Episode
Dr. Steven Hassan: Are You In a Cult and Don't Even Know It?
- Podcast
- What Now? with Trevor Noah
- Published
- Feb 19, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 6393
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://www.siriusxm.com
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/what-now-with-trevor-noah-6654482/episodes/dr-steven-hassan-are-you-in-a-cult-and-don-t-even-know-it/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-now-with-trevor-noah-6654482/dr-steven-hassan-are-you-in-a-cult-and-don-t-even-know-it.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
In a conversation that’s equal parts psychological thriller and masterclass in influence, Trevor and Eugene sit down with world-renowned cult expert Dr. Steven Hassan. Recruited into the Unification Church (aka the Moonies) as a college student, Hassan rose through its ranks before ultimately breaking free — an experience that reshaped his life’s work and inspired his bestselling book The Cult of Trump. From fringe groups to social media echo chambers, the trio unpack how and why ordinary people get swept into systems of extreme belief, the ways loyalty is engineered, and what separates healthy persuasion from manipulation. They also explore why the line between conviction and control is thinner and closer to home than we think.