Amanda Montell on How Cult Leaders and CEOs Use Language to Control

                        

  

What do Soulcycle, QAnon, and Charles Manson all have in common? They all use the language of cults. For this exciting episode, author and linguist Amanda Montell takes a deep dive into the cult-ish language we see in our day-to-day lives. She should know: She's the author of the critically-acclaimed book Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism and hosts a podcast about modern-day cults called Sounds like a Cult.

On the pod, Amanda and Jon talk about their experiences with cults and the mechanisms that make them powerful. They tackle concepts like thought-terminating cliches, algorithms, and the Protestant ethic — all of which play a part in forming a cult-like mentality. Listen to this episode, but be warned: You may not see your fitness instructor the same way again.