Brainwashing is often viewed as a Cold War relic—think '60s films like "The Manchurian Candidate" and "The IPCRESS File." But Rebecca Lemov, professor of the history of science, argues in her recently ...

I’ve always found effort to be pretty unbecoming. I mean, working hard at something totally increases the worry lines in your face, making you look all old and ugly. No thanks! I’m staying pretty for ...

Brainwashing doesn’t always look dramatic; it often employs subtle tactics to bypass critical thinking and reshape beliefs and identities. Indeed, various models have been proposed over the years to ...

It wasn’t so long ago that respectable psychologists didn’t really talk about “brainwashing.” The term had the slightly kitschy flavor of other Cold War embarrassments—C.I.A. spy cats and ...

L. Ron Hubbard, Operation Midnight Climax, and stochastic terrorism—the race for mind control changed America forever. On an early spring day in 1959, Edward Hunter testified before a US Senate ...