Cult Deprogrammer Rick Alan Ross On NXIVM, QAnon, and What Makes Us Vulnerable

Big Technology Podcast

Alex Kantrowitz

Technology, Religion & Spirituality, Business News, Business, Religion, Science, Philosophy, Society & Culture, Entrepreneurship, Management, Marketing, Politics, News Commentary, Government, Investing, Tech News, Social Sciences, News

4.6 • 395 Ratings

🗓️ 23 December 2020

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

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. Technology has played a big role in this decline in community, with most people preferring to sink into the internet instead of strengthening physical bonds. And with such a gaping hole in our lives, cults are filling the void. Joining us to discuss what's happening is Rick Alan Ross, the world's preeminent authority on cults and head of the Cult Education Institute. He recently appeared on HBO's The Vow, which examined NXIVM, a self-help organization-turned-sex cult.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, I'm Michael Kovnet, host of The Next Big Idea Daily. The show is a masterclass in
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0:23.8	Hello and welcome to the big technology podcast, a show for cool-headed nuanced
0:27.5	conversation of the tech world and beyond. Community as we know it is in a state of decline.
0:33.5	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 U.S. declaring themselves as having no religion.
0:45.3	Technology has played a big role in this decline in community, but with people preferring to sink into the internet instead of strengthening physical bonds.
0:52.9	And with such a gaping hole in people's
0:54.6	lives, something has to fill the void. We're going to explore that today. Joining us to discuss
1:00.0	what's happening is Rick Allen Ross, an expert on cults. Ross is the head of the cult education
1:05.6	institute. He recently appeared on HBO's The Vow, which examines Nixium, a self-help organization turned into
1:12.4	something of a sex cult, and is the world's preeminent authority in this area.
1:30.3	Rick, welcome to the show.
1:31.7	Thank you, Alex.
1:32.9	Nice to join you.
1:34.6	Yeah, it's great to have you on.
1:36.7	I saw you in the vow and said,
1:38.0	we got to get this guy on the show.
1:40.8	So I really appreciate you coming on.
1:43.7	And when I first called you to talk about this possibility, one thing I suggested to you
1:46.3	in that initial call was that, you know, technology in some way was playing a role in the decline
	...

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