Elise Hu

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That was David Larby at TED Next 2025.

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I'm Elise Hugh.

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You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day.

I'm your host, Elise Hugh.

Writer, linguist, and podcaster Amanda Montel says we are living through the cultiest era on record as the hardwired cognitive biases that helped early humans survive brush up against social media and digital communication.

She exposes three sneaky language tactics that cults use to influence us, for better or for worse, revealing why none of us are as cult-proof as we'd like to think.

And stick around after the talk.

Amanda and I got together to go beyond her talk to discuss what led her to the study of cults, the role of AI in these cultier times, and what to do if we think someone we know and love may be in a cult.

That's all coming up right after a short break from our sponsors.

Don't go away just yet.

My conversation with Amanda Montel is coming up right after a short break.