The Science of Psychotherapy Political Ponerology
Mar 9, 2026
Harrison Koehli, editor of the second edition of Andrew Lobaczewski’s Political Ponerology and independent researcher of political psychopathy. He recounts Lobaczewski’s life and secret research. He explains how pathological individuals infiltrate movements and seize power. He describes manipulation strategies, the tactical use of emotional deficits, and why political psychopathy is understudied.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Totalitarianism As A Mass Psychopathology
- Andrew Lobaczewski framed communism as a macro social psychopathological phenomenon where party structures became saturated with pathological personalities.
- He used his clinical psychology background and underground research in 1950s–70s Poland to diagnose totalitarian systems as spreading pathology through society.
Lobaczewski Rewrote His Book From Memory
- Lobaczewski burned an early manuscript after a tip about a police raid, later entrusted a copy to a tourist who never delivered it, then rewrote the book from memory in the 1980s.
- He emigrated to New York, worked factory shifts, and finally published Political Ponerology in 2006 near the end of his life.
Corporate Psychopathy Research Mirrors Political Dynamics
- Corporate psychopathy research (Hare and Babiak) parallels political ponerology by documenting high-functioning manipulators who succeed in organizations.
- These corporate models illuminate mechanisms of behind-the-scenes influence relevant to politics.
