Retired Army colonel Lawrence Wilkerson and MRFF founder Mikey Weinstein expose Lindsey Graham’s warmongering as a cover for corporate interests and potential Epstein-related leverage.
Israel may in the end achieve its illicit and imperious goal of overthrowing the Iranian government, but the world, including Israel, will pay a tremendous price for years to come for this unnecessary, ill-conceived and ill-prepared war of aggression.
For 40 years Israel has wanted the U.S. to attack Iran, lacking the firepower to do it itself. For 40 years Iran prepared for this day. For 40 years the Pentagon war gamed such an attack. For 40 years U.S. presidents resisted a full-scale war against Iran, fearing the consequences we now see being played out. And then came Donald Trump. Why has he done what no U.S. president would do before? What are his motives? What kind of preparations were made for this war? What role have Armageddonists played?
How huge was the mistake of killing the supreme leader on the first day? Did Israel and the U.S. underestimated Iran's military capabilities? Who will win the race between interceptors versus drones and ballistic missiles? What damage have U.S. military bases in the region already sustained? Because of strict censorship in Israel it's hard to know the damage Israel has suffered. What do we know about how badly Israel has been hit? If the inerceptors are depleted and Israel is vulnerable to a still-armed Iran, would Israel resort to the ultimate weapon?
To help us answer these questions and more we welcome Ari Ben-Menashe, a former senior Israeli military intelligence officer. Ben-Menashe was born and raised in Iran. He is fluent in Farsi and has insight into the Iranian character.
What happens when modern prophets declare that God revealed Donald Trump would win... and then the prophecy fails?
New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), modern prophecy, Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity, Christian nationalism, the Seven Mountain Mandate, Bethel Church, Paula White, Bill Johnson, Chris Vallotton, and support for Trump are all examined in this episode of Cults, Culture, & Coercion.
Dr. Steven Hassan speaks with Holly Pivec and Doug Geivett about the global movement of self-identified apostles and prophets who claim to receive revelations from God. They discuss prophetic election predictions, apostolic authority, dominion theology, and how segments of contemporary charismatic Christianity intersect with government influence and Christian nationalist rhetoric, including public prophecies that Trump would win the 2020 election and the aftermath when he did not.
Drawing directly from their decades of research, Holly and Doug explain:
They also discuss statistics showing millions attending NAR-affiliated Pentecostalist churches in the U.S., the movement’s rapid global growth, and how its teachings shape political engagement, including support from religious leaders aligned with Donald Trump.
Throughout the conversation, Dr. Hassan connects these dynamics to themes of apocalyptic thinking, phobia indoctrination, and authoritarian control illustrating how fear of missing out on blessings, demonic attack, or being labeled spiritually deceived can discourage critical thinking and dissent.
This episode is a much-needed examination of modern prophecy claims, spiritual authority, Christian nationalism, prosperity gospel influence, and the blurred lines between faith, American politics, and coercive control.
If you’ve encountered teachings about apostles, prophets, dominion theology, or the Seven Mountains, and wondered how they fit within historic Christianity, this conversation offers clarity and insight.
John and Charles examine a cluster of end-times claims associated with William Branham, including the “natural vs spiritual Jew” framework, a predicted “second holocaust,” and narratives claiming Jewish wealth empowers the Antichrist.
John and Charles also trace how these ideas resemble Christian Identity themes and conspiracy tropes, then close with a discussion of a repeated sermon illustration invoking Hitler—why it lands as deeply disturbing, and how such rhetoric can shape a community’s posture toward fear, scapegoating, and militancy.
JD Vance once called Trump “America’s Hitler” so why did he join MAGA? In this episode of Cults, Culture, & Coercion, Dr. Steven Hassan interviews JD Vance's relative, Nikki McCarty on Christian nationalism, Pentecostal indoctrination, and authoritarian extremism.
Nikki McCarty, JD Vance's relative and the “childless cat lady” he often refers to, shares her firsthand experience growing up in a high-control Christian nationalist environment shaped by purity culture, rapture theology, emotional manipulation, and media control.
They also explore Nikki’s relationship to JD Vance’s family and her shock at watching his public political evolution from condemning Trump and warning of fascism, to embracing the MAGA movement. Nikki reflects on how hopeful she once felt that Vance might become a bridge between divided family members and how her hope collapsed as his rhetoric became increasingly extreme.
This episode also discusses Nikki’s late autism diagnosis, her experience coming out as a member of the LGBT community after growing up in homophobic religious culture, and the painful reality of family estrangement in an era of political polarization. Together, they explore how mind control dynamics don’t just exist in “cults,” but can operate inside religious movements, political ecosystems, and modern media environments.
In this conversation, Dr. Hassan and Nikki McCarty examine:
🔔 Subscribe for expert interviews and analysis on cults, coercive control, authoritarianism, propaganda, and psychological manipulation.
Learn more about Nikki McCarty on Substack: https://nikkimccarty9.substack.com
IMPORTANT ADDENDUM FROM NIKKI:
Nikki asked us to clarify that while she believes in the possibility of redemption, she believes there is no “redemption arc” for J.D. Vance without full justice for the Epstein survivors. She emphasized that the only way he can begin to mitigate the harm he has enabled is by supporting accountability for traffickers and abusers, regardless of power or party, and ending the protection of pedophiles and the silencing of victims.
Chapters:
Two Toronto based Legal Observers from the Orange Hats (https://orangehats.noblogs.org/main-pages/meet-the-orange-hats/) return to give us details on the tactics Toronto Police are using to try to bring down the Palestinian Solidarity Movement.
Tasked with keeping an eye on cops during protests and other actions, Gisela and Leon have lots of stories to tell. Together the group recently issued a 2025 Year-In-Review (https://orangehats.noblogs.org/general/orange-hats-2025-report-on-toronto-police-service-conduct-at-protests/) on Toronto Police Services conduct at protests. The report includes statistics on injuries and arrests; it warns of trends in policing; and it points to a clear strategy to suppress the activities of activists - and legal observers.
Its not all bad news. Thanks to their experience, the Orange Hats are a great source of advice for organizers and activists - or anyone coming into contact with Police.
John and Charles examine a pivotal moment that reshaped modern prophetic preaching, tracing how Cold War politics intersected with American revivalism. They explore a high-level Washington gathering where national security fears, anti-communism, and religious influence collided, setting the stage for a dramatic shift in prophetic messaging.
The conversation follows how political access, insider status, and fear-based rhetoric fueled the rise of doomsday prophecy, particularly in William Branham’s ministry. By tracking sermon timelines, publications, and shifting themes, they show how external political pressure transformed theological claims and permanently altered the trajectory of post-war charismatic movements.
John Collins traces the long, unsettling history behind today's "Army of God" and Seven Mountains language, showing how Christian Identity, British Israelism, and early twentieth-century revival movements shaped the way many believers now talk about nations, elections, and prophecy. Walking through old sermons, newspapers, and political campaigns, he explains why it only feels like things are worse today, and how earlier generations used the same fear-based apocalyptic narratives around leaders, wars, and "holy nations" that we see recycled in modern prophetic politics.
From King Cyrus rhetoric around presidents to end-times math, dominion language, and the blending of pulpit and campaign stage, John invites listeners to step back and examine where these ideas came from and what they do to real people and real countries. This journey through overlooked history is meant to equip thoughtful Christians, former members of high-control movements, and anyone watching the New Apostolic Reformation.
John and Jenny dive into the disturbing intersections between militarism, psychology, and religion within Youth With A Mission (YWAM). Drawing parallels to early Pentecostal cults and authoritarian movements, they examine how “spiritual warfare” language and practices condition young minds for obedience and control. Jenny shares her firsthand experience of life inside YWAM—where teenagers are sent on “target missions,” sleep-deprived prayer watches, and told demons lurk in everyday objects—while John connects these patterns to the mind control methods of Branhamism and early revival cults like those of Frank Sanford and John Alexander Dowie. Together they expose how hyper-spiritualized fear, trauma bonding, and dissociation produce lifelong anxiety and religious PTSD, even as participants believe they are serving God.
Dr. Karin Kneissl, Austria's former Foreign Minister, diplomat, academic, and journalist, joined me for a year-in-review to discuss some of the most significant events of 2025. The apparent schism between Washington and Brussels, the Ukraine War, and the development of the Arctic are just some of the subjects we examined.
Can Russia and the U.S. enter a new era of rapprochement? Has the E.U. gone mad with its personal sanctions?
John explores the shocking hidden history of the “Billion Soul Harvest” movement, revealing how its roots stretch far deeper than the New Apostolic Reformation. Drawing from Cold War politics, postwar psychological experiments, and William Branham’s authoritarian theology, he traces how government fear tactics and revivalist propaganda merged into a global dominionist agenda. Along the way, he connects the dots between the Milgram obedience studies, Nixon’s “battle for the mind” speech, and the rise of prophetic generals who promised to win the world for Christ through control, not compassion. This episode exposes how the language of revival became the language of psychological warfare, transforming faith into a weapon.
John invites Jenny McGrath to explore the hidden emotional and psychological damage caused by high-demand religious groups like Youth With A Mission (YWAM). Jenny McGrath, a former YWAM staff member and researcher, opens up about her experiences as a teenage missionary molded by purity culture, colonial attitudes, and spiritual manipulation. Together, they uncover how exhaustion, self-denial, and trauma are often mistaken for holiness and how these organizations can weaponize faith to control both youth and global missions. The conversation dives deep into dissociation, mind control, white saviorism, and the lifelong process of healing from religious trauma—revealing how sincere devotion can be transformed into exploitation under the guise of serving God.
Lawyer in Israel spoke to the brutal abuse his client in prison is receiving every time he goes to see him, and because of that, the Israeli Prison Service has filed a complaint against him with the Israeli bar Association. Ben Marmarelli breaks down what is happening to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Are we living through a psychological war for America’s soul? In this eye-opening episode of Cults, Culture, and Coercion, Dr. Steven Hassan, author of The Cult of Trump, talks with intelligence analyst Dr. James Scaminaci III, PhD, about fourth-generation psychological warfare, Trump’s cult-like following, and the Christian Right’s decades-long campaign to undermine U.S. democracy.
Dr. Scaminaci, a former U.S. Naval Intelligence Officer with a PhD from Stanford, explains how figures like William Lind, Paul Weyrich, and Project 2025's The Heritage Foundation weaponized “moral conflict” and “spiritual warfare” to destabilize the legitimacy of government institutions. Together, they unpack the alt-right's propaganda tactics, psychological manipulation, and mind-control techniques at the core of today’s political crisis and why millions have transferred loyalty from democracy to authoritarianism and the Cult of Trump.
If you want to understand how QAnon, Christian nationalism, and political extremism evolved into a full-blown information war, this conversation connects the dots between Cold War psyops, the Moral Majority, and modern media manipulation.
Topics include:
AI-powered quadcopter drones used by the IDF to commit genocide in Gaza are flying over American cities, surveilling protestors and automatically uploading millions of images to an evidence database.
The drones are made by a company called Skydio which in the last few years has gone from relative obscurity to quietly become a multi-billion dollar company and the largest drone manufacturer in the US.
The extent of Skydio drone usage across the US, and the extent to which their usage has grown in just a few years, is extraordinary. The company has contracts with more than 800 law enforcement and security agencies across the country, up from 320 in March last year, and their drones are being launched hundreds of times a day to monitor people in towns and cities across the country.
Skydio has extensive links with Israel. In the first weeks of the genocide the California-based company sent more than one hundred drones to the IDF with promises of more to come. How many more were delivered since that admission is unknown. Skydio has an office in Israel and partners with DefenceSync, a local military drone contractor operating as the middle man between drone manufacturers and the IDF. Skydio has also raised hundreds of millions of dollars from Israeli-American venture capitalists and from venture capital funds with extensive investments in Israel, including from Marc Andreessen’s firm Andreessen Horowitz, or a16z.
And now these drones, tested in genocide and refined on Palestinians, are swarming American cities. (more...)
The AI Drones Used In Gaza Now Surveilling American Cities
Samuel Geddes exposes Western journalists’ fear of accountability for their complicity in "Israel’s" Gaza genocide, highlighted by the silencing of veteran reporter Christopher Hedges for confronting their moral and professional collapse.
Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent and former Middle East Bureau chief for The New York Times, Christopher Hedges, this week delivered the Edward Said memorial lecture in Australia. He had also been invited to address the country’s national “Press Club” in which he was to highlight the overwhelming moral failures of Western establishment media outlets, chiefly by amplifying Israeli propaganda and undermining the credibility of journalists in Gaza, most of whom "Israel" has subsequently killed in its decimation of the territory’s population.
It shouldn’t really have come as a surprise then, when the Press Club rescinded its invitation to Hedges on the grounds of “balancing out” its programming. Whether or not the withdrawal was directly influenced by Israeli pressure, the collective media aristocracy of the country would hardly have looked forward to the prospect of an actual, decorated reporter scathingly indicting them to their faces on their systematic malpractice and dereliction of duty that has contributed to perhaps the definitive atrocity of the 21st century.
Stalwart ABC journalist David Marr came out to defend “The Club” in a radio interview with a furious Chris Hedges. Rather than seek to engage with the content of what his speech would have been, Marr set about using his training as a barrister to ambush the real journalist in the room, smearing the sponsorship of his tour by a Palestine advocacy group as a “fundamental breaking of the rules,” according to his definition of journalism.
Beneath the sniveling pettiness and affected outrage of his attacks on Hedges, lurked a palpable sense of indignation that anyone, least of all a decorated journalist, would attack his “club” of establishment approved media personalities for having not done their job, to the point of betraying those Gazans practicing journalism in its purest form.
Marr, whose career is not particularly distinguished by international reporting, much less from a warzone, attempted to impugn Hedges’ authority on Gaza (where he lived for seven years) by pointing out that he hadn’t been in the territory since 2005 and hence his lack of recent experience there might not have measured up to the Club’s exacting standards. (more...)
October is Islamic Heritage Month in the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). It's also the month of Halloween and for some reason the TDSB is very afraid of Arabic. From calligraphy to lyrics to songs to words, Anti-Palestinian Racism and Islamophobia really reared their heads this month. Why not just call it Islamophobia month? It is much more fitting.
