Putting the βcultβ in cultureβ¦ Do you think SoulCycle is a cult? What about the Royal Family? What about Disney Adults? Or spiritual influencers? Is Instagram itself a cult? Weβre Sounds Like A Cult, an iHeart Radio Award-winning podcast that analyzes a different fanatical group every week to try and answer the big question: This ~sounds~ like a cult, but is it really? Created and hosted byΒ New York Times-bestselling author Amanda Montell, co-hosted and produced by Chelsea Charles, Reese Oliver, and Iman Hariri Kia.
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New Age love & wellness influencers turned baby NXIVM: That's kinda the best way we can succinctly describe this weekβs cult, Twin Flames Universe, one of the most chilling groups weβve discussed on the pod thus far. Several months ago, Twin Flames survivor Jessi Hersey, whom you might recognize from the βEscaping Twin Flamesβ doc on Netflix, slid into our DMs and made a very generous and compelling argument as to why Twin Flames needed airtime on Sounds Like A Cult. After all, itβs important to represent the whole LYL, WYB, GTFO cult spectrum! This week, we're asking the fundamental questions: How did this niche online self-help βcommunityβ turn so destructive so fast, and how are its tenets low-key a threat to us all? Tune in to find out, and make sure to listen to the very end of the episode. Weβre making a highly exciting announcement about the next season of SLACβ¦ letβs just say there might be a couple new βcult leadersβ (ahem, co-hosts) in your future!
Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod @amanda_montell @reesaronii
To order Amanda's new book, The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, click here. To subscribe to Amanda's new Magical Overthinkers podcast and/or watch full episodes on YouTube, click here :)
Thank you to our sponsors!!Β
Visit BetterHelp.com/CULT today to get 10% off your first month.
Dipsea is offering an extended 30-day free trial when you go to DipseaStories.com/cult.Β
Head to Squarespace.com for a free trial, and when youβre ready to launch, go to https://www.squarespace.com/CULT to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
Get 20% off your first order of Liquid I.V. when you go to LiquidIV.com and use code CULT at checkout
Further reading:
How βTwin Flames Universeβ YouTubers Monetized Heartbreak and Trauma
βEverywhere I Went, They Went With Me, Because They Were on My Phoneβ: Inside the Always Online, All-Consuming World of Twin Flames Universe
Why We Can't Get Enough of Cult Documentaries
Twin Flames, Explained
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The Cult of Mission Trips
Tuesday, August 6, 2024 β’ Duration 01:06:13
Pack your hammer and your lack of cultural awareness, because this week on Sounds Like A Cult, we're interviewing Tia Levings, a former Christian fundamentalist, mission trip devotee, and survivor of church-sanctioned domestic violence. Tia is also the author of the brand new memoir A Well-Trained Wife. She joins to discuss the ever-so-common culty practice of recruiting church kids to go on white savior vacations all under the guise of bringing Sky Daddy and ultimate nepo kid Jesus into the lives of people who most certainly never asked for that. Aka, mission trips! Many thanks to all the listeners who submitted call-ins for this episode! Be sure to listen to the end, because weβve got a verrrrrrrry exciting announcement about next season coming :)
Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod @amanda_montell
To order Amanda's new book, The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, click here. To subscribe to Amanda's new Magical Overthinkers podcast and/or watch full episodes on YouTube, click here :)
Head to Squarespace.com for a free trial, and when youβre ready to launch, go to https://www.squarespace.com/CULT to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
Earn points by paying rent right now when you go to joinbilt.com/cult.
Shop the SKIMS Soft Lounge Collection at SKIMS.com. After you place your order, select "Sounds Like A Cult" in the survey and select our show in the dropdown menu that follows.
Go to the App Store or Google Play store and download the FREE Ibotta app to start earning cash back and use code CULT.
Further reading:
Mission trips are an evangelical rite of passage for US teens β but why?
YouTube channel: ExMoLex
Stop going on Mission Trips
Why I'll Never Go on a Mission Trip Again
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The Cult of Family Vloggers
Tuesday, June 18, 2024 β’ Duration 55:54
Catch Amanda back on tour this summer!
July 29:Β The Age of Magical OverthinkingΒ book talk at Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, WA (free!)
Imagine youβre a little kid and your parents are actually your bosses. Now imagine that, as your professional superiors, your parents' job is to engineer and exploit every single precious moment of your childhood for millions of people on the internet to behold, all in exchange for clicks, comments, and ad dollars. Sometimes they prank you, embarrass you, and/or produce a whole βnother sibling purely as a career move. Now imagine if your parents manage to figure out at some point that this dynamic is power abusive and manipulative, and they decide to stop sharing your face with the world, scads of strangers whoβve gotten parasocially attached to you since before you were born start flipping the f*** out. Such is the uncanny experience of a kid born into the cult of family vloggers, this weekβs culty a$$ subject, featuring journalist Fortesa Latifi, who is currently writing a book about parenthood and content creation.Β
Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod @amanda_montell
To order Amanda's new book, The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality,Β click here :) To subscribe to her new Magical Overthinkers podcast click here!
Thank you to our sponsors, who make this show possible:
Visit BetterHelp.com/CULT today to get 10% off your first month.
Dipsea is offering an extended 30-day free trial when you go to DipseaStories.com/cult.Β
Go to the App Store or Google Play store and download the FREE Ibotta app to start earning cash back and use code CULT.
Go to stopscooping.com/SLAC and enter promocode SLAC to save an EXTRA $50 on any Litter-Robot bundle.Β Β
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Cult of Elon Musk
Season 2 Β· Episode 14
Tuesday, May 3, 2022 β’ Duration 44:22
The New York Times described him as βat once a capitalist hero, a glossy magazine celebrity and a bomb-throwing troll.β Multi-billionaire tech tycoon Elon Musk, best known for his high-stakes investments in companies from PayPal to Tesla to SpaceX to Neurolink, is seen as not just a businessman to his nearly 90 million Twitter followers, but as a rockstar, influencer, and Christlike savior sent from the heavens to save the world. On the heels of his fancy new purchase of Twitter, Amanda and Isa discuss Muskβs cult charisma, his army of Musketeers, and what his rise to cult-leader-ish power says about our culture at large. Thanks to all our loyal culties who called in to lend their insight to this episode!
Sign up for your free two-week trial at Monday.com/podcast.Β
Go to HelloFresh.com/cult16 and use code cult16 for up to 16 free meals AND 3 free gifts!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Cult of Theatre Kids
Season 2 Β· Episode 13
Tuesday, April 26, 2022 β’ Duration 01:01:13
POV: You work at Denny's. It's 12 AM. You want to go home. And from outside you hear it... your worst nightmare: 40 pairs of hungry footsteps and an acapella intro to Grease's Summer Nights. In this episode, with the help of stage actor and Tik Tok sensation Tyler Joseph Ellis, Isa and Amanda dig into Theatre Kid (yes, spelled βreβ) cultureβthe rituals and superstitions, the cliques and power structuresβto see just how far a teenager will go to live out their High School Musical dream.
For a limited time, new users can get $10 in free Bitcoin when you sign up today at Coinbase.com/CULTΒ
Listeners can get 65% off their first month of medication management and care counseling at cerebral.com/Cult.Β
Helix is offering up to 200 dollars off all mattress orders AND two free pillows for our listeners at HelixSleep.com/cult.Β
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Cult of Essential Oils
Season 2 Β· Episode 12
Tuesday, April 19, 2022 β’ Duration 52:08
Lavender can cure headaches and tea tree oil can clear your acne (and heal Covid/your whole life)? The cult of essential oils blurs the line between fact and fiction and this week, Amanda and Isa team up with a special guest, Buzzfeed reporter Stephanie McNeal, to learn about these controversial little potions, their βcult following,β and the snake oil salespeople who weaponize them.
Head to MeritBeauty.com/CULT to get their free signature reusable makeup bag with your purchase.Β
Go to DailyHarvest.com/cult for up to forty dollars off your first box!
Get Honey for FREE at JoinHoney.com/CULT
Listeners get 10% off your first month by visiting our sponsor at BetterHelp.com/CULTΒ
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Cult of Minimalism
Season 2 Β· Episode 11
Tuesday, April 12, 2022 β’ Duration 43:48
The life-changing magic of tidying up gave a shiny new rebrand to age-old ideas that owning less stuff can be connected to enlightenment... but are there people taking the "cult" of *minimalism* too far? Can stripping down your material possessions actually cure the sorrow and ennui of contemporary existence? Isa and Amanda chat with Joshua & Ryan, "cult leaders" of The Minimalists website, podcast, and documentary, and more to find out...Β
https://www.theminimalists.com/
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For a limited time, new users can get $10 in free Bitcoin when you sign up today at Coinbase.com/cultΒ
Go to Cerebral.com/CULT for 65% off your first month.
Go to Grove.com/CULTΒ to get a free gift set worth up to fifty dollars with your first order.
For 50% off your first Care/of order of $40 or more, go to TakeCareOf.com and enter code cult50
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The Cult of Academia
Season 2 Β· Episode 10
Tuesday, April 5, 2022 β’ Duration 45:08
Did you know PhD actually stands for βProbably Heavily in Debtβ and βPretty Heavily Depressedβ? Jk (or are we?). This week, Isa and Amanda delve into the mahogany-walled βcultβ academia, where hierarchies, elitism, financial exploitation, hidden crimes, false promises, and weird robes are just part of the gig. Comedian, writer, and PhD adjunct professor Amy Silverberg joins us to discuss her experience being both a leader and a follower of this prestigious βcult.β
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For listeners of the show, Dipsea is offering an extended 30 day free trial when you go to DipseaStories.com/CULT.Β
Go to HelloFresh.com/cult16 and use code cult16 for up to 16 free meals AND 3 free gifts!
Listeners get 10% off your first month by visiting our sponsor at BetterHelp.com/CULTΒ
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Cult of Disney Adults
Season 2 Β· Episode 9
Tuesday, March 29, 2022 β’ Duration 54:41
Blackout dates, Genie lines, Magic Keys, Storyliving, DCP, D23... If any of these terms got you feeling some kind of way, you're likely in "cult" of Disney Adults. Grownups who worship an iconic mouse have established themselves as one of the most fanatical fandoms out there, but how dangerously culty are these Disney-inspired behaviors and rituals, *really*? To find out, co-hosts Amanda and Isa solicit the help of many passionate listener call-ins and special guest, cheeky Disney influencer Francis Dominic @francisdominiic.
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Go to MeritBeauty.com/CULT to get their free signature reusable makeup bag with your purchase.Β
Sounds Like A Cult listeners get 10% off their first month at BetterHelp.com/CULT
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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