A candid interview with one of the founders of the UKs Behavioural Insights Team aka. the "Nudge Unit" on how this organisation was founded and eventually morphed into a global business. He discusses theirs and others impact on the spreading of fear during the COVID pandemic and some of the negative effects of this. They claim to follow an empirical approach to behaviour change and do appear to have achieved some noble successes with this approach. Regardless of this, I'm sure many will feel creeped out by the existence and actions of such a group. Are they really helping us widen our views in acceptable and helpful ways, or do they risk becoming a cog in the machine of authoritarianism? Is this article itself an approach by the nudge unit to soften public opinion of them? Either way these institutions exist and we should definitely be aware of them. "I remain a supporter of the use of behavioural science in public policy, and of the Behavioural Insights Team, more commonly known as the Nudge Unit. However, witnessing how the UK and other governments have responded to the pandemic, I can now appreciate the vulnerabilities of well-intentioned, democratic regimes, and the potential for behavioural science to be used inappropriately."