Dr. Mara Einstein

In the first episode of Hoodwinked with Dr. Mara Einstein, I chat with Yale religion and history scholar Katie Lofton—a leading voice on religion and consumer culture—to unpack how our deepest systems of belief shape what we buy, who we follow, and how we build community online.

Hoodwinked with Dr. Mara Einstein Self-Improvement Podcast · Updated Biweekly · What if your favorite brand—or your favorite influencer—used the same playbook as a cult?    Hoodwinked with Dr. Mara Einstein unpacks how modern marketin...

I’ve got a podcast!!!

Here’s a 5-minute intro to get you started….especially if you’re into cults and understanding how deceptive marketing tactics get you to buy.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

My new podcast, Hoodwinked with Dr. Mara Einstein launches October 30th.

We’re talking scams—consumer, religious, and political—with academics, ex-cult members, marketing practitioners, and more.

Check my website (drmaraeinstein.com) for updates.

Kimmel/Nexstar/The FCC, Lush Cosmetics does it again...and ICE, not so great To Understand Kimmel, You Have to Understand Broadcast TV

In today’s Substack I explain the relationship among ABC, Nexstar, and the FCC. When you read this, you will understand why Nexstar caved.

substack.com/@drmaraeinst...

Is Everything a Cult? Mara Einstein explains how social media and digital technologies have made us vulnerable to cult tactics, and why marketers are driven to implement these approaches in order to grab our attention and ...

Next Tuesday, September 30th, I will be speaking live at NYU. Click the link to sign up.

Hope to see you there!

steinhardt.nyu.edu/events/every...

"If they promise you $10k months: run, don't walk, the other way" The Cult of Entrepreneurship: Not Everyone Should Join It. A Q&A with Dr Mara Einstein on | The Interview, Sept '25

Here’s a link to a conversation I recently had with Ellen Donnelly. I was glad we were able to get into the valorizing of the gig economy and hype of digital entrepreneurship, in addition to cults, MLMs, and coaching scams.

ellen-fromtheask.beehiiv.com/p/drmaraeins...

Awesome! Thank you. Please do let me know what you think.

Hoodwinked: How Marketers Use the Same Tactics as Cults Hoodwinked: How Marketers Use the Same Tactics as Cults [Einstein PhD, Mara, Rushkoff, Douglas] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Hoodwinked: How Marketers Use the Same Tactics as Cults

Then you’ll love my book Hoodwinked: How Marketers Use the Same Tactics as Cults. And right now it’s on sale!

www.amazon.com/Hoodwinked-M...

Nexstar To Acquire Tegna For $6.2B In Local TV Megadeal Fueled By Donald Trump Deregulation Nexstar, the No. 1 owner of TV stations in the U.S., is acquiring rival Tegna in a deal that challenges decade-old limits on control of local media.

deadline.com/2025/08/nexs...

This would make them bigger than the broadcast networks. This is hair-on-fire kind of scary.

This is why I still teach about the broadcast industry. Because of stories like this.

Some are suggesting the real reason Jimmy Kimmel got canceled is that Nexstar needs approval from the FCC to buy Tegna’s TV stations. This deal would enable Nexstar to own stations that cover 80% of the US. Current regulation is that no company can own stations covering more than 39% of the US.

This week, I’m on IndoctriNATION.

Cult recruitment and retention tactics, facilitated by digital media, are why the country is where it is now. I implore you to listen, and learn—not only how we got here—but how we could get out.

From Uncle Sam to social media memes: inside homeland security’s push to swell Ice ranks Homeland security lowers hiring standards and floods social media with patriotic, often xenophobic, recruitment posts

Ice recruitment advertising is, well, not the best. I talked about that with Johana Bhuiyan for The Guardian

It was an interesting interview, because I had to balance between criticizing what DHS was doing wrong without telling them how they could do it better.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

This should be of interest to anyone in the green space as well as professors teaching marketing or sustainability.

This article/video is available in perpetuity, thanks to Project MUSE.

This link is to a talk I gave at Michigan State University about greenwashing. The talk is contextualized within a broader discussion about the rise of cause marketing and the purpose washing that followed.

muse.jhu.edu/article/965618

In new polling for NYC mayor, Mamdani is leading.

Mamdani 50%
Cuomo 22%
Sliwa (R) 13%
Adams 7%

This race is not just about millennials and Gen Z. These numbers also mean that Jews are looking at him as a viable candidate.

The MSM needs to stop acting like Mamdani is the also-ran.

Especially since their stock is up.

Exactly.

No one. And the stock is up, but it doesn’t mean they’ve saved the brand. Sales were down 5% last year.

Some people are saying the American Eagle ad is simply an homage to Calvin Klein and Brooke Shields in the 80s.

Here’s the ad:

And he does it proactively. His takedowns of the NY Post are chef’s kiss.

This is why Mamdani is ahead in NYC. He’s in it to fight, he’s got a plan, and he’s got the communications chops to engage and inform people.

YouTube video by Zohran Mamdani for NYC Wu-Tang, JB, and Zohran bring the ruckus

Living in New York feels like being in a split screen. On one side, we see the hope and joy of Mamdani and the other we see the pain and terror of Trump and demise of democracy.

youtu.be/yPbtARzHHHw?si

C. It’s the cleanest one for a small thumbnail. And more people are likely to be drawn in by the word fake than by ad.

Exactly.

The Cult Content Boom: What’s Behind Our Obsession? Why can’t we look away from stories about cults? The real story may not be about those who fall prey, but about realizing that we’re all vulnerable to manipulation.

“The fascination with cults fundamentally rests in the idea that people believe that they can’t be drawn into one,” says Dr. Mara Einstein, author of Hoodwinked: How Marketers Use the Same Tactics as Cults.

tinyurl.com/59a3afz3

Thanks do much for saying so. I’m going to be back next month to dig in some more!

It’s AI so nowhere