Jun 10: You’d Never Join a Cult, Right? Daniella Mestyanek Young Says”You’re probably already in a cult. You just don’t know it…”
Why We Hand Our Power to High-Control Groups & How To Get It Back
Today’s guest is a leading expert on group-think, high-control situations, corporate cultures, clubs, and some of the most insidious cults in America. She says, you might want to look at some of the organizations and people you associate with, before it’s too late.
Last time we spoke with Daniella Mestyanek Young it was about Uncultured, Daniella’s escape from the insidious Children of God cult. Today we explore some of the insights in her latest book, The Culting of America: What Makes A Cult & Why We Love Them.
We look at the difference between cults, groups, and clubs. Discuss a couple of well-known organizations and corporations that meet the 10 criteria shared by all cults. We unpack what makes cults dangerous. How to recognize the signs of high-control groups before it’s too late. And why, and how, we get sucked into them.
Meet Daniella Mestyanek Young
Daniella Mestyanek Young is a cult survivor, U.S. Army veteran, Harvard-trained organizational psychologist, and the author of two books about high-control groups—her critically- acclaimed memoir Uncultured. And her latest, The Culting of America. Born into the Children of God—the infamous sex cult known for weaponizing religion, sexuality, and isolation—Daniella escaped at 15, only to join another high-control institution: the United States Army. She became one of the first women to serve on an integrated ground combat team in Army history, while working as an intelligence officer who studied terrorists for a living. Her work sits at the intersection of leadership, identity, group psychology, and coercive control.
Continue reading