Oct 29, 2026 · 56 min · 11 segments
What does it actually mean to become a person of deep character in a culture obsessed with personality, platform, and performance? On this episode of *Typology*, Ian Morgan Cron sits down with…
Chuck DeGroatGuestIan Morgan CronHost
Anthony SkinnerHostWell, you've spent a lot of time talking about narcissism in a previous book.
And I've done a lot of work as a therapist and even more than the average therapist.
And sociopathy, sociopaths, malignant narcissists, understanding different ways of understanding things.
And oftentimes when we're talking about issues of character, narcissism comes up, right? And then this is, again, where it gets muddy, right? Is this a psychological problem? Is this a moral problem? Is it a psychological problem that issues forth in moral collapse? You know what I'm saying? Yes, yes.
But I guess the question I have is like, what is a person in your experience with like a really big personality, like just a really shiny self-presentation, but no character look like on a good day and a bad day?
Well, I think the first thing I'd say is it's a psychological problem with moral implications, right? All
I want to understand that this is a survival pattern, that there's an organized – you know, defensive system sense of place that has been in place for a long, long time.
And because you're living like this now, this necessarily has an impact on other people in your life.
They appear – their self-presentation is often very actually hypnotically compelling.
Like, what does somebody with that kind of personality, like, what are the tells? How's that? Let me put it that way.
Well, you've spent a lot of time talking about narcissism in a previous book.
And I've done a lot of work as a therapist and even more than the average therapist.
And sociopathy, sociopaths, malignant narcissists, understanding different ways of understanding things.
And oftentimes when we're talking about issues of character, narcissism comes up, right? And then this is, again, where it gets muddy, right? Is this a psychological problem? Is this a moral problem? Is it a psychological problem that issues forth in moral collapse? You know what I'm saying? Yes, yes.
But I guess the question I have is like, what is a person in your experience with like a really big personality, like just a really shiny self-presentation, but no character look like on a good day and a bad day?
Well, I think the first thing I'd say is it's a psychological problem with moral implications, right? All
I want to understand that this is a survival pattern, that there's an organized – you know, defensive system sense of place that has been in place for a long, long time.
And because you're living like this now, this necessarily has an impact on other people in your life.
They appear – their self-presentation is often very actually hypnotically compelling.
Like, what does somebody with that kind of personality, like, what are the tells? How's that? Let me put it that way.
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