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Dec 2024
1h 3m

The Cult of Synanon, Part 1

Studio71
About this episode
Buy tickets to The Big Magical Cult Show in Vancouver, Canada on February 21, 2025! Father is back!!! No, not Father Algorithm, but *actual* Father. Indeed, Amanda's sweetie dad, Craig Montell, returns to the pod after his featurette on last year's cult of Military Wives episode, for an extra-special end-of-year, two-part deep dive into the cult that he surv ... Show More
Up next
Yesterday
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