Blogs

Almost four years ago, I spoke with my friend Narendra Nayak about the rise of right-wing religious and political extremism in India. I had contacted him after learning of the killing of Gauri Lankesh. Lankesh was an activist journalist who was openly critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and their extremist Hindutva ideology. There are many similarities between the rise of conservative, right-wing ideologies in India and the United States. I recently spoke with Nayak to discuss the current social and political situations in India and the United States.  Dr. Nayak is a retired biochemistry professor, founder of Aid Without Religion, and current president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA). He is a polyglot who speaks nine languages. He works tirelessly to expose the…

I’ve been hosting the Influence Continuum podcast for over seven months, and I’ve spoken with guests on topics ranging from election integrity to 4th Generation Warfare and the Christian Right. It is plausible to say that I would not even be investigating any of these topics had I not encountered the work—and later met—the esteemed guest of my first ever podcast episode, Dr. Robert Jay Lifton.   Dr. Lifton joined me for an urgent conversation when the show debuted back in January 2022.  I owe an immense debt of gratitude to Dr. Lifton’s work and his mentorship, both of which resulted in significant milestones for me. His intellectual work, specifically Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of ‘Brainwashing’ in China, was fundamental to my deprogramming from the Moonies.…

With the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by Tetsuya Yamagami, the Moon cult is back in the news. Abe became a target, reportedly because he and his father publicly supported the Moon cult. The assassin was reportedly furious because his mother had given away all the family money to the cult. I interviewed former top American political leader of Unification Church, Allen Tate Wood, and wish to expose the mindset of cult psychology. Allen Tate Wood was a four-year member of the Unification Church–aka The Moon organization. He was the Chief Political Officer of the Unification Church in the United States, commander for the state of Maryland, workshop Director and Chief lecturer for the state of Maryland, and an expert witness for the congressional subcommittee investigation led…

Earlier this month, July 2022, I attended the 37th Annual Conference of the International Academy of Law and Mental Health (IALMH) in Lyon, France. The IALMH is founded on the belief that issues arising from the interaction of law and mental health – such as undue influence – can best be addressed through multi-disciplinary and cross-national approaches, drawing on law, the health professions, the social sciences, and the humanities.    IALMH holds an International Congress on Law and Mental Health every two years. The conference brings together the international community of researchers, academics, and practitioners to take a comprehensive look at the law and mental health issues from a wide-ranging, global perspective. This conference featured a collaboration with the International Society for Therapeutic Jurisprudence.  I first attended an IALMH conference in…

Tricia earned her Ph.D. in American Studies from Michigan State University, and she specializes in the US government’s influence on film and media production. She is the author of three books, including The CIA in Hollywood: How the Agency Shapes Film and Television and Superheroes, Movies and the State: How the US Government Shapes Cinematic Universes, which she co-authored with Tom Secker.   Most recently, Tricia launched her very own podcast: Worldwide: The Unchosen Church. In the podcast, Tricia talks about her challenging life as a second-generation member of the Worldwide Church of God.  Her guests also bring their firsthand accounts of life inside of the WCG,  helping to explain why “good, smart and normal people” end up joining cults and helping her to explore the traumas and rewards of high-demand…

Public attention to the phenomenon of lone-actor terrorism has seemed to rise in recent decades. Tragic shootings in just the last two months have brought this phenomenon into even sharper relief: a school shooting in Uvalde, which prompted outrage over law enforcement and U.S. gun control policies; the July 4th Highland Park shooting in Chicago, which again led to an interrogation of the internet’s role in motivating lone-actor terrorists; and, most recently, the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which brought to light how the Unification Church’s predatory financial tactics factored into the shooter’s motivations. We also know mass shootings occur on a larger scale than just those involving high-profile, lone-actor terrorist cases; in fact, over 300 have occurred in the U.S. in 2022 alone. After these tragic…

Drug addiction is a serious individual and public health problem worldwide. In the United States, alcohol is the most widely abused substance. Alcohol addiction harms a person’s physical, psychological, and social well-being. An estimated 20 million Americans have addiction issues (this number does NOT include internet and pornography addiction). In the United States, an estimated 95,000 people die from alcohol-related causes annually. The CDC estimated that over 100,000 people died of drug overdoses this past year. Is addiction a disease? Dr. Lance Dodes joined me to discuss what his research and clinical experience have taught him over the decades.  Dr. Dodes is the former Director of the Substance Abuse Treatment Unit of Harvard’s McLean Hospital, Director of the Alcoholism Treatment Unit at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital (now part of Massachusetts General…

Dr. Germaine Odenheimer is a geriatric neurologist and professor emeritus at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. The College of Medicine recruited her to help develop a geriatric curriculum for medical students; she spent her entire clinical career recognizing and caring for people with cognitive impairments. I had the good fortune to be at the Program in Psychiatry and the Law meeting in September 2021 when Dr. Odenheimer talked about her fight against fraud and deception by people claiming to have a cure for Alzheimer’s.   Odenheimer is officially retired, but she maintains her medical license and works as a fierce advocate for people with cognitive impairments and their caregivers. Her work is vitally important, and I invited her to have a conversation with me about it so I could…

If you watched the Netflix series Bad Vegan, you saw a twisted and deliberately confusing version of the story of my guest, Sarma Melngailis. Her restaurant, Pure Food and Wine, and her raw vegan brand Lucky Duck captured the hearts of healthy eaters in Manhattan. Her brands and personality were famous among major celebrities to high-profile politicians. In my professional opinion, she fell victim to an artful, designing psychopath who used one-on-one mind control. The situation blew up because of her celebrity and how much money he extracted from her while alienating her from her family.  Eventually, she was sentenced to Rikers prison, which I believe is both absurd and incredible injustice. I am honored to have interviewed Sarma as one of my guests for the Influence Continuum podcast.  One-on-one Cultic…

The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is a reorganized, large Pentecostal and Charismatic movement reframed by the religious right to move into politics. My guests on this episode of the Influence Continuum are warning people about the dangers associated with the rise of the NAR.  Frederick Clarkson has written and worked at the intersection of religion and politics for over four decades. He’s currently a Senior Research Analyst at Political Research Associates, a social justice research and strategy center in Somerville, Massachusetts. He’s also the author of a very important book that I recommend everyone read called Eternal Hostility – The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy, a subject that everyone’s talking about in the media these days.  André Gagné is a full professor in the Department of Theological Studies at the…