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.