Hoodwinked with Dr. Mara Einstein
What if your favorite brand—or your favorite influencer—used the same playbook as a cult? Hoodwinked with Dr. Mara Einstein unpacks how modern marketing borrows tactics from cults, MLMs, and political movements to win hearts, minds, and wallets. Through conversations with academics, activists, and insiders, Einstein—author of Hoodwinked: How Marketers Use the Same Tactics as Cults—reveals how belief and commerce became inseparable in the digital age. From influencer culture and wellness scams to pyramid schemes and political persuasion, Hoodwinked traces the hidden connections between belief and manipulation. Each episode explores how the same tools that keep followers loyal also keep consumers buying—and how to recognize when inspiration turns into indoctrination. Produced by Multitude
Episodes
In this episode, Dr. Mara Einstein sits down with Chris Kneeland, co-founder of Cult Collective and The Gathering, and anthropologist Ali Demos of StrawberryFrog, to unpack the surprising overlap between cult psychology, brand loyalty, and modern movement-making.
Together, they explore why brands like Apple, LEGO, Costco, REI, Harley-Davidson, YETI, and even gas stations inspire devotion that looks a lot less like shopp...
In this solo episode, Dr. Mara Einstein follows the trail from Jonestown to Apple, to TikTok influencers, and MLMs, uncovering how cult psychology has quietly become a blueprint for modern marketing. What used to live on remote compounds now lives in your feed, your shopping cart, and the brands you identify with.
Dr. Mara breaks down how vulnerable people get targeted, love-bombed, upsold, and turned into unpaid evange...
Sarah Edmondson, co-host of A Little Bit Culty and NXIVM cult whistleblower, joins Dr. Mara Einstein to provide an insider’s perspective on cult tactics, how people are pulled into cults, and how to spot the red flags that ultimately help people get out. Together, they explore what defines a cult (yes, there can be a cult of one), who is susceptible to cults (hint: everyone), and how to avoid becoming a “cult hopper” (a ke...
What exactly is a cult—and how is it different from religion?
In this opening episode, Dr. Mara Einstein sits down with Kathryn Lofton, one of today’s most incisive scholars of religion and culture, to unpack how belief, devotion, and consumer behavior intertwine. From worshiping gods to worshiping brands, Lofton and Einstein explore how modern life blurs the line between the sacred and the sold.
Mentions:
- Oprah: ...
What if your favorite brand—or your favorite influencer—used the same playbook as a cult?
Hoodwinked with Dr. Mara Einstein unpacks how modern marketing borrows tactics from cults, MLMs, and political movements to win hearts, minds, and wallets. Through conversations with academics, activists, and insiders, Einstein—author of Hoodwinked: How Marketers Use the Same Tactics as Cults—reveals how belief and commerce b...
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