On Cults and Messiahs with Don Lattin on October 20


On Cults and Messiahs with Don Lattin
To be released on Monday, October 20

Don Lattin, a former journalist, is author of Jesus Freaks: A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical EdgeFollowing Our Bliss: How the Spiritual Ideals of the Sixties Shape Our Lives TodayThe Harvard Psychedelic Club: How Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for AmericaChanging Our Minds: Psychedelic Sacraments and the New Psychotherapy; and Distilled Spirits: Getting High, and then Sober, with a Famous Writer, a Forgotten Philosopher, and a Hopeless Drunk. His newest book is God on Psychedelics.

Don shares insights from his investigative work on cults, messianic figures, and the spiritual movements of the 20th and 21st centuries. Lattin explores the intersections of spirituality, psychology, and power dynamics in religious movements.

00:00 Introduction
04:04 Jonestown and the religion beat
07:00 The evolution of cults and religion
11:51 Adi Da and the Fijian Ashram stories
23:01 OneTaste and sensual spirituality
29:00 Christian nationalism and Trump as a messiah
41:00 Historical roots of authoritarian spirituality
44:44 Parallels between cults and modern movements
45:57 The complexity of charismatic leadership
46:58 Conclusion

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