Terror Love and Brainwashing: Attachment in Cults and Totalitarian Systems with Alexandra Stein PhD

Cult Conversations: The Influence Continuum with Dr. Steve Hassan

Dr. Steven Hassan

Self-improvement, Society & Culture, Education

4.8 • 684 Ratings

🗓️ 14 April 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“I do feel we have an obligation to speak up,” Alexandra Stein, PhD said on this episode of Cult Conversations: The Influence Continuum, “and it’s tough for people to resist these systems when there is total silence, and that’s what these systems kind of rely on.” Alexandra exited a ten year stint in a left wing political cult when she was 36 years old. Alexandra is a writer and educator specializing in the social psychology of ideological extremism and other dangerous social relationships. Her latest book, Terror, Love, and Brainwashing: Attachment in Cults and Totalitarian Systems, was released as a second edition in 2021. She is also the author of Inside Out: A Memoir of Entering and Breaking Out of a Minneapolis Political Cult. She presented her statement for the Congressional Record for the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol titled Political Cults and the Use of Cultic Tactics in the Recruitment and Mobilization of Participants in the January 6 Attack on the Capitol. Based in the UK, Stein is one of a growing number of ex cult members who have become academics who wish to share their expertise with others. A Fascinating conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Dr. Stephen Hassan with another episode of my podcast, Cult Conversations,
0:14.0	The Influence Continuum with Dr. Steve Hassan.
0:18.2	And I have a colleague, an old friend with me from the UK, a social psychologist,
0:26.1	Alexandra Stain, who we go back a long time. And we're going to have a fascinating time talking
0:36.4	about your life journey, but your book about
0:41.6	brainwashing, which I will announce the title in a second, and then we'll get into current
0:46.5	political topics like the cult of Trump.
0:51.2	Let me just say you're a writer, an educator, You specialize in the social psychology of ideological extremism and other dangerous social relationships.
1:02.0	You've held academic posts at the University of Birkbeck, London, the University of Westminster, the University of Minnesota, and until recently an honorary
1:13.8	research fellow at the University of Sussex. You do programs and create materials to help people
1:21.2	understand how to identify and protect themselves and others from recruitment to cultic and
1:27.2	extremist groups.
1:28.4	You also study positive social relationships, things like small democracy,
1:34.3	inclusivity, healthy social and personal networks.
1:38.9	And let me say, like me, you got interested in this topic from a personal experience that altered the trajectory
1:48.5	of your life work. Your first book, I will just read, is Inside Out. You want to hold it up.
1:56.9	A memoir of entering and breaking out of a Minneapolis political cult.
2:02.9	And you exited yourself.
2:05.1	My recollection is you read Combating Cult Mind Control,
2:09.0	and that's where we connected.
2:12.2	But most importantly, I want to talk about a more recent book,
2:16.9	which I understand has a second edition called Terror, Love and Brainwashing, Attachment in Cults and Totalitarian Systems.
	...

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