The Reading Octagon

Episode #2322

Rebecca Lemov

· 11 books mentioned

Books mentioned

  1. The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross

    John Marco Allegro

    Mentioned by Joe Rogan (host) · at 00:31:11 · ▶︎ Watch this moment on YouTube (approximate)

    Amazon (opens in a new tab; affiliate link) Source: Transcript (podscripts.co)

  2. Island

    Aldous Huxley

    Mentioned by Joe Rogan (host) · at 00:33:55 · ▶︎ Watch this moment on YouTube (approximate)

    Amazon (opens in a new tab; affiliate link) Source: Transcript (podscripts.co)

  3. Chaos

    Tom O'Neill

    Mentioned by Joe Rogan (host) · at 00:54:55 · ▶︎ Watch this moment on YouTube (approximate)

    Amazon (opens in a new tab; affiliate link) Source: Transcript (podscripts.co)

  4. The Captive Mind

    Czeslaw Milosz

    Mentioned by Rebecca Lemov · at 01:03:57 · ▶︎ Watch this moment on YouTube (approximate)

    Amazon (opens in a new tab; affiliate link) Source: Transcript (podscripts.co)

  5. Blitzed

    Norman Ohler

    Mentioned by Joe Rogan (host) · at 01:41:40 · ▶︎ Watch this moment on YouTube (approximate)

    Amazon (opens in a new tab; affiliate link) Source: Transcript (podscripts.co)

  6. The Search for the Manchurian Candidate

    John Marks

    Mentioned by Rebecca Lemov · at 01:43:48 · ▶︎ Watch this moment on YouTube (approximate)

    Amazon (opens in a new tab; affiliate link) Source: Transcript (podscripts.co)

  7. The Terminal Man

    Michael Crichton

    Mentioned by Rebecca Lemov · at 01:53:45 · ▶︎ Watch this moment on YouTube (approximate)

    Amazon (opens in a new tab; affiliate link) Source: Transcript (podscripts.co)

  8. Violence and the Brain

    Vernon H. Mark, Frank R. Ervin

    Mentioned by Rebecca Lemov · at 01:52:37 · ▶︎ Watch this moment on YouTube (approximate)

    Amazon (opens in a new tab; affiliate link) Source: Transcript (podscripts.co)

  9. The Hidden Persuaders

    Vance Packard

    Mentioned by Rebecca Lemov · at 02:11:15 · ▶︎ Watch this moment on YouTube (approximate)

    Amazon (opens in a new tab; affiliate link) Source: Transcript (podscripts.co)

  10. Mass Persuasion

    Robert K. Merton

    Mentioned by Rebecca Lemov · at 02:11:43 · ▶︎ Watch this moment on YouTube (approximate)

    Amazon (opens in a new tab; affiliate link) Source: Transcript (podscripts.co)

  11. The Instability of Truth

    Rebecca Lemov

    Mentioned by Joe Rogan (host) · at 02:40:08 · ▶︎ Watch this moment on YouTube (approximate)

    Amazon (opens in a new tab; affiliate link) Source: Official episode description (podcast RSS) · Transcript (podscripts.co)

Timestamps are segment start times from the podscripts.co transcript of the audio release (includes ad reads), so they may differ from the video by a few minutes.

Rebecca Lemov, a historian of science at Harvard, discusses her research on mind control and hyper-persuasion. The conversation covers historical programs like MKUltra, the psychology of cults, and modern risks of social media manipulation and AI. Lemov also explores mindfulness as a defense against these persuasive techniques.

What they talked about

  • History of mind control research
  • MKUltra and CIA experiments
  • Meditation practice and Vipassana
  • Cults and spiritual narcissism
  • Psychedelic mushrooms in ancient religions
  • Psychosurgery and brain implants for violence
  • AI companions and ethical concerns
  • Search engine bias and information control

Data last updated · Report a mistake · How it works: mentions are pulled from public transcripts and episode descriptions, partly with AI-assisted extraction, so details and timestamps can be off.

Episode sources