Ginni Thomas.Learn more about Dr. Steven Hassan's work and find more resources at his website FreedomOfMind.com.Follow Dr. Hassan on Twitter here.Remember to subscribe to ALL the Meidas Media Podcasts:MeidasTouch: https://pod.link/1510240831Legal AF: https://pod.link/1580828595The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://pod.link/1595408601The Influence Continuum: https://pod.link/1603773245Kremlin File: https://pod.link/1575837599Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://pod.link/1530639447Zoomed In: https://pod.link/1580828633The Weekend Show: https://pod.link/1612691018 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Cindy Blackstock is Gixtan native in Canada, Professor of Social Work at McGill University, and Executive Director of First Nations Child & Family Caring Society. I collaborated with Dr. Blackstock for the presentation “Mind Control and Colonization.” With her help, I’ve come to realize that the same mind control I’ve studied for 45+ years exerted by cult leaders has unquestionably been exerted and is still exerted on Indigenous People. In this fascinating conversation, we talk about this vital issue through this underreported lens. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Thomas Gutheil is an internationally known forensic psychiatrist and author of over 300 publications. He is a Professor of Psychiatry and co-founder of the Program in Psychiatry and the Law (PIPATL) associated with Harvard Medical School. In this interview, we talk about how he got interested in psychiatry, what makes a mentoring relationship ethical and successful, and most importantly, his help in helping to establish a clear understanding of undue influence which can be used to promote justice.Learn more about Dr. Steven Hassan's work and find more resources at his website FreedomOfMind.com.Follow Dr. Hassan on Twitter here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frederick Clarkson is one of the foremost experts on Christian Dominionism in the United States (“Dominionism” is the theocratic idea that Christians are called by God to exercise dominion over every aspect of society by taking control of political and cultural institutions). Fred is a journalist and the author of the classic "Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy." He broke the story of Project Blitz, a coalition of conservative Christian groups working to enact Dominionist legislation in state & local legislatures across the U.S., and helped set up BlitzWatch.org to monitor, track, and defeat attempts by Christian Nationalists to implement their distorted view of religious freedom. In this interview, we talk about the contemporary politics of Dominionism. We talk about how we got here and why Dominionists are exerting so much power and influence in public life.Learn more about Dr. Steven Hassan's work and find more resources at his website FreedomOfMind.com.Follow Dr. Hassan on Twitter here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anne Speckhard is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University's Medical School in Washington D.C. Her research focuses on developing counter-terrorism initiatives and understanding the motivations of terrorists. In this talk, we discuss what ISIS members and white supremacists have in common and how effective counterterrorism efforts use psychology.Learn more about Dr. Steven Hassan's work and find more resources at his website FreedomOfMind.com.Follow Dr. Hassan on Twitter here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matthew Winkler Is the program manager for the Heroic Imagination Project. Founded by seminal social psychologist Philip Zimbardo (Stanford Prison Experiment), The Heroic Imagination Project provides training for individuals and groups using groundbreaking scientific research and experiential training workshops.Matthew Winkler has taught and mentored teenagers at middle schools, high schools, and colleges in New York, New England, China, and Japan. His viral TED-Ed video “What Makes a Hero,” snowballed into his first book “Mentoring Teenage Heroes: The Hero’s Journey of Adolescence.”Learn more about Dr. Steven Hassan's work and find more resources at his website FreedomOfMind.com.Follow Dr. Hassan on Twitter here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mick West is a science writer, skeptical investigator, and creator of the websites Contrail Science and Metabunk. West investigates and debunks pseudoscientific claims and conspiracy theories such as chemtrails and UFO’s. To help people out of these dead ends, he advocates a kind, patient approach similar to my Strategic Interactive Approach. His first book is Escaping the Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect.Learn more about Dr. Steven Hassan's work and find more resources at his website FreedomOfMind.com.Follow Dr. Hassan on Twitter here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark and Kimberly O'Donnell are former Jehovah's Witnesses who’ve become some of the loudest whistleblowers of the cult. They were prominently featured in the Vice Documentary “The Crusaders,” highlighting rampant child sexual abuse in the cult. They continue to speak out today and work with former members working to recover from undue influence.Learn more about Dr. Steven Hassan's work and find more resources at his website FreedomOfMind.com.Follow Dr. Hassan on Twitter here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices