In this final episode of season 2, I look at where we've been and where we're headed. How do we comprehend the multiple threads of trouble that have brought us to this fractured time?

And when we comprehend them, how do we respond? What works? What have people tried? And what does the research show?

The damage that has been done to us so that people in power could have more power -- and so that a national religion could be forced onto us -- is serious. But we can be equally serious, and we can build off-ramps for ourselves and each other.

In this cultic time, it's important to understand abuse, manipulation, and cultic mechanisms of control so that we can protect ourselves -- and also avoid creating cultic mechanisms ourselves, or "cult-hopping" out of ignorance.

It's also essential to understand our emotions so that no one can grab onto them and control us.

Good and grounded information is out there, and I've shared it in all 32 episodes so far. Now it's time for me to rebuild my Off-Ramp book proposal and get to work.

I'll check in as I go, and let you know how it's going. Thank you for being with me through this process.

You can find all kinds of free information about emotions and empathy on my YouTube Channel and on my website, karlamclaren.com.

Books mentioned in this episode: https://bookshop.org/lists/the-off-ramp-project

The Language of Emotions by Karla McLaren

The Quiet Damage by Jesselyn Cook

The Klansman's Son by R. Derek Black

A Billion Years by Mike Rinder

Unfollow by Megan Phelps-Roper

C Street by Jeff Sharlet

The Family by Jeff Sharlet

Escaping Utopia by Janja Lalich and Karla McLaren

Taking the War Out of Our Words by Sharon Ellison

Calling In by Loretta Ross

High Conflict by Amanda Ripley

I Never Thought of It That Way by Mónica Guzmán