Be aware, Chuck is armed. Joe wants all to know, few are welcome in his yard. There is an ad for Trump literally arguing Biden is a Zombie. Putin doesn’t love the Hunter Biden disinformation, but Borat loves Rudy.
Porkins came on in the second hour and talked a bit about the Jews for Trump rallies, and let us know everything may not be Kosher in NYC. Should we fear the walking dead? Is everyone tired of the non-sense yet?
Pearse Redmond joins Themes & Memes as a return guest. The Covid19 quarantine classic, Tiger King documentary, is the topic of discussion. A variety of issues such as high control groups, media analysis, and politics are discussed on this different kind of review.
In this discussion I talked with Pearse Redmond who runs the Porkins Policy Review podcast about the wild and strange claims of QAnon and the world that those who believe in “Q” live in.
Some have gone so far to turn away from family and friends to worship Q in cult like behavior grasping on to conspiracy theories that lead to nowhere.
I linked this to similarities with something called “Operation Vampire Killer 2000” that came out around 1992 and as a document passed around in the militia movement back then. Is Q repacking this document and other theories popular in past decades? Is part of a broader cultural trend of the moment where many people believe in people like Judyth Vary Baker?
This week I am joined by journalist Joseph Flatley and Lucien Greaves the co-founder of The Satanic Temple. The three of us talked about the dangers of the recovered memory movement, the ISSTD, and the role that the conspiracy culture plays in this. Lucien discussed what the Satanic Temple does as an organization and why it is interested in exposing Satanic Ritual Abuse for the pseudoscience that it is. We discussed several high profile cases involving the ISSTD, including the murder of Jude Mirra by his mother Gigi. Lucien talked about Gigi’s use of the ISSTD’s Dr. Ellen Lacter. We talked about Lacter’s role in Jude’s death and how the ISSTD handled it. We we also discussed why so many of the psychiatrists and mental health professionals that employ these dangerous methods are still able to practice medicine. We also touched on conspiracy figures such as David Shurter and Fiona Barnett who have made whole careers out of spreading lies about satanic ritual abuse. We round out conversation by talking about how the satanic panic has evolved over the years.
Spike Robinson and Pearse Redmond come on to talk about their podcast series Undue Influence In Popular Culture. The podcast is published through the Open Minds Foundation. The mystery of the mind and the power of imagination are treasures of the human condition. But every bright and shining treasure casts its shadow.
In this month’s episode, Pearse and Spike take a look at two cult-related episodes from the popular cartoon shows, The Simpsons and King of the Hill.
In The Simpsons episode entitled “The Joy of Sects,” Homer joins the Movementarians, who promise their followers a life of Bliss on Blisstonia – if only they give up all their money and follow their Leader, by toiling in the lima-bean fields. The whole town falls under the group’s spell until Marge gets the family out. Spike and Pearse discuss the inaccurate Hollywood “cult” tropes – and consider the few bits the episode got right – as well as dissecting the extremely erroneous “deprogramming” of the Simpson family.
Moving onto the King of the Hill episode “Fun with Jane and Jane,” Pearse and Spike explore what makes this a much more accurate picture of a high-control group – and which tropes weren’t so accurate. In particular, they discuss the excellent job Hank does in helping Peggy and Luanne leave the group on their own terms, in sharp contrast to the forcible kidnapping and deception Marge employs to “rescue” her family in the Simpsons episode.
Before you tune into this informative and high-spirited discussion, we encourage you to watch the shows so you have them fresh in your mind. Also mentioned in this podcast is a former episode with Christian Szurko, available here.
In this month’s episode, Pearse is joined by Spike Robinson to launch a new series, “Undue Influence in Pop Culture,” where they plan to examine various popular movies, television series and books through the lens of undue influence and coercive control. This month, they compare and contrast two episodes of classic Star Trek: “Return of the Archons” and “A Taste of Armageddon.”
“Return of the Archons” is a classic example of how Hollywood portrays thought control or “brainwashing”, with a population of blissed-out automatons, only breaking out of tranquility for their purge-like Festival – a society completely under the control of a supercomputer, which was programmed six thousand years ago by the “savior” of their race, Landru. The people are glassy eyed and speaking in a strange, stylized sort of language, with no autonomy or independent thought.
However, it is in “Taste of Armageddon” that the real face of cultural coercion can be seen – for two planets fighting a mechanized, computer-calculated war, their cultures have become so tightly controlled that otherwise sane, rational people – people who talk normally and even persuasively about their “system” are so under the influence of their leaders that they will “willingly” step into vaporization booths, rather than face the indoctrinated phobia of what might happen to their world if they do not comply.
Using these two episodes as a starting point, Spike and Pearse discuss what mind control is, what it isn’t, and how our popular culture informs our opinions on this highly complex subject.
We are delighted to announce the first episode of Open Minds On Air. This is the official podcast of the Open Minds Foundation, hosted by Pearse Redmond, Jon Atack, and Yuval Laor.
In this episode, we introduce ourselves and give a little background on what the Open Minds Foundation is working on. We discuss the ever-present threat of the human predator, and how they infect our lives. Also, Jon and Yuval explain the methods and techniques of human predators. They talk about the tactics that these predators employ to gain control over an individual or group. We end the conversation by talking about ways individuals can combat this behavior.
Friend of the show and frequent guest Jon Atack joins me once again for a wide ranging discussion. We start off by talking about Scientology’s launch of their television channel. Jon and I watch a little bit of Scientology TV live on the air and comment on it. We talk about the stupidity of launching the a media platform this late in the game, and comment on David Miscavige’s increasingly manikin like face. We then move onto a discussion of Jon’s book Opening Minds: The Secret World of Manipulation, Undue Influence and Brainwashing. Jon starts off by talking about why he decided to write the book and why he choose to cover the topics involved. Jon and I discuss how Opening Minds deals less with cults such as Scientology or the Moonies, and more with how the human actually works, and why we are so susceptible to undue influence. We talk about how our minds are conditioned from a very young age to be obedient to authority, and how this can lead us into very toxic relationships and situations. Jon and I use the Louise Ogborn strip search phone call scam case as an example. Later Jon and I discuss the loaded term hypnosis and how most people experience some form of hypnotic or altered state throughout their daily life. Jon also talks about how salesman use these tactics in order to make you buy whatever product there are hocking.
In the second hour Jon and I explore the cult like realities of terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and salafi cults like Hizb ut-Tahrir. Later we explore the notion of aversion and how that is one of the strongest factors at play in the formation and devotion to a high control group. We talk about aversion as it pertains to racist cults like the Aryan Brotherhood or even the KKK. Jon and I discuss how we have become a society that unites around our aversion. As a society we would rather unite over what we mutually hate rather than a positive ideal. Jon and I talk about the effect this is having and why this opens us up to manipulation, particularly when it comes to the political and economic elite. Later Jon and I discuss the deteriorating political climate that we are in. We touch on the fact that the bar has been lowered to such a level where we now fully accept that politics is entirely corrupt from top to bottom. Jon and I finish by teasing our new exclusive podcast series for the Open Minds Foundation.
Jon Atack joins me again this week for another in depth discussion about cults, high control groups, and the dangers of undue influence. We begin by discussing the concept of being an “ex-Scientologist” or ex cult member in general. We talk about the stigma that this term carries and why it is unfair to categorize people in this way. Jon talks about the the term ex-Scientologist can become a negative defining characteristic of ones life. Jon also touches on the struggles that people go through after leaving a cult of high control group. Jon then defines the term undue influence and what it means in today’s society. We talk about how undue influence is much more complex and pervasive in our society than we may think. Jon and I then turn our focus to the undue influence of the school system and how it is damaging young people. We talk about how schools essentially create robots, and discourage independent thought. Jon also links this to adults desires to be obedient to an authority figure, even if that means inflicting pain and trauma on others.
In the second hour Jon and I talk about how we are all susceptible to undue influence and con artist’s. Jon talks about being nearly conned by scammers in India who allegedly wanted to fix his computer. We then return to the issue of children and young people and how they are continually the victims of predatory behavior. Jon discusses how predators can mean more than simply pedophiles seeking to abuse kids. Jon talks about the nasty every day predatory behavior of teachers, and the problems with the Western system of education. Later Jon and I discuss his recent work at the Open Minds foundation. Jon talks the foundations work in helping to better educate children about predators and toxic relationships. He discusses their work making short animations that will help to give young people a better understanding of the dangers out there. Jon also talks about how we need to better connect with young people through culture and popular cultural means. We also manage to touch on Stefan Molyneux, South Park, and Rick and Morty.
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