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The Control Variable with Kim Cutter is a weekly podcast series that takes a deep look at the many problems plaguing our fractured country and talks to the people who are offering solutions to help us evolve as a society. Hosted by journalist Kim Cutter, the weekly series picks up from Kim’s five-part investigation into the propaganda that led to the attack on the Capitol and continues to examine the myths we’ve been telling ourselves since the founding of our country and how these myths con ...
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Episode 013. Jeanna Kadlec: American Heretic
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As this season of The Control Variable comes to a close, Kim sits down with former evangelical Christian Jeanna Kadlec to discuss her gripping new memoir Heretic. Together, they explore how Jeanna escaped the church's cult-like grip, her struggle to create a new identity, and her horror as she recognized the profound role fundamentalist Christianit…
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Episode 012. Busy Philipps: A Dance with Joy and Responsibility
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43:58
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The wonderfully hilarious actress, writer, producer, director and activist Busy Philips (Freaks and Geeks, Cougar Town, Busy Tonight, Girls 5eva) joins Kim on The Control Variable to detail her journey in reproductive rights activism and bring some much-needed humor to some deeper topics in our society.…
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Episode 011. Diane Benscoter, Mike Rothschild and Janja Lalich: On the Cult of QAnon
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50:09
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In the wake of a sudden resurrection of QAnon in Trump’s midterm election campaigns, Kim revisits the haunting investigation into the cult-like political group from episode 4 of American Propaganda. What role did QAnon play in the January 6th insurrection? How did so many fall prey to this bizarre cult-like phenomenon? As she seeks answers to these…
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Episode 010. Saul Schisler - On the Pleasures and Problems of Gun Ownership in America
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39:47
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Why do so many Americans love guns? What would it take to end our epidemic of gun violence? On this week’s show, Kim—a lifelong “gunophobe”—explores these questions and more with her friend Saul Schisler—a hunter, gun collector and artist. Both Kim and Saul want to know: Can a country that loves its guns as deeply as America ever hope to stop mass …
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Episode 009. Craig McNamara - Part #2: Because Our Fathers Lied
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39:42
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The conversation continues between Kim and Robert McNamara’s son Craig McNamara - author of the memoir Because Our Fathers Lied. This time Kim wants to know: Is Craig still haunted by his father's legacy in Vietnam? Does he consider his father a war criminal? Where does Craig himself come out on the question of war? Are there any conditions under w…
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Episode 008. Craig McNamara - Part #1: On War & Peace
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43:53
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Kim sits down with writer, activist, and farmer Craig McNamara (author of the memoir Because Our Fathers Lied) to discuss his complicated relationship with his father, former secretary of defense Robert McNamara, the thread of the Vietnam War in his life, and what a new kind of American patriotism might look like.…
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Episode 007. Ayelet Waldman: On American Stories, The Mental Heath Crisis, and How to Stay Sane in 2022
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Writer, activist and Hollywood showrunner Ayelet Waldman joins Kim to talk about America’s raging mental illness epidemic, the healing power of storytelling and the magical Yiddish word bashert. Also, why she and her husband Michael Chabon are finally adapting Chabon’s 2001 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay into…
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Episode 006. Bill McKibben: On the Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon
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Award-winning author, activist, and environmentalist Bill McKibben joins Kim to discuss how the American story has evolved into an individualistic patriotism that excludes a large swath of people and how this new mentality contributes to the global environmental crisis. The big question on both their minds is… what the hell has happened?…
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Episode 005. Jennifer Baumgardner: On the Stories We Keep Secret – and Why They Must Be Told
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Writer, filmmaker and activist Jennifer Baumgardner says shame has been weaponized in America to keep many women from prioritizing their reproductive freedoms. On today’s trailblazing episode—made in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned—Jennifer and Kim share the deeply personal stories of their own abortions; Kim wrestles with the question of …
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Episode 004. Maureen McGough: Is the Future of Policing… Female?
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40:29
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Long term studies have shown that women make more effective and less violent police officers. Looking for answers to our flawed criminal justice system, Kim sits down with Maureen McGough, Chief of Strategic Initiatives at the Policing Project at New York University School of Law and co-founder of the 30x30 Initiative, to chat about how the recruit…
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Episode 003. Michael Sandel: On the Tyranny of Merit
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Kim talks to rockstar Harvard philosopher Michael J. Sandel about the dark heart of meritocracy and how we can begin to bridge America’s great divide.
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Episode 002. Abbie Dillen: On How to Save Our Hot AF Planet
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40:56
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Kim talks to her old friend, Earthjustice President Abbie Dillen, about what we need to do right now to save our melting planet and why becoming an environmentalist is weirdly sexy.
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Episode 001. Sam Woolley: On The Media & America’s Great Divide
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42:44
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Following American Propaganda, Kim’s five-part investigation about the role propaganda played in the insurrection of January 6th, Kim kicks off the weekly show by having a longer chat with Sam Woolley, project director for propaganda research at the Center for Media Engagement at University of Texas, to discuss the media’s role in our divided natio…
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The Control Variable with Kim Cutter: Weekly Show Trailer
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The Control Variable with Kim Cutter is a weekly podcast series that takes a deep look at the many problems plaguing our fractured country and talks to the people who are offering solutions to help us evolve as a society. Hosted by journalist Kim Cutter, the weekly series picks up from Kim’s five-part investigation into the propaganda that led to t…
…
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American Propaganda: We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live (Chapter 5)
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Kim wraps up her investigation into the propaganda that powered the Capitol riots by looking at the role social media websites—and the rapacious algorithms that support them—played in the attack. In the process, she finds herself examining a story of America that has been entrenched in our consciousness since the country's founding. American Propag…
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American Propaganda: True Believers (Chapter 4)
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What role did QAnon play in the January 6th insurrection? How did so many fall prey to this bizarre cult-like phenomenon? As she seeks answers to these questions, Kim interviews cult experts and deprogrammers (including a former member of the Moonies) and learns about the psychological manipulation methods cult leaders use to keep a tight grip on t…
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American Propaganda: Beautiful People (Chapter 3)
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Wanting to know more about how the January 6th insurrection turned violent, Kim visits her high school teacher Merj (whose parents were orphaned by the Armenian genocide) and learns about unsettling parallels between the manipulation techniques of Hitler and Trump. She also gains insight into the Braveheart-like warrior mentality that fuels today’s…
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American Propaganda: The Amygdala Hijack (Chapter 2)
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Kim explores the startling relationship between WWI propaganda, American advertising, and Donald Trump. As she investigates the tools of psychological manipulation used to sell everything from ice cream to upscale automobiles, she learns how those same tools are used to stir unrest and—at times—spark violence. American Propaganda is an investigativ…
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American Propaganda: Gods and Monsters (Chapter 1)
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In her attempt to understand how the January 6th insurrection was instigated, journalist Kim Cutter discovers surprising links between deadly religious propaganda in the Middle Ages, cutting edge neuroscience, and one California woman’s desperate longing for God. American Propaganda is an investigative five-part podcast series from The Control Vari…
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The Control Variable: American Propaganda Trailer
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American Propaganda is an investigative five-part podcast series from The Control Variable, hosted by journalist Kim Cutter, that takes an unprecedented look into the history and science of propaganda to better understand the events of January 6th, 2021. The podcast chronicles Kim’s own journey, from watching the events of January 6th in horror to …
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