Spelade
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The mysterious death of a South Korean business tycoon was the closing chapter of a bizarre saga dotted with the start of a church, maritime disasters, and a mass killing-suicide. Hannah and Suruthi dive into the life of “Little Child” Yoo Byung-eun and his Evangelical Baptist Church. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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In the early 2000s, a small Pentecostal sect in Sweden began adopting unconventional beliefs and practices on their way to cult infamy. Hannah and Suruthi discuss Knutby Filadelfia, its leaders — the “Bride of Christ” Åsa Waldau and predatory pastor Helge Fossmo — and how “texts from God” manipulated one vulnerable member into committing murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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A preacher and his wife establish the House of David in 1902 after coming to believe they are the fated “seventh messenger” of God. The Purnells relocate to Lake Michigan, get an influx of money from two investors, and prepare for eternal life with their followers… by building an amusement park, baseball team, and the world’s largest miniature railroad. But in the 1920s, sexual abuse allegations cause Benjamin Purnell to hide out for years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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After a restaurateur finds massive success with a natural food cafe in Los Angeles, he changes his name and starts a commune. Suruthi and Hannah take it back to the ‘70s to trace the life of Jim Baker – polygamous practices, occult imagination, doomsday predictions, and all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Since the ‘70s, thousands of people have come together every year for peaceful gatherings in national forests. But these so-called Rainbow Gatherings are plagued by a history of disappearances, deaths, and at least one massive diarrhea incident. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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In the 1990s, a teenager in Kentucky got into a role-playing game about vampires and the occult. A few years later, he was drinking his friends’ blood, adopting an ancient vampiric identity, and planning murder with his vampire clan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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John Alexander Dowie founded the Christian Catholic Church as well as a commune called Zion in 1896 after performing miracles as a faith healer. But while he lived a lavish lifestyle, his critics called him a fraud. And it wouldn't be long before his followers agreed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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It’s California in the 1960s. LSD is a sacrament, orgies are sacred, and utopia is just one good trip away… at least for the band of hippies led by John Griggs. Hannah and Suruthi drop into the Brotherhood of Eternal Love to explore their vision for the world, and the multi-million dollar business that was going to help them achieve it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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For a company whose slogan is “Creating freedom through fashion” LuLaRoe is tangled up in quite a few lawsuits. So, how did Mark and Deanne Stidham’s legging empire lose its footing? Hannah and Suruthi discuss the boom — and bust — created by the once-beloved MLM. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Sometime in the ‘90s a man named Gerald Attrill changed his name to Jessa O’My Heart, claimed he was the next coming of Jesus Christ, and began selling magical elixirs. People drank it up. Hermes Far Eastern Shining became — and still is! — a massively profitable business. But it’s also incredibly dubious… to say the least. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Frederick Lenz was a spiritual leader in the ‘80s who believed he was the incarnation of a Hindu god. He called himself Rama, insisted computer programming was a path to enlightenment, and collected millions from his followers. But for all his material wealth, he couldn’t save his beloved pup Vayu, and it sent him over the edge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Sherry Shriner’s conspiracy theories exploded online in the late 2000s with the debut of her YouTube channel, but the seeds of her bizarre beliefs had been planted in her childhood. Hannah and Suruthi cover the cult leader’s obsession with the “alien agenda,” Bible Codes, end days prophecies, and the New World Order. And how two tragic deaths spotlighted the dangers she posed to her followers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Yogi Bhajan, the spiritual leader who popularized Kundalini yoga in the U.S. in the 1970s, also founded a billion-dollar empire that includes a massive tea brand. This is our premiere episode (!) and the first in our series called “Cult Brands: Financing a Movement.” Join us for four incredible episodes as we explore the intersection between cults and commerce. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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How does a widely respected drug rehabilitation program turn into a violent cult? Today, Hannah and Suruthi are talking about Synanon — the “revolutionary” group helmed by Chuck Dederich that became a religious society with its own private militia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
