Sounds Cultish: Amanda Montell on Fanatical Language

<p>A Little Bit Culty – </p><p>Sticks and stones break bones, but words build entire cult empires. In this episode, Sarah and Nippy sit down with Amanda Montell to discuss how cultish groups and social media gurus use language to manipulate followers and cultivate power. Amanda is a writer, language scholar, and the author of two critically acclaimed books:<a href="http://www.harperwave.com/book/9780062993151/Cultish-Amanda-Montell/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism</a> and<a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062868879/wordslut/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language</a> (HarperWave). </p><p><br></p><p>Her books have earned praise from The<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/30/books/review/cecelia-watson-semicolon-peter-martin-the-dictionary-wars-trish-hall-writing-to-persuade.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> New York Times</a>,<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/cults-research-fanaticism-how-they-work/2021/06/11/022d01e8-c95d-11eb-a11b-6c6191ccd599_story.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> The Washington Post</a>,<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/06/review-cultish-amanda-montell-language-fanaticism/619165/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> The Atlantic</a>, and others, and Amanda is currently developing Wordslut for television with FX Studios. Amanda's writing has been featured in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, Refinery29, and Who What Wear, where she formerly served as the Features &amp; Beauty Editor. She is also the creator and co-host of the comedy-cult podcast,<a href="https://www.soundslikeacult.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Sounds Like A Cult</a>. Find her on Instagram @amanda_montell.</p><p><br></p><p>The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. And also they want you to know that any content provi