What drives people to follow a leader and place their faith in that person’s story? That question is at the heart of religion historian and journalist Molly Worthen’s latest book, “Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Donald Trump.”
Worthen, a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, describes being fascinated by the qualities that help explain charismatic leadership. In her book, released in May, she posits that charismatic people tell a compelling story about human identity and purpose that others gravitate toward because it helps explain their own role in the grand scheme of life.
Understanding charisma is therefore, a way to understand the religious quest.
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