Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism

Written by Amanda Montell

Narrated by Ann Marie Gideon

“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.com

The 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jun 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9780063097919

Amanda Montell

Amanda Montell is a New York Times-bestselling author and iHeart Radio Award-winning podcaster. Her nonfiction books Wordslut, Cultish, and The Age of Magical Overthinking have been praised by the Atlantic, the Economist, NPR, and others. Along with hosting two top-charting podcasts, Sounds Like A Cult and Magical Overthinkers, Amanda’s writing has been published in the New York Times, the Guardian, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, and elsewhere. Amanda holds a degree in linguistics from NYU and lives in California.

Reviews for Cultish

[West Savage · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Phenomenal work, created with a nuanced analysis of groups who utilize language to create a sense of community, which can sometimes be dangerous. It’s a necessary and human approach to an extremely complex topic that doesn’t seek to judge, but to educate. Reading Cultish was grounding-yet-transcendent experience on its own.

[Katherine Cooper · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing! My two favorite subjects combined: sociolinguistics and cults!! Very informative and well-structured. Loved it :) I think it dragged a little in the beginning with the long discussion of how to define a cult or a religion, but it probably just felt long because it was stuff I already knew. I learned a lot though! Great book

[atomic1964 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Brilliant and humorous dissection of all things “cultish”. A truly enjoyable read and an essential one.

[LivingBig123 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Stories about famous cults we all know about mixed with weak case that persuasive talk for marketing , etc is cultish . Boring, no science, not even a coherent, well linked argument.

[Vilma Linares · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The best non fiction I’ve read in a long time. Should be required reading in HS and college. Well done

[outthereoutdoors · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Starts off good, finishes a bit rantish. Interesting overall though

[Ana Marić · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved it! This book gives a great overview of rhetoric that we are surrounded by, but somehow miss to interpret, in the online world as well as politics and business. 

[JB · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting insight and info regarding cults, but quickly gets unnecessarily preachy and liberal

[Cait · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved this book and the centering on more modern day cults that we see people in our lives easily becoming a part of

[LiZa Sims · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Love this book. She clips along at a perfect pace, and not a single moment is uninteresting. Every page held my attention. Her Cultish deep dive is fair in its revelations. Kudos to the author ? ?

[Luiz Tristan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Eye opening and necessary! I couldn't put it down and it makes us think about the many "cults" we have nowadays and why they become popular. Been preaching about this book since I started it and will soon have it's following.

[Erko · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I wouldn't say this book is just about language but everything around it. I still enjoy the book but it gives more like " sight that you are in a cult, or how to recognize the sight of a cult "

Autor uses multiple examples of how a cult can be anything,(I think it is better if that use more example who is not around fitness and sport) and how even a stronger cult cannot build with special language and a specific planned program.

[Tyler Gray · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Definitely interesting and worth the read, or in my case, listen.

[Yasir Albaddry · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved it , impo book to read . Thank you Amanda

[Ra Smith · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Engagingly written and interesting to know about language used in more modern day pop cults, But otherwise nothing too overly revealing

[ChristineMark · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely fascinating book!!! Loved all the connections the author made, it was mindblowing at times!

[Hollie Willis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The chapters on fitness studios and MLMs were fascinating, I’d never thought about their use of language before. Highly recommend this book for fans of true crime wanting to get into the nitty gritty of linguistics

[Ana Salgado · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing and so informative. Highly recommend it because it was great

[Christina Poss · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very well written, engaging, well researched, and thought provoking! She talks about cults on a spectrum and that not all cults are suicide cults but that many cultish groups use similar tactics and form similar cultures.

[lizelsaurus · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating! The narrator is great too. It covers the typical cults like Jonestown but also the more subtle ones like MLMs and Soul Cycle.

[JO TISNADO · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It honestly was very transparent, it explained in detail the power dynamics within cults, piramos schemes and other groups. Personally, a family member was involved in a self help group/cult and it was a nightmare. The author really gave words to what I felt by dissecting with care and respect why a seemingly normal person would be a victim of such cultish groups

[Fernanda Meneses · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

a very nuanced, fresh and insightful take on modern beliefs and cultish groups

[Candace Dewsbury · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was such an interesting read. Very comprehensive and profound

[jenn delgado · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Really insightful. I enjoyed the breakdown of language and behaviors. It helped me relate more to the process people go through when introduced to cultish groups.

[RitaVicente · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Entertaining and compelling: a good introduction into the power of language and linguistics and the power it holds on attracting and recruiting of new cult members. Towards the end it was a bit broad in its conversation about MLM’s, pyramid schemes and even workout classes but it was still fun and informative

[Matthew Ripley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating and strongly compelling. Ends on a perfect note of hopefulness despite its subject matter

[Fiona Southworth · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyable, but I personally wanted more from it. I think it would be great for folks who have little experience around how cults and cult-tangential groups use language to hook folks in. Probably a great entry book for people interested in cults, but not much to be found for anyone who’s done reading/research before.

[Justine Payton · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely fantastic book. Well-written and researched, engaging, accessible and funny.

[Leslie Schilling · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating and smart, with the perfect amount of snark. A great read that I won’t forget.

[megan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A fantastic and fascinating read. I think etymology is fascinating and pointing the sociological lens at language is so interesting!