I have been getting daily downloads of this particular segment ever since it first aired. I use WNYC's Pubcatcher to retrieve my podcasts. Is anyone else having this problem?

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We've forwarded your comment on and are looking into the problem. Thanks for letting us now, and thanks for listening.

Good show! Wish it was more in-depth. Scary stuff.

This is a very frustrating conversation because the guests find it difficult to define the spectrum of persuasion. What, beyond coercion and persuasive techniques, constitutes the media term brainwashing?

What of examples of political brainwashing? The Iraq war propaganda of mushroom clouds and weapons of mass destruction? What of the minimal media reporting of war dead from all countries, regardless of nationality or the employer's contractor?

Do you think Oswald was brainwashed. He had a connection to both the Marines and Russia.

I was a member of the Unification Church for twenty years and I left five years ago without any problems or trauma and moved on with my life. I was not brainwashed. I wanted to join and I wanted to leave. End of story.

Up to a point, the question may be whether the person can leave if they want to, but can it reach the point where they don't even have the choice to want to leave?

Jonestown???

Leonard can you ask the guests if they think the Fundamentalist Mormon children in Texas have suffered from brainwashing?

Is there any effective positive use for brainwashing? For example: Can it be used to reprogram child molesters?

Also is cognitive behavioral therapy in the case of, say, PTSD, a form of brainwashing?

are you talking about modern advertising

i've read that the word 'brainwash' comes as a direct translation of the chinese word 'hsi nao.' ask pat o'connor

In discussing brain washing,don't over look the great artist of brainwashing in the 20th Century,John Frankenheimer.

Obviously, in the Manchurian Candidate he presents a "true believers" image of the possibilities of the practice. In many other of his films Black Sunday,French Connection Two",and I believe in some of his work on Playhouse 90 he used the device of individuals under controlled distress to propel the plot.

RB

just a light rinse, please

I read Streatfield's book "Brainwashing" and found it very reasoned and objective. It debunks a lot of the myths people have about brainwashing. I wonder what he thinks about present-day CIA and other intelligence agencies and if there are any remnants of the old way of thinking regarding brainwashing as a potential tool against terrorism or "enemy states".