We can probably all picture the stereotype of cult members: glassy-eyed, dressed alike, fixated on their leader. And then we might feel smug, because we’re nothing like them. Right?
As writer Amanda Montell argues in her book Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, there’s a good chance most of us share more cult-like behaviors with devoted acolytes than we care to admit. Cults, she writes, are less about drinking the Kool-Aid and far more about language and how we use it to identify who is in — and out — of our group. A linguist and writer by profession, Montell examines many of our society’s everyday groups — CrossFit, Instagram feeds, start-ups — to reveal that cultish thinking is far more pervasive than we may think. Amanda Montell joins us Friday at 11am, and again at 7pm.
Amanda Montell’s book is Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism [Amazon|Bookshop]
