Losing Reality: On Cults, Cultism, and the Mindset of Political and Religious Zealotry

Media track record: His previous book, The Climate Swerve, was reviewed in the Washington Post and excerpted in the New York Times. Lifton has been a contributor to the New York Times for over fifty years. He has appeared on many NPR shows, including Fresh Air. He has appeared in many TV and feature documentaries. He has been interviewed by both Stephen Spielberg’s team for a Discovery Channel show on the Japanese suicide Aum Shinrikyo and also for a film by Errol Morris. His definition of cults is used by the hugely popular podcast CULTS in the opening of their show.

Credentials: He is one of the world’s leading authorities on thought control and cult violence. He taught and practiced at Yale, Harvard, and John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He is one of the great practitioners of psycho-history, the combination of psychiatry and history. His ideas are often cited in articles and essays. He has been a prolific voice on Trump’s psychological suitability to be president.

Blurbs/endorsements: James Carroll, Martin Amis, Bill McKibben, Judith Herman, Sherry Turkle, James Gilligan