Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation

This week’s guest is Matthew Remski, author and host of the Conspirituality podcast. In part one, he talks about his own personal experiences with gurus and cultic dynamics, and what led him to the topic of cults and conspiracies. He tells the girls about his own religious upbringing, the mysterious seizures that led to his fascination with spirituality, and what drew him to his first charismatic guru, Michael Roach.

He explains what an average day was like following Roach for three high-demand years, traveling with him and attending his “classes,” what the physical manifestations of his spiritual experiences were like in both that group and the next one he joined, and what led to his disillusionment (with the first one).
Plus, next week: He’ll tell us why he cult-hopped, patterns he sees emerging in the world of cults and conspiracies, how we can keep political spaces healthy, and what Marx has to do with any of it.
SOURCES
Conspirituality Podcast
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Author Harrison Hill joins the girls to discuss his new book The Oracle’s Daughter, which follows the rise and fall of a small cult called the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps. He explains what the religious landscape in America looked like at the time, with the spiritual awakening and unrest of the 60s transitioning into a new Christianity movement, and how this group’s leader Lila Carter (who later became Deborah Greene) began her spiritual journey on a commune called the Bear Tribe.

They discuss the beginnings of Lila’s own visions, moaning and grunting and giving birth to what she called “spiritual soldiers,” how her following grew, and the parallels between her and Shaker leader Ann Lee. Naturally, the group became more controlling and cruel over time, changing people’s names to words like “Despised,” using physical punishment on its members, and even kidnapping a baby. And finally, they touch on how Lila’s daughter Sarah, the subject of the book, found her own way through all of this, eventually leaving and sharing her story of survival.
SOURCES
The Oracle’s Daugher: The Rise and Fall of an American Cult
The Cut - How Sarah Greene Escaped Her Mother's Cult
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Celeste Gross joins the girls to talk about her experiences growing up in the Children of God - aka the Family - along with her many siblings. She explains how her parents joined when it still just seemed like a beautiful gospel movement that helped her dad get sober, but how it changed over time once they lived on a commune in Brazil and became reliant on donations for survival. She shares how every part of life was controlled–down to how many squares of toilet paper they were allowed to use.

They discuss the media ban the group imposed, and how only songs and TV shows made by the group were allowed--other than two very specific movies (which will surprise you). She shares how her family became homeless overnight after they finally left, and the extreme hardships they faced while trying to rebuild a life from nothing.
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This week, Dan Olson, creator and host of YouTube channel Folding Ideas, returns to continue the conversation on cryptocurrency and NFTs. They discuss how these bubbles are driven primarily by charismatic leaders, why success rates of investment are similar to MLMs (read: the vast majority of investors don’t win big), and how there’s a lot of shame around having lost money in this arena–but why more men should come forward with their stories.

Dan explains why there’s no inherent difference between scam cryptocurrencies and so-called “real” cryptocurrencies, since all are rooted in speculation and faith, where the line is between greed and just being a victim of American prosperity gospel, and what to look out for to prevent yourself from getting scammed.
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This week, Dan Olson of the YouTube channel Folding Ideas joins the show for a deep dive into crypto, NFTs, and why so many of these spaces start to feel less like finance and more like belief systems. He breaks down the history of Bitcoin, what cryptocurrencies actually are, and how NFTs exploded into the mainstream, with investor communities promising not just wealth, but destiny–as long as they suppress their doubt and stay in line.

They discuss the gender divide and whether crypto is MLMs for men: same promises of prosperity, different packaging. Plus, some of the insider jargon and acronyms used to shut down skepticism, and how it all added up to a financial technology becoming a social identity.

And stay tuned for part two next week, when Dan will zoom in on the role of charismatic leaders in driving the decision-making.

SOURCES
Folding Ideas
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.