The Century of the Self: Engineering of Consent

Dive into the fascinating world of psychological manipulation that shaped modern America. This episode explores how Sigmund Freud's revolutionary theories were weaponized by his own family members and marketing pioneers to control the masses after World War II.

From Anna Freud's clinical work to Edward Bernays' revolutionary propaganda techniques, discover how psychoanalysis infiltrated every aspect of American life - transforming business advertising, political campaigns, and even Hollywood. Learn how figures like Ernest Dichter tapped into our unconscious desires and fears to influence what we buy, who we vote for, and how we see ourselves.

But at what cost? As these powerful techniques spread, they sparked intense debates about freedom, control, and the very nature of democracy. Join us for this eye-opening journey through the hidden forces that engineered American consent and forever changed the relationship between corporations, government, and the individual mind.

Step into the shadow world of manufactured reality as we explore Adam Curtis's groundbreaking documentary "HyperNormalisation." This episode unravels how power brokers abandoned the complexities of our world to construct a simplified, manageable alternative—one that serves their interests while leaving the rest of us adrift in confusion.

Beginning in the pivotal year of 1975, we'll journey from the financial crisis of New York City to the power corridors of Damascus, tracing how politicians, bankers, and tech visionaries systematically retreated from addressing real problems. Instead, they crafted a comforting but hollow simulation of reality that maintained their control while the actual world grew increasingly chaotic.

Most disturbing of all, we'll examine how those who should have resisted—radicals, activists, and counterculture figures—were gradually absorbed into this deception, becoming unwitting accomplices in maintaining the illusion. From the financial sector's quiet coup to the rise of cyber-utopianism, from the calculated simplifications of the Iraq War to the bewildering complexities of Syria, this episode reveals how our "fake world" has produced very real consequences.

Join us for a fascinating exploration of how we entered this post-truth era, where nothing seems real, yet we continue to act as if it is—the very essence of hypernormalisation.

Venture into the unsettling reality of our digital age as we explore Shoshana Zuboff's groundbreaking analysis of how tech giants harvest our most intimate data not just to know us, but to shape us.

This episode examines the fundamental shift from traditional capitalism to a new economic order where your behavior is the product. We'll unpack how surveillance capitalism transforms your personal experiences into raw material that fuels sophisticated prediction algorithms designed to modify your behavior in ways that serve corporate interests.

Discover the concept of "instrumentarian power" – a system that aims to create markets of absolute certainty through unprecedented levels of digital surveillance and behavioral engineering. We'll investigate how this emerging power restructures fundamental human rights, replacing democratic principles with corporate-imposed systems that treat human autonomy as an obstacle to commercial success.

Most disturbing is how these practices aren't merely economic transformations but threats to our very humanity. From experiments in behavioral modification to the development of machine emotion, surveillance capitalism is redefining what it means to be human – all while operating largely outside public awareness or democratic oversight.

Join us for this eye-opening exploration of the true cost of "free" digital services and what's at stake for democracy, social justice, and our collective future in an age where we are both the source and target of an invisible revolution.