Newsletter: Defending Democracy with Strategic Messaging
Surviving, Thriving, and Spreading Hope for Freedom of Mind
This week’s livestream will be tomorrow, Wednesday, August 13th, at 3-4 p.m. EDT. We hope to livestream on YouTube, Substack, Instagram, and perhaps some others! I welcome everyone to tune in with questions and comments! Last week’s livestream was a great success; you can see the recording here if you missed it.
In this week’s episode of Cult Conversations: The Influence Continuum, titled: Strategic Cultural Communications: Competent Messaging to Latino Communities, I spoke with Evelyn Pérez-Verdia, a leading bilingual political strategist, business owner, and advocate for the Latino community, about the importance of purveying accurate information in all communications. You can listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Of course, the video of the interview is on our YouTube channel and is embedded in the Substack post.
We are happy to announce the paperback publication of the Spanish version of my classic book, Combating Cult Mind Control, entitled Rompiendo el Control Mental de las Sectas.
In next week’s episode, “We Will Dance Again: Documenting the Nova Music Festival Terror Attack by Hamas Terrorists," I interviewed Emmy award-winning filmmaker and documentarian Yariv Mozer, to speak about his challenging and important documentary, We Will Dance Again, which covers the brutal Hamas terrorist attack of the Nova music festival attendees on October 7th, 2023.
Last week, I was interviewed by Evangelical Bible teacher Amy Hawk on her YouTube channel. We spoke about mind control, propaganda, the blind devotion of many Trump followers, and what we can do to stay in communication with our loved ones trapped in the Cult of Trump.
This upcoming Thursday, August 14th, from 6:30 – 8:00 PM, I will be speaking at a special free community event, Defending Democracy in Hampden County. The discussion will center around the rise of authoritarian influence in American politics. If you’re in Springfield, Massachusetts, I’d love to meet you and talk with you! It will be streamed on Zoom, plus we plan to stream it live on my YouTube channel, @drstevenhassan!
Last week, we posted part two of a special two-part blog post for our paid Substack Members titled “Unusual Estrangement.” Many people grow up in families surrounded by coercive control as unhealthy as any found in a high-control authoritarian cult, and it is crucial to understand this form of control and how to heal from it. If you’re not a paid subscriber, now is an excellent time to become one.
Finally, I am particularly proud to let you know that my office manager and colleague, Jim Picariello, has been interviewed by Tyler Measom and Liz Iacuzzi of the “Was I In a Cult?” podcast. In the episode, “Zen Master Rama’s Meditation/ Computer Programming Cult: Going for the Gold!” Jim talks about his own cult experiences (including the witnessing of mind-blowing miracles) and how I first met him by helping him help himself out of his cult mindset! Like many survivors, he now thrives as a speaker educating others about authoritarian, high-control groups; feel free to check out his Instagram.
Words matter, and how words or phrases are used may present completely different meanings to diverse cultural demographics depending on topics like history and associated symbolic language. That’s why having a leading bilingual female strategist such as Evelyn Pérez-Verdia on the side of truth in messaging is vital to organizations seeking to break down barriers with Latino communities. A female Hispanic small business owner, Evelyn has two decades of experience as an advisor to elections offices, grassroots groups, advocacy campaigns, and governmental agencies on messaging, communications, image, digital content, and micro-engagement.
Read the blog post or listen to the podcast, below:
The rupture between adult children and their parents is one of contemporary society’s most emotionally fraught phenomena. The recent surge of interest has sparked forums, books, podcasts, and even support circles for both camps of estranged parents and adult children. It goes without saying that estrangement itself is not necessarily a new phenomenon, but our increased discussion of the dynamics of family systems has brought it into the public zeitgeist like never before.
Read the paid subscriber article now!
As always, please let us know what you think about these pieces or what you’d like to see us discuss in the future. Thanks so much!
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