Alexander Stille: Author of The Sullivanians: Sex, Psychotherapy, and the Wild Life of an American Commune

On today’s episode I speak with Alexander Stille, the journalist and author of the book The Sullivanians: Sex, Psychotherapy, and the Wild Life of an American Commune which looks at the history and ideological underpinnings of a group called The Sullivanians which operated from 1957 through 1991 in the Upper West Side of New York City. His book looks at the group’s mission to build a “utopian world based on the principles of free love, collective living, self-actualization, and a commitment to socialism,” and the different ways this project succeeded and failed. We talk about malleability of the self, the nature of social control, if abuse of power is inevitable, and the potentials of communal life.