"One of those life-changing reads that makes you see-or in this case hear-the whole world
differently." -Megan Angelo author of Followers"At times chilling often funny and always
perceptive and cogent Cultish is a bracing reminder that the scariest thing about cults is
that you don't realize you're in one till it's too late."-Refinery29.comThe New York Times
bestselling author of The Age of Magical Overthinking and Wordslut analyzes the social science
of cult influence: how "cultish" groups from Jonestown and Scientologists to SoulCycle and
social media gurus use language as the ultimate form of power. What makes "cults" so
intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson
documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is
because we're looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join-and more
importantly stay in-extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda
Montell's argument is that on some level it already has . . . Our culture tends to provide
pretty flimsy answers to questions of cult influence mostly having to do with vague talk of
"brainwashing." But the true answer has nothing to do with freaky mind-control wizardry or
Kool-Aid. In Cultish Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology community
and us them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones
cultish language is something we hear-and are influenced by-every single day. Through juicy
storytelling and cutting original research Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a
wide spectrum of communities "cultish " revealing how they affect followers of groups as
notorious as Heaven's Gate but also how they pervade our modern start-ups Peloton
leaderboards and Instagram feeds. Incisive and darkly funny this enrapturing take on the
curious social science of power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of
"cultish" everywhere.
