WTF is on my Mind?!
Author, Speaker, Whistleblower and award-winning Director Mark Vicente was behind the sleeper hit “What The Bleep Do We Know?!” Several books have been written about the film’s remarkable grassroots marketing campaign, which led to its unprecedented success.
Mark was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1965. Taking his first photograph at age four, he quickly discovered his passion for being behind the camera. After attending film and drama school in South Africa, he began working his way up the ranks of the camera department, from Assistant to Operator to Cinematographer. His first big break came as Director of Photography on the musical “SARAFINA,” starring Whoopi Goldberg. In 1992, he set his sights on Hollywood and relocated to Los Angeles to shoot his first studio picture for Disney; “FATHERHOOD,” starring Patrick Swayze and Halle Berry. At the age of 26, he became one of the youngest cinematographers to shoot a big-budget studio picture.
Over the next few decades, he went on to shoot an additional 14 feature films and numerous documentaries, music videos and commercials. Mark soon found there were in him, untold stories he desperately wanted to express as a Director. He was driven by the conviction that tales of greatness, nobility and introspection could be exciting and financially successful.
Perhaps because of the very obvious race and class iniquities in South Africa, he found himself propelled to question certain fundamental assumptions at a very young age. Beliefs about human behavior, cosmology, religion, existentialism and mysticism. Along the way, he stumbled into a few situations where leaders with malignant pathologies (masquerading as saintly philosophers) spoke the talk of self-improvement but did untold damage to their followers... and him.
Looking back, he can now say he has been in at least two cults. His last foray into personal growth and his defection from NXIVM was chronicled in the HBO series “The Vow”. Mark and a few plucky whistleblowers exposed the criminal activities of the organization, resulting in multiple arrests and indictments. He doesn’t consider himself a cult expert, but by his own admission, “I’m an expert in being screwed over, waking up, and knowing how to spot them.” He’s got a pretty salty approach to most things and is fascinated by the myriad patterns in the human psychodynamic that create the best and the worst in civilization.
Join Mark as he unpacks a whole range of topics to do with: Psychology, Consciousness, Morality, Narcissistic Abuse, Spirituality, Cults, Propaganda, Science, Filmmaking, and Philosophy.You never quite know what you’re going to get, as it really does depend on… WTF is on his mind?!
WTF is on my Mind?!
The Hidden Dangers of High-Functioning Predators w/ Dr. Karen Mitchell
In this powerful and revealing episode, filmmaker Mark Vicente sits down with Dr. Karen Mitchell, founder of the Kalmor Institute and the author of one of the most groundbreaking PhD theses ever written on dark personalities.
https://kalmor.com.au/
https://x.com/karenmitchell__
Karen shares the results of decades of research and direct experience, unveiling a chilling but deeply important truth: narcissists, psychopaths, Machiavellians, cult leaders, toxic executives, and coercive controllers may all be subsets of one single high-level predator—what she calls the Persistent Predatory Personality (PPP).
Together, Mark and Karen explore:
- How these individuals operate in corporate, medical, religious, and legal systems
- Why many are high-functioning, charming, and completely hidden
- How academia and the justice system often enable or overlook this abuse
- Why “the mask” of empathy is often just a calculated act
- The emotional, mental, and reputational devastation experienced by targets
- Red flags to look out for—and why reporting often makes things worse before it gets better
- The tragic impact on children, families, and even democracy
This is not just a conversation about abuse. It’s a call to wake up to the patterns, the tactics, and the systems that allow this behavior to thrive. If you’ve ever dealt with narcissistic abuse, manipulation, or invisible harm—this episode is essential.
Key Topics:
- The truth behind the “Dark Triad” and the “Dark Tetrad”
- Why most research has been looking in the wrong place
- The danger of self-reporting studies when studying liars
- Coercive control: from domestic violence to cult dynamics
- Why dark personalities are attracted to power, law, medicine, and even charity work
- The difference between true predators and trauma survivors who mimic similar behaviors
- Why our society is desperately under-equipped to deal with these people
The views and opinions expressed on WTF is on my Mind?! do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast or Mark Vicente. Any content provided by guests are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything.
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