Episode · Big Technology Podcast · 2020-12-23
Alex Kantrowitz & Rick Alan Ross: books mentioned on Big Technology Podcast
Cult Deprogrammer Rick Alan Ross On NXIVM, QAnon, and What Makes Us Vulnerable
Community as we know it is in a state of decline. People today have fewer friendships than ever, they are lonelier than ever, and religious participation is at an all-time low, with 23% of people in the US declaring themselves as having no religion.
Alex Kantrowitz discussed Bowling Alone by Robert D. Putnam. Rick Alan Ross recommended Influence by Robert B. Cialdini and Coercive Persuasion by Edgar H. Schein, and discussed Thought reform and the psychology of totalism by Robert Jay Lifton.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Bowling Alone
Bowling Alone by Robert D.
Discussed“One of the moments where we saw this stuff starting to go haywire was when Robert Putnam published his book, Bowling Alone, talking about how community and civic participation were going down and people were seeming to watch television instead.”
Where to get it
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Influence
Influence by Robert B.
Recommended“So what I would advise people to do is learn the tricks of the trade, the basic building blocks of persuasion techniques. For example, Robert Cialdini's book, Influence, which identifies the consistent themes used in advertising and in destructive cults”
Where to get it
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Coercive Persuasion
Coercive Persuasion by Edgar H.
Recommended“And then Edgar Schein of MIT wrote the book, Coercive Persuasion, which is quite good.”
Where to get it
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Thought reform and the psychology of totalism
Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism by Robert Jay Lifton is a psychological study examining coercive persuasion, ideological control, and the methods used to reshape human belief systems through brainwashing and totalitarian environments.
Discussed“And then there's the seminal work by Robert J. Lifton, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism. And Lifton studied North Korean POW camps and how the North Koreans were able to break down their prisoners”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (2) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“And I write about this in my book, Cults Inside Out, that has an entire chapter to define a destructive cult.”
“I think if we understand the tricks of the trade, and I have a chapter on that in my book that I call, quote, cult brainwashing, end quote, because that's the term that's used so often.”