This week, with the help of special guest Dan Savage (relationships advice columnist and host of the Savage Lovecast), Isa and Amanda are talking about cults of one: toxic relationships. How are toxic lovers (and friends and bosses) similar to cult leaders? What cult-like tactics do these “charismatic” abusers use to lure people in and make them stay? This i ... Show More
Jul 8
The Cult of America's Next Top Model
This week, Chelsea, Amanda, and guest Sarah Hartshorne (@sarahbhartshorne) dig into the high-gloss, high-drama, and disturbingly high-control world of America’s Next Top Model. Once hailed as a launchpad for aspiring models, the long-running franchise masked emotional manipulatio ... Show More
1h 21m
Jul 1
The Cult of Elon Musk (Part 2)
What happens when a billionaire tech mogul starts to look less like a CEO and more like a modern-day messiah? This week, Chelsea, Amanda, and Reese team up with historian and authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat (@ruthbenghiat) to explore the cult of personality surrounding Elo ... Show More
1h 12m
Jun 2022
Transcendental Meditation & Cult Intervention with Patrick Ryan and Joe Kelly
Want to learn how to levitate? Cult Interventionists and Founders of Cult News 101, Patrick Ryan and Joe Kelly, talk about their work with ICSA (the International Cultic Studies Association), how levitation played into their experiences with Transcendental Meditation, early cult ... Show More
1h 18m
Jul 2021
Wait… Am I In A Cult? Ft. Amanda Montell
This week, Sara and Danny host writer, language scholar, and podcast host Amanda Montell, for a fascinating conversation about about cults and what makes them so effective at garnering our attention. They cover cult-ish groups and organizations from Scientology to SoulCycle and e ... Show More
50m 43s
Oct 2022
Cults: Manipulation Tactics, Celebrity Involvement, Escape w/ Lola Blanc + Meaghan Elizabeth
Joining the Deux U classroom this week are Cult survivors Lola Blanc and Meaghan Elizabeth. On their podcast, Trust Me, they talk to fellow survivors, former and current believers, experts, and everyone in between to try to get to the bottom of how extreme belief happens, who's s ... Show More
1h 7m
Aug 2021
Trailer: Was I In A Cult?
Hosted by Tyler Measom and Liz Iacuzzi, Was I In A Cult? is a documentary-style podcast featuring far-out, first-hand stories of survivors who unwittingly joined, lived in, and escaped, cults. Using levity and info-tainment, the show humanizes the cultic experience and may leave ... Show More
4m 32s
Oct 2022
855 - The Cult of Entrepreneurship
When you think of a cult, you might conjure some very specific imagery. Groups of people dressed in white, huddled around a charismatic, long-haired leader. Glasses of red fruit punch, mixed with other things, in the background. And a general sense of impending doom as the leader ... Show More
22m 51s
May 2023
Destiny: Rev. Jim Willis, American Cults, Cabal, Corruptions and Charismatic Leaders
America has spawned hundreds of cults. Charismatic leaders periodically burst into the news for the most awful of reasons. We are awash with stories of brainwashed members’ struggles to leave. Meet the messianic leaders, see the indoctrination and manipulation, look at their beli ... Show More
1h 8m