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
When it comes to cults–from MLM to MAGA–the question everyone wants answered is: how do I get my loved one out? In this episode, Dr. Mara Einstein tackles that question with Dr. Tanya Johnson, a therapist specializing in religious trauma, cult recovery, and high-control groups. She explains the cult recovery process while providing insights from her experience growing up Mormon.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
- Dr. Johnson’...
What happens to democracy, trust, and shared reality when influence is driven by engagement rather than truth—and belief itself becomes a business model? In Episode 7, Dr. Mara Einstein sits down with two other experts to examine how digital influence actually works today—and why it has become one of the most powerful belief-shaping systems of our time.
In Part 1, Dr. Mara is joined by Sam Ogborn, a marketing strategist and...
Digital technologies have been fundamental to the proliferation and perpetuation of cults of all kinds. Joining Dr. Mara Einstein for an examination of belief, power, and persuasion are two very special guests: one a theologian and the other an internet scholar. Together they make the case that we are not just living with technology—we are living inside its belief systems. And without conscious resistance, reform, and real...
In this episode, Dr. Mara Einstein is joined by Julie Anderson, one of the most influential voices in the anti-MLM movement, for a deeply personal and unflinching conversation about life inside multi-level marketing—and the long road out.
Julie walks through how she was pulled into MONAT through a product that initially worked, how she was systematically funneled from customer to seller to recruiter, and how incentive s...
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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