Cult rhetoric

Content warning: suicide. Drawing on the book Cultish by Amanda Montell, we discuss the rhetorical strategies used by cult leaders such as Jim Jones (People's Temple) and L. Ron Hubbard (Scientology), and how we see similar strategies used today in less extreme but still potentially dangerous contexts like multi-level marketing and fitness crazes. We hope you come away from the episode with a better understanding of why people join cults and how to recognize your own weak spots when it comes to cultish rhetoric.