jon atack, family and friends

Hoyt shares his experience as a long term member of a group with a base in astrology. He was recruited at age 16. He studied at Princeton University and became internationally successful but stayed in the group for 20 years. Why do we accept conspiracy theories and magical ideas? To what extent do limitations in perception and interpretation inhibit our reasoning. A discussion about authority, certainty and authenticity.

Dr Ethan Russo has been involved in cannabis research for many years. He dispels some of the myths and talks about recent breakthroughs in the treatment of anxiety and dementia. Dr Russo focuses on current research into limonene and cannabigerol. A fascinating conversation with a true expert.

Jeremy is anxious to prevent a dissociation death spiral in our culture. We explore further his approach to Trump supporters and Jon offers some portmanteau words - Jeremy's speciality - including Magavellian, utopiates and fascilitators.

The social science that supports our work with cults has been questioned in the last decade. We discuss the complaints about Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment, Stanley Milgram's Yale shock machine studies, and Sherif's Robbers Cave Experiment.

Many of us in the counter-cult world are alarmed at the prospect of a Trump presidency. Trump has proved himself to be an authoritarian. His following accept the vague promises of greatness and the lack of policy, despite hundreds of leading Republicans declaring for Harris.

Spike joins Jon to discuss the books, movies, and documentaries that can help people wean themselves from Scientology's problematic beliefs. Please leave your own viewing/reading recommendations in the comments below!

in his "How to roll trolls and stump Trumpists", Jeremy has outlined his own approach to disappointing Trump's followers. Jeremy lays out his fascinating analysis of the 'herobot' the follower who avoids self-doubt by attaching to the 'dumbergogue' Trump. As usual, Jeremy is eloquent and spills over with ideas that will make you smart. Jon suggests an approach to deconverting Trumpsters. Watch for some excited moments as we find that far from playing three-dimensional chess, Donald Trump is simply eating the pieces.

Christian is an expert on those groups most often called 'cults'. He explains his own less emotive description of such groups. As usual, Christian dispenses with psychobabble and offers a useable and useful model for the better understanding of the 'cult' experience.

Belief doesn't simply evaporate when we leave a group. Hoyt and Jon talk about their own experiences on the road to claiming authority for their own beliefs. Jon suggests an easy way to kickstart the process. To the outside world, Hoyt seemed to exemplify success - a sports star, Princeton graduate who earned a fortune as the first man ever called a supermodel. In reality, his life was a mess of anxiety keeping to the cult's rules and giving millions to the leader. After years of turmoil, Hoyt has become a successful actor and documentarian.

Chris Kilham talks about a lifetime searching the world for health-giving plants. Not only has he travelled across continents and helped to establish local production, he has also been consulted by many pharmaceutical companies that are finally moving towards the use of tried and tested natural remedies. Chris talks about his own legal cannabis crop, the mind-altering aspects of chocolate, lemon balm as a safe calming agent and his upcoming trip to the Champagne region to see the extraction of medicine from grape seeds.