The Control Variable

As this season of The Control Variable comes to a close, Kim sits down with former evangelical Christian Jeanna Kadlec to discuss her gripping new memoir Heretic. Together, they explore how Jeanna escaped the church's cult-like grip, her struggle to create a new identity, and her horror as she recognized the profound role fundamentalist Christianity played in the attack on the Capitol on January 6th. Both Kim and Jeanna want to know: How do we confront the evangelical church's centuries-old toxic influence on American society--and what might a more inclusive, more compassionate American story be?

The Control Variable is going on pause as we strategize about the show's future. In our last episode (for now), Kim talks to award-winning author, poet, scholar and activist Maggie Nelson about her latest book On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint. Kim and Maggie have a lot of questions about freedom in America, but the two big ones are: What does freedom mean in a country so divided about its meaning? And Is it possible to imagine a freedom that might move all (or most) of us Americans into a more joyful and responsible future?

The wonderfully hilarious actress, writer, producer, director and activist Busy Philips (Freaks and Geeks, Cougar Town, Busy Tonight, Girls 5eva) joins Kim on The Control Variable to detail her journey in reproductive rights activism and bring some much-needed humor to some deeper topics in our society.

In the wake of a sudden resurrection of QAnon in Trump's midterm election campaigns, Kim revisits the haunting investigation into the cult-like political group from episode 4 of American Propaganda. What role did QAnon play in the January 6th insurrection? How did so many fall prey to this bizarre cult-like phenomenon? As she seeks answers to these questions, Kim interviews cult experts and deprogrammers (including a former member of the Moonies) and learns about the psychological manipulation methods, cult leaders use to keep a tight grip on their followers.

Why do so many Americans love guns? What would it take to end our epidemic of gun violence? On this week's show, Kim—a lifelong “gunophobe”—explores these questions and more with her friend Saul Schisler—a hunter, gun collector and artist. Both Kim and Saul want to know: Can a country that loves its guns as deeply as America ever hope to stop mass shootings?

The conversation continues between Kim and Robert McNamara's son Craig McNamara - author of the memoir Because Our Fathers Lied. This time Kim wants to know: Is Craig still haunted by his father's legacy in Vietnam? Does he consider his father a war criminal? Where does Craig himself come out on the question of war? Are there any conditions under which he'd be willing to fight?

Kim sits down with writer, activist, and farmer Craig McNamara (author of the memoir Because Our Fathers Lied) to discuss his complicated relationship with his father, former secretary of defense Robert McNamara, the thread of the Vietnam War in his life, and what a new kind of American patriotism might look like.

Writer, activist and Hollywood showrunner Ayelet Waldman joins Kim to talk about America's raging mental illness epidemic, the healing power of storytelling and the magical Yiddish word bashert. Also, why she and her husband Michael Chabon are finally adapting Chabon's 2001 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay into a TV series.

Award-winning author, activist, and environmentalist Bill McKibben joins Kim to discuss how the American story has evolved into an individualistic patriotism that excludes a large swath of people and how this new mentality contributes to the global environmental crisis. The big question on both their minds is… what the hell has happened?

Writer, filmmaker and activist Jennifer Baumgardner says shame has been weaponized in America to keep many women from prioritizing their reproductive freedoms. On today's trailblazing episode—made in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned—Jennifer and Kim share the deeply personal stories of their own abortions; Kim wrestles with the question of motherhood; and Jennifer talks about how and why she came to make her landmark documentary film “I Had An Abortion.”

Long term studies have shown that women make more effective and less violent police officers. Looking for answers to our flawed criminal justice system, Kim sits down with Maureen McGough, Chief of Strategic Initiatives at the Policing Project at New York University School of Law and co-founder of the 30x30 Initiative, to chat about how the recruitment of more female cops may bring missing – and crucial – skill sets to police forces across the country.

Kim talks to rockstar Harvard philosopher Michael J. Sandel about the dark heart of meritocracy and how we can begin to bridge America's great divide.

Kim talks to her old friend, Earthjustice President Abbie Dillen, about what we need to do right now to save our melting planet and why becoming an environmentalist is weirdly sexy.

Following American Propaganda, Kim's five-part investigation about the role propaganda played in the insurrection of January 6th, Kim kicks off the weekly show by having a longer chat with Sam Woolley, project director for propaganda research at the Center for Media Engagement at University of Texas, to discuss the media's role in our divided nation.

The Control Variable with Kim Cutter is a weekly podcast series that takes a deep look at the many problems plaguing our fractured country and talks to the people who are offering solutions to help us evolve as a society. Hosted by journalist Kim Cutter, the weekly series picks up from Kim's five-part investigation into the propaganda that led to the attack on the Capitol and continues to examine the myths we've been telling ourselves since the founding of our country and how these myths continue to polarize our society. Each week, Kim talks to people from all professions, and all over the political spectrum, who help unravel fact from fiction around the greatest challenges of our times: the limitations of our two-party system, the widening wealth gap, the inequity baked into the American meritocracy, gun violence, the perils of climate change, the hunger for God amidst religious corruption, and many other issues. Join Kim for in-depth, always enlightening, sometimes humorous conversations with people who are trying to put our world back together.

Kim wraps up her investigation into the propaganda that powered the Capitol riots by looking at the role social media websites—and the rapacious algorithms that support them—played in the attack. In the process, she finds herself examining a story of America that has been entrenched in our consciousness since the country's founding.

What role did QAnon play in the January 6th insurrection? How did so many fall prey to this bizarre cult-like phenomenon? As she seeks answers to these questions, Kim interviews cult experts and deprogrammers (including a former member of the Moonies) and learns about the psychological manipulation methods cult leaders use to keep a tight grip on their followers.  

Wanting to know more about how the January 6th insurrection turned violent, Kim visits her high school teacher Merj (whose parents were orphaned by the Armenian genocide) and learns about unsettling parallels between the manipulation techniques of Hitler and Trump. She also gains insight into the Braveheart-like warrior mentality that fuels today's evangelical propaganda.

Kim explores the startling relationship between WWI propaganda, American advertising, and Donald Trump. As she investigates the tools of psychological manipulation used to sell everything from ice cream to upscale automobiles, she learns how those same tools are used to stir unrest and—at times—spark violence.

In her attempt to understand how the January 6th insurrection was instigated, journalist Kim Cutter discovers surprising links between deadly religious propaganda in the Middle Ages, cutting-edge neuroscience, and one California woman's desperate longing for God.

The Control Variable, from Atomic Whale Studios, is an investigative five-part podcast series, hosted by journalist Kim Cutter, that takes an unprecedented look into the history and science of propaganda to better understand the events of January 6th, 2021. The podcast chronicles Kim's own journey, from watching the events of January 6th in horror to desperately seeking to understand how this group of people could be moved to scale the Capitol walls and storm the seat of our democracy… in the name of something so patently false as a stolen election. Exploring the events leading up to that fateful day, she quickly realizes the crucial role that propaganda played in inciting regular people, from all walks of life, to violence. Join Kim as she speaks with a wide range of experts, from prominent neuroscientists and theologians to artists, historians and crowd psychologists about the role propaganda has played at key moments in history, the devastating impact it's having on America right now… and what we can do about it.