The mind virus

John Leake joined me on the podcast years ago, and he's back to discuss his new book on mental contagions.

Since Covid, John has been tracking what he calls "mind viruses": irrational ideas that spread faster than any bug, and which the state knows exactly how to weaponise. Every crisis, real or manufactured, becomes a pretext for more power.

His cure is old-fashioned: think for yourself, question the herd, and remember that conformity in a panic is how the con wins.