Cults, Community, and Consumerism

Dr. Mara Einstein, author of Hoodwinked: How Marketers Use the Same Tactics As Cults, helps us recognize the cult tactics being used to hoodwink us into submission and get us to act against our own self-interest. This conversation was recorded February 4, 2025.

About Dr. Mara Einstein

Dr. Mara Einstein has written books on branding religion (Brands of Faith), cause marketing (Compassion, Inc.), and deceptive marketing practices. This last book was Black Ops Advertising, which The New York Times called “well-researched and accomplished” and The Guardian agreed, saying “Einstein’s explanations of all this – from internet news organisations to TV product placement and even dating sites – are thoroughly researched, elegantly explained and often alarming, even for readers familiar with most of the above facts in the abstract.”

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