What is it that sparks fanatical mass movements? This is something that we would do well to understand given the fanaticism that exists at so many levels in global politics today. In this podcast, after briefly musing about some problems of contemporary journalism, I take a look at some of the key ideas presented by Eric Hoffer in his provocative book 'The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements'. Although I don't mention it in the podcast, it's worth noting that some of Hoffer's ideas are echoed in Gustav Le Bon's book 'The Crowd' and Jacques Ellul's 'Propaganda'.