The Purple Principle

Do we live in an age where online conspiracies and cults proliferate ever more frequently and powerfully? We continue to explore this question by focusing on the growth of the flat earth movement in “Online Conspiracies & Virtual Cults, Part 2: Celebrity Makes the World Go Flat.” 

Our special guests for this episode, filmmakers Daniel Clark and Nick Andert, gained unprecedented access to the flat earthers for their insightful Netflix documentary, Behind the Curve. The central character in their film is the surprisingly engaging flat earth celebrity, Mark Sargent, whose Youtube videos have had over 19 million views.

In addition to interview discussion, this Purple Principle episode features numerous audio highlights from Behind the Curve, including interplay between Mark and his ever-tolerant Mom, other flat earth celebrities and adherents, as well as scientists commenting on the challenges of combating conspiratorial thinking. 

Tune in to learn more about the making of Behind the Curve and the window it offers onto conspiratorial thinking and cultic identities, including Qanon and other polarizing ideologies, along our political and social fault lines. 

Original Music by Ryan Adair Rooney

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Our guests:

Daniel Clark, @djcfilm

Nick Andert, @nickandert

Additional Resources:

Behind the Curve. Netflix.

Behind the Curve 

Behind the Curve. International Documentary Association

Delta-v Productions

Rachel Brazil (7/14/20). “Fighting flat-Earth theory.” Physics World  

Rhett Herman (10/26/98). “How fast is the earth moving?” Scientific American.

“Who started the flat earth conspiracy theory, how many actually believe this, and what do they believe exactly?” QRIS. 

Spiros Michalakis (5/22/18). “As a scientist, 'flat earthers' ought to be my enemy. Here's why I listen, instead.” MacLean’s. 

Rob Picheta (11/18/19). “The flat-Earth conspiracy is spreading around the globe. Does it hide a darker core?” CNN. 

Our digital universe is full of information, and misinformation, swirling about constantly, sampled in bits and bytes, most of it rarely gaining more than passing attention. How then does misinformation swirl up into a popular conspiracy theory? How do some conspiracy theories, such as Qanon, eventually gain a loyal cult-like following without physical contact between members or between leaders and followers?  

In this episode, The Purple Principle speaks with three noted cultic experts on these issues as well as the cult-like aspects of the recent Trump Presidency.  

Join us for “Online Conspiracies & Virtual Cults” and reflect whether group dynamics have overwhelmed logic and conviction in your life, or that of a loved one. And consider the purple and principled advice our cultic experts convey: the important issue is not where groups fall on the political spectrum, left or right or center, but rather, whether the elements of real democracy are at work, such as consulting external information and questioning internal authority.  

Original Music by Ryan Adair Rooney

Twitter: @purpleprincipl

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Our website: https://fluentknowledge.com/shows/the-purple-principle/online-conspiracies

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Our guests

Doni Whitsett, USC 

Dr. Steven Hassan's Freedom of Mind Resource Center

@CultExpert

@RBersteinLMFT

Rachel Bernstein, MFT

‎IndoctriNation Podcast

Steven Hassan (2020). The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control. Simon & Schuster. 

Additional Resources

Heaven's Gate. Encyclopedia Britannica.

The Family International. Encyclopedia Britannica.

Unification Church. Encyclopedia Britannica.

Karen M. Douglas, Robbie M. Sutton, and Aleksandra Cichocka (2017). “The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories.” Current Directions in Psychological Science Vol. 26(6) 538–542.

Evita March & Jordan Springer (2019). “Belief in conspiracy theories: The predictive role of schizotypy, Machiavellianism, and primary psychopathy.” PLOS One. 

Aleksandra Cichocka, Marta Marchlewska, Agnieszka Golec de Zavala (2016).

“Does Self-Love or Self-Hate Predict Conspiracy Beliefs? Narcissism, Self-Esteem, and the Endorsement of Conspiracy Theories.” Social Psychology and Personality Science Vol. 7(2):157-166. Diana Tumminia (1998). “How Prophecy Never Fails: Interpretive Reason in a Flying-Saucer Group.” Sociology of Religion, Vol. 59(2), 157–170. 

Richard Ostling (2/22/82). “Witness Under Prosecution.” Time. 

Battling the COVID pandemic has been a war on many fronts – disease management, the race to develop effective vaccines, and now the equally tricky PR battle against vaccine misinformation and skepticism. 

In this episode, the Purple Principle speaks with Dr. Jeanine Guidry, Director of the Media and Health Lab at Virginia Commonwealth University, on the varied approaches needed to address the multiple forms of COVID vaccine anxiety: concerns about effectiveness, safety, fertility, and personal liberty. 

No easy task, but Dr. Guidry has been waging similar battles well before founding the Media and Health Lab at VCU. As a graduate student not long ago, she discovered that the vast majority of vaccine-related discussions on Pinterest were anti-vaccine in nature, and her paper on that topic helped alert Pinterest to the issue. 

Today, Dr. Guidry feels the social media platforms are doing more to combat misinformation in the case of COVID vaccination. But by its very nature, social media misinfo is impossible to quell completely. Thus personal communications with friends, family, clergy, and primary care doctors are an essential front in this war. 

Purple Principle listeners, and anyone with empathy and accurate info, can be part of current efforts against vaccine skepticism and misinformation within their social networks. Tune in to learn more about challenges of vaccine science communication in “Vaccines Prevent Viruses; What Combats COVID Vax Skepticism?” with featured guest Dr. Jeanine Guidry of Virginia Commonwealth University.  

Original music by Ryan Adair Rooney

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Recommended resources from Dr. Guidry

How to fight misconceptions about COVID-19 vaccines: A VCU expert in media and health explains

Building Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccines. CDC.

Benefits of Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine. CDC.

Vaccines Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Vaccines. World Health Organization.

Our national legislative agenda hinges on any one Senator’s vote or abstention or last minute demand… A few months into term and the majority of U.S. House Members already anticipate their next primary battle… Meanwhile, bridges crumble, the border crisis deepens, and gun carnage continues unabated… Might be time to take a fresh look at our political gridlock. 

This episode’s featured guest, Katherine Gehl (co-author of The Politics Industry) provides a sorely needed new perspective on our two-party duopoly. Applying the “five forces” strategic analysis of her co-author, renowned HBS Professor Michael Porter, Katherine describes her “eureka” moment of recognition: politics industry “suppliers” (meaning, politicians) have so much power while “consumers” (we, the voters) have so very little.   

How do we unshackle from politics industry gridlock? Katherine’s plan for Final Five voting is the designated first step in changing the incentive structure of politics-as-usual. Combining the benefits of open primaries with ranked choice voting, Final Five voting reduces the polarizing effects of primaries and eliminates the spoiler effect that locks in our two party duopoly. 

For a master-class in politics industry reform, tune into “The Politics Industry at Work: And How Would You Like Your Gridlock?” Featuring Katherine Gehl, Founder of the Institute for Political Innovation and co-author of The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy (HBR Press, 2020).

Original music by Ryan Adair Rooney

Check out our website for show notes, transcripts, and more: https://fluentknowledge.com/shows/the-purple-principle/the-politics-industry

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Show Notes:

Katherine M. Gehl & Michael Porter (2020). The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy. Harvard Business School Press.

The Institute for Political Innovation

Katherine M. Gehl & Michael Porter (2020). “Fixing U.S. Politics: What business can—and must—do to revitalize democracy.” The Harvard Business Review.

“The Progressive Era: 1895-1925.” The Wisconsin Historical Society.

“President Theodore Roosevelt.” The Miller Center.

Michael Porter (1979). “How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy.” The Harvard Business Review.

Party Affiliation: Gallup Historical Trends. Gallup Polls.

A.B. Stoddard (4/19/21). “Can 'Final Five Voting' Cure Our Sick Politics?” Real Clear Politics. 

Mickey Edwards. Library of Congress.

Mickey Edwards (1/13/21). “A Republican Journey.” The Bulwark. 

Mickey Edwards (2013). The Parties Versus the People: How to Turn Republicans and Democrats Into Americans. Yale University Press.

“The Spoiler Effect.” The Center for Election Science. 

The Bridge Alliance

National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers

The U.S. system of government is commonly known as one of checks and balances. But a careful review of legislative efforts over the past century might need to revise that description to checks and balances and filibusters. In this episode of The Purple Principle, we look at that awkwardly named but often-debated tactic unique to the U.S. Senate, the filibuster. This rule currently allows any Senator to silently delay a vote on a piece of legislation until a supermajority of 60 Senators votes otherwise.  

Our guests on Season 2, Episode 4 are two of the most informed writers on this topic: Adam Jentleston, former Deputy Chief of Staff to Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid and author of the recent book, Kill Switch (LiveRight Press, 2021); and Richard Arenberg, former Senior Staffer (to Democratic Senators Levin, Tsongas, and Mitchell) and author of the 2012 book, Defending the Filibuster (Indiana U. Press). 

Jentleson describes the filibuster as the tool which grinds the government to a halt by presenting an impossibly high 60 vote threshold for major legislation. He cites the failure to pass a bipartisan bill on background checks after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre as one of many cases in point. 

Arenburg agrees that polarization is afflicting the current U.S. Senate. But he argues that repealing the filibuster will only exacerbate, not ameliorate, that disease. He also suggests that progressives pushing for filibuster reform today do not fully appreciate what will happen when “the keys to the legislative bulldozer are stolen” and Democrats are no longer in the majority.   

Both viewpoints have merit. Tune in to learn how we arrived at this moment where so much hinges on this thing called filibuster. And make up your own independent mind whether the filibuster has to go in favor of majority-backed legislation; must stay in favor of minority rights; or needs reform to create a better balance.   

Original Music by Ryan Adair Rooney.

Visit our website: fluentknowledge.com/shows/the-purple-principle/the-senate-filibuster

Subscribe to our newsletter, The Purple Principle in Print

Show Notes:

Adam Jentleson (2021). Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy. Liveright Publishing Corporation. 

Richard Arenberg & Robert Dove (2014). Defending the Filibuster, Revised and Updated Edition: The Soul of the Senate. Indiana University Press.

Richard Arenberg: Watson Institute 

Alex Tausanovitch and Sam Berger (12/5/19). "The Impact of the Filibuster on Federal Policymaking." Center for American Progress. 

Carl Levin & Richard A. Arenberg (3/29/21). “Progressives Would Miss the Filibuster.” The Wall Street Journal. 

Sarah Binder (4/22/10). "The History of the Filibuster." The Brookings Institute. 

Anthony Madonna (2010). “Senate Rules and Procedure: Revisiting the Bank Bill of 1841 and the Development of Senate Obstruction.” University of Georgia. 

In this episode of The Purple Principle, we wonder, what’s behind those red and blue maps of American political and social geography and our deepening urban-rural divide? 

To find out, we consult not one but two political scientists named Ryan who have extensively researched the social geography of polarization in the U.S. – Ryan Enos of Harvard University (author of The Space Between Us) and Ryan Strickler of Colorado State ( co-author of Demography, Politics and Partisan Polarization in the US from 1828 to 2016). 

We start with Dr. Enos by asking what led him to study the politics of place and what factors contribute most to the deepening divisions among those blue and red map areas. The conversation quickly turns to social psychology, as Enos emphasizes the importance of neighbors and neighborhoods in shaping our political views. 

Ryan Strickler of Colorado State also notes the dangers of our polarizing trends. He notes how much attention is devoted to the siloing effects of social media, while the siloing of physical spaces, such as our neighborhoods, is underappreciated.

Is there hope for bridging this chasm? The Purple Principle throws out the possibility of mandatory empathy zones and summer picnics with grape popsicles. But it’s likely that Dr. Enos’ recommendation for changes to housing policy may be more substantive. 

Tune into Season 2, Episode 3, “What’s Behind Those Red and Blue Maps?” for these other salient insights into the social and political polarization on our maps, across our cities, counties, and right down into our neighborhoods. 

Original Music by Ryan Adair Rooney.

For show notes, transcripts, and to sign up for our newsletter, The Purple Principle in Print, please visit our website: fluentknowledge.com/shows/the-purple-principle/the-geography-of-polarization

Show Notes

Ryan D. Enos

Ryan Enos (2017). The Space Between Us: Social Geography and Politics. Cambridge University Press. 

Brown, J.R., Enos, R.D. The measurement of partisan sorting for 180 million voters. Nature Human Behavior (2021).

Emily Badger, Kevin Quealy, Josh Katz (3/17/21). “A Close-Up Picture of Partisan Segregation, Among 180 Million Voters.” The New York Times. 

Ryan Strickler 

David Darmofal & Ryan Strickler (2019). Demography, Politics, and Partisan Polarization in the United States, 1828–2016.

Thomas Pettigrew & Linda Tropp (2008). “Allport's Intergroup Contact Hypothesis: Its History and Influence.” 

Mark DiCamillo (2020). “The profound changes that have occurred in the California electorate over the past thirty years.” UC Berkeley Institute of Government Studies.

Israel Shenker (12/28/72). “2 Critics Here Focus on Films As Language Conference Opens.” The New York Times.

Laura J. Nelson, Joe Mozingo (2/14/19). “Bullet train went from peak California innovation to the project from hell.” Los Angeles Times. 

We’ve all seen and heard the sad decline of civil discussions at congressional town hall forums over the past decade or two. The anger, the shouting, the gotcha questions. Not to mention generous amounts of obfuscation from congressional representatives. The result being that even before COVID, many members of Congress and other elected officials began to abandon town halls all together. 

But the non-profit, non-partisan group Civic Genius sensed opportunity where others just heard shouting. One of several deliberative democracy efforts, Civic Genius, in partnership with the survey group Voice of the People, holds surprisingly civil and productive “Citizen Panel” forums, where participants deliberate and present bipartisan recommendations to their district’s Congressional Representative. In the process, the group aims to revive the Congressional town hall tradition and give civil society a shot in the arm. 

This episode features interviews with Civic Genius’s Executive Director, Jillian Youngblood, who leads the Citizen Panel effort, as well as Dr. Steve Kull of Voice of the People, the survey group facilitating selection and orientation of citizens on topics as tricky and timely as police reform and immigration, among others.  

Tune into Episode Two (Season Two) of the Purple Principle, “When Martians Land, Pigs Fly, and Americans Reach Consensus,” for a refreshing earful of civility. And please visit our website for info on past and future episodes, as well as access to our newsletter, The Purple Principle in Print.

For this episode's show notes, transcript, and more, visit our website.

Original Music by Ryan Adair Rooney.

Does history create vulnerabilities that any number of populist politicians could seize upon? Or do exceptional populists create those opportunities only he or she can exploit?

There’s no simple answer to that question. But it does frame the informative discussion we have surrounding a major populist figure, Newt Gingrich, on our first Season Two episode with Princeton historian Julian Zelizer. Zelizer’s most recent book is Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich, the Fall of a Speaker, and the Rise of the New Republican Party. A 2020 New York Times Notable selection, Burning Down the House focuses on Gingrich’s unprecedented 1989 takedown of then-Speaker of the House, Jim Wright, on relatively minor corruption charges. 

In our Purple Principle interview, Dr. Zelizer points to this as a major turning point on our unfortunate path toward greater polarization. Please tune in for Season 2, Episode 1, “Portrait of the Arsonist as Young Congressman: historian Julian Zelizer on the inflammatory influence of Newt Gingrich.” 

Original Music by Ryan Adair Rooney

Music by The Talking Heads licensed by Rhino Entertainment Company (A division of Warner Music Group) & Warner Chappell Music (Index Music Inc.; WC Music Corp).

For show notes and transcript, please visit our website: https://fluentknowledge.com/shows/the-purple-principle/portrait-of-the-arsonist-as-young-congressman

Source Notes

Julian Zelizer, Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs, Princeton School of Public & International Affairs

Newt Gingrich: Rise to Power" (July 30, 1999) C-SPAN

Julian Zelizer (2020). Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich, the Fall of a Speaker, and the Rise of the New Republican Party. Penguin Press.

Associated Press (January 27, 2012) Coach honed debating skills of young Newt Gingrich. 

Associated Press (5/2/76). Humphrey Reports Rockefeller Rejected Role as Running Mate. The New York Times. 

John J. Pitney, Jr. (11/22/11). “Five myths about Newt Gingrich.” The Washington Post.

Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. U.S. House of Representatives. 

History. Congressional Black Caucus

Jo Thomas (March 24, 1978). Rep. Diggs of Michigan Indicted On 35 Counts in Kickback Case. New York Times.

Gail Sheehy (Sep. 1995) The Inner Quest of Newt Gingrich. Vanity Fair.

Newt Gingrich. U.S. House of Representatives.

Party Divisions of the House of Representatives, 1789 to Present

Thomas P. O'Neill. Encyclopedia Britannica. 

Ron Elving (4/12/18) Ryan's Speakership Makes 7 In A Row Ending In Frustration — Or Worse. NPR

House Speaker Jim Wright - Resignation Address (5/31/89).

Steven V. Roberts (12/8/86). “For new Speaker, new role is seen.” The New York Times. 

Julian E Zelizer, Kevin M Kruse (2017). Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974. WW Norton & Company. 

A 1978 Speech By Gingrich. The Long March Of Newt Gingrich: PBS. 

Howard Fineman (4/3/89), “For the Son of CSPAN, Exposure = Power.” Newsweek. 

To some degree, all Americans realize we’ve become more polarized in recent times. Those at one extreme obsess about the other, while those in between wonder if that incessant tug of war will fray our social fabric to the breaking point.

Fortunately, there are committed individuals and groups working hard to combat polarization. In Part Two of our season finale (“We’re Polarized; Now What?”), we highlight this important work. First off, the anti-gerrymandering efforts of the Campaign Legal Center, founded by Trevor Potter (former Chair of the Federal Election Commission). Then John Opdycke, President of the non-profit Open Primaries, explains why the opening of closed primaries to independent voters is an important means of combating gerrymandering and polarizing primaries. And Scott Siebel of Fair Vote discusses why Ranked Choice Voting (now adopted in Maine and Alaska at the state level) is an important prescription for our political ills.  

And what analysis of U.S. politics would be complete without discussion of money? In light of the new high of $14 billion spent on the 2020 election cycle, Joan Mandle, Executive Director of Democracy Matters, outlines some methods for reigning in the influence of money on elections and policy. Last but not least, we visit with Charles Wheelan, founder of Unite America and our first featured guest on Season One of the Purple Principle. He recounts the strategic shifts at Unite America toward electing moderates from both parties and the legislative progress that might then accrue. 

If you think U.S. politics is broken, you might be right. But these and other democracy repair experts are hard at work. Tune in to restore some optimism on the path ahead, daunting as that may seem. And please stay tuned to Season Two of the Purple Principle, launching in March. 

Original music by Ryan Adair Rooney.

For show notes and transcript, please visit our website: www.fluentknowledge.com/shows/the-purple-principle/were-polarized-now-what-the-hard-work-of-depolarization

A first presidential impeachment… the COVID pandemic with great dissension over shutdowns, social distancing and mask-wearing…Our hotly contested 2020 election followed by major efforts at election reversal culminating with insurrection and a second impeachment trial... 

It’s been quite a year, much too full of subject matter since we started researching and producing Purple Principle episodes on the theme of polarization. Episode 22, “Polarization as Plague,” is Part One of our two-part season finale. We start off in the neuroscience laboratory with previous featured guests, Dr. Abigail Marsh of Georgetown (Ep 4, “Heard from the Herd”) and Dr. Jay Van Bavel (Ep 9, “Your Brain on Partisanship”) for a quick lesson on the brain structures underlying political orientation and the brain functions fueling partisanship. 

Yet brains haven’t changed in millenia. Why are we more partisan of late? Look no further than the polarizing nature of our two party political system, as noted by both Dr. Van Bavel and noted author and historian, Dr. Geoffrey Kabaservice (author of Rule and Ruin, Oxford Press). We also consult media experts from two different but equally influential domains: Dr. Robert Elliott Smith (University College London) on the polarizing algorithms of social media and Dr. Dominik Stecula on opinion-based Cable News. 

What is a polarized nation and society to do? Several experts weigh in on that question during this fast-moving finale focused on the hyperpartisan plague. Please tune in, share us on social media, review us on Apple Music, and subscribe to our newsletter, The Purple Principle in Print, which collects the latest and greatest articles, trends, and issues around the perils of partisanship.

Original Music composed by Ryan Adair Rooney.

For show notes and transcript, please visit our website: www.fluentknowledge.com/shows/the-purple-principle/polarization-as-plague

Source Notes:

Keith Poole

Data. Voteview. 

Lauren Sibilia. Vermont General Assembly. 

Party Affiliation. Gallup. 

Abigail Marsh. Georgetown University. 

Abigail Marsh. The Laboratory on Social and Affective Neuroscience. 

Across the Table. Pew Research Center. 

Political Polarization in the American Public. Pew Research Center. 

DeAngelis, T. (2001). “All you need is contact.” American Psychological Association 32:10. 

Robert Elliott Smith.

Dominik Stecula 

Kate Kenski et. al. (2017). "Broadcasting versus Narrowcasting: Do Mass Media Exist in the Twenty-First Century?." In The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication. : Oxford University Press.

“Fourth Congressional District.” Congressman Jason Altmire. 

Jason Altmire (2017). Dead Center: How Political Polarization Divided America and What We Can Do About It. Sunbury Press. 

E. McGhee et. al. (2014). A Primary Cause of Partisanship? Nomination Systems and Legislator Ideology. American Journal of Political Science, 58(2), 337-351.

Myq Kaplan. 

Jay Van Bavel

Cikara, M., & Van Bavel, J. J. (2014). The Neuroscience of Intergroup Relations: An Integrative Review. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 9(3), 245–274. 

Carolyn Funk et. al. (10/17/12). Genetic and Environmental Transmission of Political Orientations. Political Psychology 34 (6). 

Trevor Potter. Campaign Legal Center. 

“A primer on gerrymandering and political polarization.” Brookings Institute.

Geoffrey Kabaservice (2011).Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, From Eisenhower to the Tea Party

Geoffrey Kabaservice, Niskanen Center 

Andrew Gelman

More in Common

The Hidden Tribes of America 

India Opzoomer (9/24/20). “America Speaks: What do they think about cross-party marriages?” YouGov. 

Alaskans for Better Elections - Yes on 2 for Better Elections 

“Ranked Choice Voting 101.” FairVote. 

John Opdycke. Open Primaries.