Embedded Files
Author Biography
Author Biography
Chloe Adrian-Giannetto is a junior at Laguna Blanca School in Santa Barbara, California. A dedicated equestrian outside of school and a passionate member of the classroom, Chloe sought to create a meaningful and relevant capstone.
In her sophomore year, Chloe was distraught over the divide between herself and her politically far-right grandparents. Given the cult-like mentality of her grandparents, she became obsessed with researching the psychology of cults. Along the way, she realized the deep similarities between the manipulative language used to control members of cults and the political and public relations (corporate propaganda).
Inspirations
Albert Silva
Albert Silva
Albert Silva offered incredible guidance throughout the capstone year with productive and thought-provoking questions and feedback.
Amanda Montell
Amanda Montell
Linguist and author of Cultish, Amanda Montell, introduced me to the idea of language as a mechanism of control.
Alethea Paradis
Alethea Paradis
Excellent source of articles and literature, Alethea Paradis introduced me to the history of the 1954 coup in Guatemala and the political repercussions felt today.
Project Description
In my capstone project, I am connecting back to my past research on cults, specifically the mindset and language of “cultish” interactions with the media and manipulation of today. As an individual who will be able to vote later this year, I am particularly concerned with the control politicians and corporations have through their use of the media and entertainment. The ideologies that form through this manipulation of the media create mass conformity, which is what I am aiming to uncover. Through books like Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death and Cultish by Amanda Montell, I have examined the inter-workings of manipulation in our society.
Important Books
Cultish by Amanda Montell 2021
Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman 1985
Propaganda by Edward Bernays 1928
Bitter Fruit by Stephen Schlesinger and Stephen Kinzer 2005
Important Articles
Final Presentation
Works Cited
Bernays, Edward L. Propaganda. New York, Liveright, 1928.
Gunderman, Richard. “The Manipulation of the American Mind: Edward Bernays and the Birth of Public Relations.” The Conversation, 9 July 2015, theconversation.com/the-manipulation-of-the-american-mind-edward-bernays-and-the-birth-of-public-relations-44393.
Heller, Zoe. “What Makes a Cult a Cult?” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 1 July 2021, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/07/12/what-makes-a-cult-a-cult.
Hern, Alex. “Cambridge Analytica: How Did It Turn Clicks into Votes?” The Guardian, 7 May 2018, www.theguardian.com/news/2018/may/06/cambridge-analytica-how-turn-clicks-into-votes-christopher-wylie.
Hoffman, Bryce. “Facts and Opinions: Half of Americans Don’t Know the Difference.” Forbes, 17 Mar. 2024, www.forbes.com/sites/brycehoffman/2024/03/17/facts-and-opinions-half-of-americans-dont-know-the-difference/.
Hoffman, Hilmar, and Ernst Maass. “Manipulation of the Masses through the Nazi Film.” Film Comment, vol. 3, no. 4, Film Society of Lincoln Center, 1965, pp. 34–39, https://doi.org/10.2307/43754366. JSTOR.
Jesús Adrián-Ventura, et al. “Authoritarianism and the Brain: Structural MR Correlates Associated with Polarized Left- and Right-Wing Ideology Traits.” Neuroscience, Elsevier BV, Apr. 2025, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2025.04.027.
Montell, Amanda. Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism. Harpercollins Publishers, 2021.
Morrow, Paul. “Mass Atrocity and Manipulation of Social Norms.” Social Theory and Practice, vol. 40, no. 2, Florida State University Department of Philosophy, 2014, pp. 255–80, https://doi.org/10.2307/24332351. JSTOR.
Noronha-Gant, Jonathan, and Becca Inglis Inglis. “Why the US Attacked Venezuela: Oil, Sanctions and Maduro.” Global Witness, 27 Dec. 2024, globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-fuels/why-the-us-attacked-venezuela-oil-sanctions-and-maduro/.
Paradis, Alethea.
PBS Food. “How Did the Banana Become the World’s Most Popular Fruit? | Delishtory.” YouTube, 20 May 2024, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttBjFPbwrV8.
Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. Penguin Books, 2005.
Rapp, Nicolas, and Aric Jenkins. “Chart: These 6 Companies Control Much of U.S. Media.” Fortune, Fortune, 24 July 2018, fortune.com/longform/media-company-ownership-consolidation/.
Richtel, Matt. “Ideology May Not Be What You Think but How You’re Wired.” The New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025, www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/science/ideology-neuroscience-politics-zmigord.html?smid=url-share.
Schlesinger, Stephen, and Stephen Kinzer. Bitter Fruit. David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, 2005.
Skvarla, Robert. “Edward Bernays: Propaganda and the U.S.-Backed 1954 Guatemalan Coup – Janata Weekly.” Janataweekly.org, 19 Dec. 2021, janataweekly.org/edward-bernays-propaganda-and-the-u-s-backed-1954-guatemalan-coup/.
Stanley, Jason. How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them. Random House, 2018.
---. How Propaganda Works. Princeton University Press, 2015.
Zmigrod, Leor. The Ideological Brain. Random House, 2025.
Zmigrod, Leor. “A Psychology of Ideology: Unpacking the Psychological Structure of Ideological Thinking.” Perspectives on Psychological Science, vol. 17, no. 4, Mar. 2022, pp. 1072–92, https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916211044140.
Page updated
Report abuse