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WTF is on my Mind?!

WTF is on my Mind?!

Written by: Mark Vicente
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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?!

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Episodes
  • What the Hell Is Going On?! (And What Do We Do Next) w/ Africa Brooke & Mark Vicente

    What the Hell Is Going On?! (And What Do We Do Next) w/ Africa Brooke & Mark Vicente
    Mar 1 2026

    Africa Brooke and I did an Instagram Live right after the Epstein files dropped, and we didn't hold back. Africa is one of my closest friends, one of the most honest thinkers I know, and someone who has never been afraid to ask the questions most people would rather avoid.

    We talked about evil... why good people struggle to recognize it, why they keep making excuses for it, and what it costs us when we do. We talked about the psychology of narcissists and psychopaths, why they need us more than we realize, and what it actually means to stop being their fuel. We went into the spiritual dimension of what's happening, the importance of protecting your nervous system without dissociating from reality, and what it looks like to find your center when everything around you is designed to destabilize you.

    My film is Narcissist Playbook.
    https://www.narcissistsplaybook.com/

    https://africabrooke.com/
    https://www.instagram.com/africabrooke/

    00:00 Welcome, and why this conversation matters
    9:10 NXIVM, waking up from a cult, and the obsession that followed
    14:00 Interviewing self-confessed narcissists, sociopaths, and psychopaths
    20:00 We are being psychologically operated on... and how to recognize it
    26:15 Why they need our fear, and what it means that we can starve them
    34:25 Locus of control... pulling yourself back inward
    43:00 Stop looking to mommy and daddy government to fix what they created
    53:35 How Africa and I met in Lisbon, and why I became a filmmaker
    1:06:00 Don't dissociate... let your heart be broken and filled
    1:16:00 Is it unethical to bring children into this world?
    1:26:50 Sovereignty, initiation, and finding the grit inside yourself
    1:36:40 Looking for omnipresent love in the creations instead of the creator

    Support the show

    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.

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MarkVicente
    Website: www.markvicente.com
    Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@markvicente7
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markvicente/
    X: https://x.com/markvicente
    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_vicente
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markvicente/
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 44 mins
  • Adrenaline, Predators & Documentaries w/ @thatdocumentarygirl

    Adrenaline, Predators & Documentaries w/ @thatdocumentarygirl
    Feb 15 2026

    She watches up to fourteen documentaries a week! Not for school. Not for work. Because she’s obsessed.

    In this episode of WTF Is On My Mind?, I sit down with Christie Boschman, known online as That Documentary Girl. Her platform has grown to over 4.5 million followers because she does one thing exceptionally well. She talks about documentaries with real passion.

    But this is not just a conversation about movies.

    We get into why audiences are drawn to dark stories, the psychology behind cult and crime narratives, the disturbing patterns around Epstein and powerful men protecting each other, and why so many great independent documentaries struggle to find distribution.

    Christie watches up to fourteen documentaries a week. She has become a bridge between indie filmmakers and the public, helping projects go viral and, in some cases, helping them secure distribution.

    NARCISSIST'S PLAYBOOK TRAILER

    We also discuss:
    • Why dark stories travel faster than hopeful ones
    • The ethics of covering trauma and predatory behavior
    • Narcissism and how predators operate
    • Online backlash and the psychology of keyboard warriors
    • Why streaming platforms play it safe
    • Whether social media is becoming the new proof of concept for truth

    00:00 The reel that sparked this conversation
    02:05 Falling in love with documentaries and Sharkwater
    05:15 Why making documentaries is brutal
    07:50 The documentary industry is struggling
    10:15 Why dark stories perform online
    12:40 Watching darkness without losing yourself
    15:30 Epstein, power circles, and why people look away
    21:10 Kumare and how cult leaders are made
    23:00 Adrenaline documentaries and survival stories
    27:00 Why great indie docs can’t find distribution
    31:30 Going viral and building a platform from obsession
    34:45 Online backlash and calling out bad behavior
    38:20 Unauthorized documentaries and controversy
    45:00 The Narcissist’s Playbook
    47:00 Stutz and the power of the twist
    51:45 Christie’s family documentary and The Honey Children
    56:00 Why documentaries deserve to be seen
    59:00 Finding awe and the antidote to cynicism

    Films and series mentioned in this episode:
    The Vow
    What the Bleep Do We Know?
    Sharkwater
    Kumare
    Filthy Rich
    Corey Feldman vs. The World
    Peter Nygård: Unseen
    Allen v. Farrow
    The Deepest Breath
    The Last Breath
    Touching the Void
    I Shouldn’t Be Alive
    Free Solo
    The Alpinist
    The Final Member
    Beyond Utopia
    Maya and the Wave https://youtu.be/44ElZ_dqgMA?si=qBAh18a3eWsd2a1F
    Norman & Norman
    Stutz
    Between the Mountain and the Sky

    Support the show

    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.

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MarkVicente
    Website: www.markvicente.com
    Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@markvicente7
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markvicente/
    X: https://x.com/markvicente
    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_vicente
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markvicente/
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Is Free Speech Evil? w/ Dr. Chloe Carmichael

    Is Free Speech Evil? w/ Dr. Chloe Carmichael
    Feb 8 2026

    If you’re deeply committed to ideological purity or easily offended by nuance, this episode may be uncomfortable. And honestly, that might be the point. But if you’re a freethinker; someone who values truth over trend and curiosity over conformity, you’re going to have a great time.

    Dr. Chloe Carmichael is a clinical psychologist and the bestselling author of Nervous Energy: Harness the Power of Your Anxiety. Her new book, “Can I Say That? Why Free Speech Matters and How to Use It Fearlessly”, dives deep into the psychological impact of censorship, not just on public discourse, but on our internal lives, relationships, and mental health.

    In this conversation, we explore the emotional toll of self-censorship and how it quietly erodes authentic connection. We talk about the confusion between emotional discomfort and actual harm, and how that confusion is being used to justify silence. Dr. Chloe sheds light on how universities became epicenters of groupthink, and why we’re seeing a generation increasingly afraid of free thought. We discuss impression management, fragile egos, and the false selves people construct just to survive in today’s ideological climate. And yes, we even ask whether what we’re witnessing amounts to a kind of mass psychological regression.

    Nothing is off the table, and that’s exactly the point.

    CONNECT WITH DR. CHLOE
    https://www.drchloe.com
    https://www.freespeechtoday.com
    Can I Say That? – Available wherever books are sold

    Support the show

    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.

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MarkVicente
    Website: www.markvicente.com
    Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@markvicente7
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markvicente/
    X: https://x.com/markvicente
    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_vicente
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markvicente/
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 7 mins
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