Mystery. Manipulation. Murder. Cults are associated with all of these. But what really goes on inside them? More specifically, what goes on inside the minds of cult leaders and the people who join them? Based on the hit podcast Cults, this is essential reading for any true crime fan.
Cults prey on the very attributes that make us human: our desire to belong, to find a deeper meaning in life, to live everyday with divine purpose. Their existence creates a sense that any one of us, at any time, could step off the cliff’s edge and fall into that daunting abyss of manipulation and unhinged dedication to a misplaced cause. Perhaps it’s this mindset that keeps us so utterly obsessed and desperate to learn more, or it’s that the stories are so bizarre and unsettling that we are simply in awe of the mechanics that make these infamous groups tick.
The premier storytelling podcast studio Parcast has been focusing on unearthing these mechanics—the cult leaders and followers, and the world and culture that gave birth to both. Parcast’s work in analyzing dozens of case studies has revealed patterns: distinct ways that cult leaders from different generations resemble one another. What links the ten notorious figures profiled in Cults are as disturbing as they are stunning—from Manson to Applewhite, Koresh to Raël, the stories woven here are both spellbinding and disturbing.
Cults is more than just a compilation of grisly biographies, however. In these pages, Parcast’s founder Max Cutler and national bestselling author Kevin Conley look closely at the lives of some of the most disreputable cult figures and tell the stories of their rise to power and fall from grace, sanity, and decency. Beyond that, it is a study of humanity, an unflinching look at what happens when the most vulnerable recesses of the mind are manipulated and how the things we hold most sacred can be twisted into the lowest form of malevolence.
Betka
31.3.2024
Fascinerende, skremmende og utrolig. Om kultene og deres ledere. Psykopater, narsissister, sosiopater, sadister, megalomaner og pedofile... Forfatterne prøver å svare på spørsmålet: Hva fikk en "guru" til å trekke tilhengere etter seg, og til å få dem tro på fullstendig tull? Dette var ofte utdannede mennesker, suksessfulle mennesker... angivelig kunne enhver av oss falle for disse manipulatørenes feller. Det er karisma, manipulasjonstwknikker og psykologiske spill som er hovedfaktoren, og ikke noe ved ofrene. Sektene som er presentert i boken (noen av dem har jeg aldri hørt om før): Charles Manson og familien, Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo og narko-satanistene, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Jim Jones og Folkets tempel, Claude Vorilhon og Raelianerne, Roch Theriault og Barna fra maurtuen, David Koresh og Davidianer-sekten, Keith Raniere og NXIVM, Credonia Mwerinde og Bevegelsen for å gjenopprette de ti bud, Marshal Applewhite og Heaven's Gate. Boken er til tider ganske drastisk.
For å skrive en anmeldelse må du last ned appen