Stories

The Hidden Persuaders

Read our six-part story centred on brainwashing and mind control, exploring how these ideas influenced and were shaped by the ‘psy’ professions.

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Four armed guerrillas guard a giant brain held in place with bungees.
Illustration by Michael Parkin for Wellcome Collection. © Michael Parkin.
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A hand unlocks a cage with a human head, containing a Nazi eagle and a swastika.
Part1
Does mass media pave the way to fascism?

In the aftermath of World War II, psychoanalysts found the psychological roots of authoritarianism closer to home than was comfortable.

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A baby is offered the opportunity to vote.
Part2
Do good mothers make good democracy?

To be psychologically fit for democracy, one distinguished paediatrician argued that you need a ‘good enough mother’ – and that we must acknowledge the bad side of our feelings.

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Two scientists study the sexuality of a man.
Part3
Can our sexual desires be transformed?

In the 1950s, many psychiatrists thought that homosexuality could be reformed. One found that it couldn’t – and his discoveries led to a change in the law.

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A man in his underwear floats in a pool.
Part4
Can isolation lead to manipulation?

Military-funded researchers wanted to know if isolation techniques could facilitate brainwashing. One neuroscientist suggested that it might improve our own control over our minds.

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Four armed guerrillas guard a giant brain held in place with bungees.
Part5
Can our minds be taken hostage?

It’s not unusual for captives to end up feeling strong bonds with their captors. But is it a matter of submission or survival?

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A person's eyes have been replaced with hypnotic spirals containing facebook and instagram 'likes'.
Part6
How do advertisers get inside our heads?

Vance Packard exposed techniques of mass manipulation developed by 1950s advertisers that are still at work today in the age of big data.