Dr. Steven Hassan: Are You In a Cult?
2/19/20261 hr 47 min
In a conversation that’s equal parts psychological thriller and masterclass in influence, Trevor and Eugene sit down with world-renowned cult expert Dr. Steven Hassan. Recruited into the Unification Church (aka the Moonies) as a college student, Hassan rose through its ranks before ultimately breaking free — an experience that reshaped his life’s work and inspired his bestselling book The Cult of Trump.
From fringe groups to social media echo chambers, the trio unpack how and why ordinary people get swept into systems of extreme belief, the ways loyalty is engineered, and what separates healthy persuasion from manipulation. They also explore why the line between conviction and control is thinner and closer to home than we think.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsTrevor Noah· Host0:00
[upbeat music] This is something that I'm picking up on already, is many of the things that a, that a cult might say to you are actually true.
Eugene Khoza· Host0:11
Mm.
Trevor Noah· Host0:12
Do you get what I'm saying? I, I do think- For sure! ... mankind is asleep in that way, and, and we see it in what we eat, how we live- How we consume ... how we, how we work, how we consume.
Eugene Khoza· Host0:21
Mm-hmm.
Trevor Noah· Host0:21
There is a level of, like, asleep.
Eugene Khoza· Host0:23
Sleepwalking.
Trevor Noah· Host0:24
Yeah, but I go like, "Yeah- Mm ... no, this is true." We're not, we're not in touch with our bodies anymore.
Eugene Khoza· Host0:27
Mm.
Trevor Noah· Host0:27
We're not in tune with our minds. We, you know, we, we, we some- we act mindlessly. We... You, I could- if someone said that to me- People walking down the street. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Steven Hassan· Guest0:35
Walk- You know how many times I see people walk into the street- Yeah ...
Trevor Noah· Host0:37
on their phone?
Steven Hassan· Guest0:38
Yeah.
Trevor Noah· Host0:38
And then a car has to swivel. I'm like, "Yeah, we are." So they would have me on that line. If they said, "Mankind is asleep," I'd be like, "Carry on?"
Steven Hassan· Guest0:44
But you're hitting on another universal point that's really im- uh, demanding, uh, underlining and, and with a red pencil, um, that, that the ideologies have truthful, important things- Yeah ... in it, and they quote- Mm-hmm ... famous people who say really important things.
Trevor Noah· Host1:06
Mm. Mm.
Steven Hassan· Guest1:06
So it's not just all BS, and that's p- also, as a therapist, that's what I try to do in helping my clients deconstruct how did they get hooked? What were the pieces that hooked them? And the technique, I'm jumping ahead, and I'll circle back to your earlier question, but the technique that's most effective is I empower my clients to