What is brainwashing?

*Warning* This episode includes references to suicide.

When listener Ben heard about a Kenyan “starvation cult” in the news, he wondered whether the members of this group had been brainwashed. Is it possible to control someone’s mind?

In this episode presenter Caroline Steel learns how easily people can be influenced. She hears what it’s like to be part of a cult, and gets to the bottom of a decades-long debate: does brainwashing exist? And, if so, how does it work?

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Florian Bohr
Editor: Richard Collings
Production Co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris
Studio Managers: Donald McDonald and Emma Harth

Featuring:

Anthony Pratkanis, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz
Alexandra Stein, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Sussex
Eileen Barker, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, London School of Economics

(Image: Washing a brain. Credit: Cemile Bingol / Getty Images).