Berman reported on all of it, tracing the connections and relationships between NXIVM members and trying to understand how they found themselves doing unthinkable things in service of Raniere’s vision and desires.
Don’t Call It a Cult is a deeply researched and empathetic examination of the vulnerabilities and motivations that lead people to believe what they desperately want to be true, and the social dynamics that push them to cross unthinkable lines.
I spoke to Berman, a longtime Tyee contributor and former editor, about the psychology of cults and how ordinary people could end up in one. This interview has been condensed and lightly edited.