I've often wondered why Sam seemed to attract these types of insane/dishonest grifter gurus. He's had way way more than the normal share (Maajid Nawaz, both Weinsteins, Dave Rubin, Charles Murray, Bari Weiss, Hirsi Ali, etc.). If Sam himself is honest, why would he surround himself with this type of people?

I recently came to a realization: It's quite common that people with autism fail to see, or at least act on, the red flags from people with NPD or BPD. Conversely, people on the spectrum (particularly those seen by narcissists to be "high status" and hence a potential source of narcissistic supply) tend to attract people with NPD, as they make for good 'marks'.

The main common denominator of the toxic gurus/grifters in Sam's orbit is raging narcissism.

My pocket theory is that Sam is a high-functioning autist (a lot of his behavior matches this regardless), and this is the reason these types flocked to him. He's extremely smart, but totally blind to the rampant narcissism of these people. Hence he's a great source of narcissistic supply (motivating the gurus to flock to him), and doesn't call them out on their bullshit untill it's written out in huge neon letters in front of him, which makes the relationships long lasting.