In today’s Substack I explain the relationship among ABC, Nexstar, and the FCC. When you read this, you will understand why Nexstar caved. substack.com/@drmaraeinst...

Next Tuesday, September 30th, I will be speaking live at NYU. Click the link to sign up. Hope to see you there! steinhardt.nyu.edu/events/every...

Here’s a link to a conversation I recently had with Ellen Donnelly. I was glad we were able to get into the valorizing of the gig economy and hype of digital entrepreneurship, in addition to cults, MLMs, and coaching scams. ellen-fromtheask.beehiiv.com/p/drmaraeins...

Some are suggesting the real reason Jimmy Kimmel got canceled is that Nexstar needs approval from the FCC to buy Tegna’s TV stations. This deal would enable Nexstar to own stations that cover 80% of the US. Current regulation is that no company can own stations covering more than 39% of the US.

This week, I’m on IndoctriNATION. Cult recruitment and retention tactics, facilitated by digital media, are why the country is where it is now. I implore you to listen, and learn—not only how we got here—but how we could get out.

Ice recruitment advertising is, well, not the best. I talked about that with Johana Bhuiyan for The Guardian It was an interesting interview, because I had to balance between criticizing what DHS was doing wrong without telling them how they could do it better. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

This link is to a talk I gave at Michigan State University about greenwashing. The talk is contextualized within a broader discussion about the rise of cause marketing and the purpose washing that followed. muse.jhu.edu/article/965618

In new polling for NYC mayor, Mamdani is leading. Mamdani 50% Cuomo 22% Sliwa (R) 13% Adams 7% This race is not just about millennials and Gen Z. These numbers also mean that Jews are looking at him as a viable candidate. The MSM needs to stop acting like Mamdani is the also-ran.

Some people are saying the American Eagle ad is simply an homage to Calvin Klein and Brooke Shields in the 80s. Here’s the ad:

Living in New York feels like being in a split screen. On one side, we see the hope and joy of Mamdani and the other we see the pain and terror of Trump and demise of democracy. youtu.be/yPbtARzHHHw?si

“The fascination with cults fundamentally rests in the idea that people believe that they can’t be drawn into one,” says Dr. Mara Einstein, author of Hoodwinked: How Marketers Use the Same Tactics as Cults. tinyurl.com/59a3afz3

Reporters are asking for comment on the ethics of filming public concerts. That they are even asking this question means they’ve lost the plot.

This isn’t an ad. It is AI art and a brilliant condemnation of fast fashion. What looks like a skirt is garbage, moving from billard to landfill in a single moment. The artist is Emanuele Morelli.

These things usually come in threes. Just saying. www.newsweek.com/heritage-fou...

People are losing the bigger picture when it comes to Stephen Colbert being fired. Colbert will be fine. That is not the point. CBS is free over-the-air broadcast television. Those airwaves are owned by the American people. The person looking to buy Paramount is David Ellis, son of Larry Ellis…

“Pertinent” is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence.

Here’s my Substack explaining why withholding the Epstein files is so important to the MAGA cult. I also explain why this—beyond everything else—is the reason we are seeing cracks in the cult foundation. open.substack.com/pub/drmaraei...

Pizzagate QAnon #SaveTheChildren Epstein list. It’s all connected. www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8hXAtSV/

It’s rumored that Bezos is buying Condé Nast so his wife can run Vogue. This sucks for Vogue but remember CN has other publications, like The New Yorker, Teen Vogue, & Wired. The last has been doing some of the best reporting about AI, & Teen Vogue has been doing top-notch to political reporting.

When cult experts talk about people leaving a cult, it’s not described as the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. We talk about it being a bookshelf that breaks under the weight of too many inconsistencies. 1/2 tinyurl.com/2z5sja5t

I refuse to believe Yaccarino is leaving bec. of antisemitic remarks. Those have been rampant on X for the last 2 years. My guess is her contract said she had to stay 2 years before she’d see a payout. I worked with her at NBC. To call her tough is an understatement. www.cnbc.com/2025/07/09/l...

Today is Prime Day, an excellent time to remind you to watch the Emmy-winning documentary “Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy”. It is about overconsumption and its impact people and the planet, and includes commentary from me. After you watch, avoiding Amazon is easy. m.youtube.com/watch?v=OVfZ...

Now that the Big Atrocious Bill has passed, let’s consider some of its social and business impacts: ✅ Any categories having to do with babies and kids will decline. Gen Z was hesitant to have kids before due to climate change, now they can’t afford it. 1/x

The fascination with cults rests in the fundamental idea that people believe they can’t be drawn into one,” says Dr. Mara Einstein, author of Hoodwinked: How Marketers Use the Same Tactics as Cults. tinyurl.com/59a3afz3

While people are systematically trying to tear down Mamdani, let me remind you that Eric Adams ran on making New York City safer. You know, because he had been a cop. Tell that to the 16-year-old girl who got shot in the head last night.🧵 www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcn...

Who kicked Bill Ackman in the head? I learned of Bill Ackman from the documentary “Betting on Zero.” The film is the story of how he tried to take down Herbalife, an MLM preying on minorities and the undocumented. Fast forward and he is the DEI police and a Trump supporter. So…

If you are in NYC and still thinking Cuomo is a good choice, know he’s getting money from Palantir,Peter Thiel’s company. #nycmayoralrace gizmodo.com/palantirs-ce...

You have to watch PBS News Hour tonight. Anna Nawaz interviewed Tricia McLaughlin, DHS spokeswoman. *This* is the kind of interviews journalists must keep doing. Nawaz did not let up on facts. McLaughlin fell back on PR talking points and ad hominem attacks on the media. It was a masterclass.

Lots of folks are asking why people will vote for Cuomo. As a lifelong New Yorker, let me explain what I am hearing. People are concerned about Mamdani’s stance on Israel. There are A LOT of Jews in New York who won’t vote for him because of that. (Orthodox Jews went for Trump.) 1/2

Today marks nine years since Jo Cox was assassinated by a far-right extremist, a terrible loss to those who knew and loved her and to politics. Zero lessons were learned though and the far-right continues to be pandered to. With more political assassinations in the US it all feels too familiar.

Trump caught on hot mic saying he wants people to sit up at attention when he talks. www.reddit.com/r/stockbetz/...

Out of town on business, but taking time to protest. Stay safe tomorrow.

News has come out that Catholics priests are joining migrants in court. Many people are now asking how they can help. I will be going via a coordinated effort with my union. Do others have suggestions? #immigration #courtappearances #mutualaid

The first U.S. bishop appointed by Pope Leo XIV has called for priests, deacons and parish leaders to accompany migrants to court and stand in solidarity with them. This is strategy. This is fighting. The Democrats could learn something from Pope Leo. www.newsweek.com/pope-leos-fi...

Just a reminder that Pope Leo is holding a (video) mass in Chicago at the same time as Trump’s military parade. Talk about contrasts. www.axios.com/2025/05/28/p...

While ICE is trying to deport legal citizens, remember that Trump told Mike Johnson to tank the bipartisan immigration bill. #ICE newrepublic.com/post/178564/... newrepublic.com/post/178564/...

This is the intellectual level of the man who took a chainsaw to our government. He’s used X to broadcast vast conspiracies and lies for years, but just this once he thinks he can put this one back in the bottle. #musktrumpfeud

After writing 8 books, there is no more amazing feeling than seeing your book in the wild. #booksky

This week I got to talk about cults and brands in a Brooklyn beer garden thanks to @lecturesontap The crowd was fantastic and I sold every last copy of “Hoodwinked: How Marketers Use the Same Tactics as Cults.” Can’t wait to do this again.

Trump & Musk are cult leaders with different follower bases. Broadly, Trump’s is older & less educated, & we can assume (given the elections) much larger in number. Both, however, have done things to create cognitive dissonance that are allowing followers to reject the worldviews they sell. 1/

🚨NEW: @cbsnews.com reports ICE is arresting people who can't even legally be deported and holding them without enough food or water in a federal building BASEMENT in Los Angeles. Families dutifully attending check-ins with ICE are being arrested and held for days, forced to sleep on the floor.

I study purpose washing. @barkbox is now a case study. Top mistakes: pulled ads on the 2nd day of Pride month, showed how performative your support is by caving based on one person’s social media post, & didn’t reading the room (see Target). Beyond that, can we talk about the product category? 1/2

If you are a college student or you know a college student, pay attention to what’s going on in the Republican bill. While the reconciliation bill has $10.5 billion over three years for the Pell grant, it limits eligibility to students who are taking 30 credits per year, up from 24 credits. 1/2