Dad, We Need to Talk: Understanding Cults, Recognizing Authoritarianism, and Finding Common Ground in a Divided America

Politics has become scary—and sometimes the division becomes so deep that even people who love one another can no longer talk.

Dad, We Need to Talk: Understanding Cults, Recognizing Authoritarianism, and Finding Common Ground in a Divided America examines how authoritarian movements gain and maintain influence, using Dr. Steven Hassan’s BITE Model of Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotional control alongside Umberto Eco’s framework for recognizing fascism.

Written as a deeply personal conversation between a child and a father, the book considers how political language, fear, loyalty, group identity, and control can reshape the way people understand one another and the world around them.

This is not simply an argument about politics. It is an attempt to reopen a conversation—to examine what is happening, think critically about it, and find common ground in a divided America.