Sounds Like A Cult

By: Studio71
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  • Summary

  • Putting the “cult” in culture… Do you think SoulCycle is a cult? What about the Royal Family? What about Disney Adults? Or spiritual influencers? Is Instagram itself a cult? We’re 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 by New York Times-bestselling author Amanda Montell, co-hosted and produced by Chelsea Charles and Reese Oliver. For advertising opportunities please email PodcastPartnerships@Studio71us.com We want to make the podcast even better, help us learn how we can: https://bit.ly/2EcYbu4 Privacy Policy: https://www.studio71.com/terms-and-conditions-use/#Privacy%20Policy 
    2025 Amanda Montell & Studio71 301568
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Social Sciences Spirituality
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Episodes
  • The Cult of Shen Yun

    The Cult of Shen Yun
    Feb 11 2025
    You’re walking through the mall or driving down the street, and there it is again: a pastel-colored poster featuring a leaping dancer. It reads: Shen Yun, China Before Communism. What even IS this lavish dance show whose advertisements haunt all our towns? Is it a religion? A political party? A theatre troupe? What is their mission? Is the dancing even good? And where does Shen Yun find the budget for all this marketing?? This week, Amanda is joined by special guests Liz and Brace of the TrueAnon podcast (@trueanonpod) to break down the culty undercurrents of Shen Yun, the ultra-mysterious, Falun Gong-backed dance company that’s less about “reviving ancient Chinese culture” and more about, oh, say, labor exploitation, emotional abuse, and apocalyptic doomsday beliefs. ALLEGEDLY. Tune in as we pirouette through the cultiest corners of this not-so-harmless night at the theater. 🎭💸✨ Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube! Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles. Thank you to our sponsors! Embrace your ritual with extraordinary hydration from Liquid I.V. Get 20% off your first order of Liquid I.V. when you go to https://LIQUIDIV.COM and use code CULT at checkout. Head to https://www.squarespace.com/CULT to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code CULT Find exactly what you’re booking for on https://Booking.com, Booking.YEAH! Please consider donating to those affected by the Los Angeles Fires. Some organizations that Team SLAC are donating to are: https://mutualaidla.org/ https://give.pasadenahumane.org/give/654134/#!/donation/checkout https://shorturl.at/SGW9w Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    57 mins
  • The Cult of Nickelodeon

    The Cult of Nickelodeon
    Feb 4 2025
    Few pop culture phenomena have commanded such fierce devotion while hiding so many skeletons in their neon-colored closet. This week, Chelsea, Amanda, and Reese dig into Nickelodeon—not just as a childhood staple, but as a world built on loyalty, odd rituals, and unsettling secrets. From the hypnotic allure of The Kids' Choice Awards and the iconic green slime to the troubling revelations surrounding Dan Schneider and the exploitation behind the scenes, we’re breaking down how Nickelodeon crafted a universe that felt rebellious and freeing, while masking a much darker reality. Was the network’s quirky, anti-establishment vibe just smoke and mirrors? How does nostalgia shape the way we process these unsettling truths? Join us as we peel back the layers of an empire that shaped generations, for better or worse. Nick-Nick-Nick, Nick-Nick-NICK-NICK! Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube! Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles. Thank you to our sponsors! Start earning points on rent you’re already paying by going to https://joinbilt.com/CULT You have got to take advantage of this brand new deal from Adam & Eve at https://www.adamandeve.com/cult Please consider donating to those affected by the Los Angeles Fires. Some organizations that Team SLAC are donating to are: https://mutualaidla.org/ https://give.pasadenahumane.org/give/654134/#!/donation/checkout https://shorturl.at/SGW9w Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr
  • The Cult of Neil Gaiman

    The Cult of Neil Gaiman
    Jan 28 2025
    Very rarely does a culty news topic compel us to the mic as urgently as this week’s subject, a nerdy literature fandom turned…collective traumatic experience? In the wake of a bombshell Vulture exposé that straight-up reads like a Sounds Like A Cult script, Reese and Amanda are unpacking the nightmarish tale of multi-bestselling-author-turned-sex-abuser-slash-cult-leader, Neil Gaiman. You know this guy’s work, even if you don’t recognize his name, and the cult he created has so many entry points, if you are a lover of Coraline, American Gods, The Dresden Dolls, or a variety of viral Tumblr DM reply screenshots from @neil-gaiman, there’s a chance you’ve skirted the edge of a few of them. We, along with the rest of the online book-nerd world, were flabbergasted by the release of Lila Shapiro’s article “There is No Safe Word” revealing that underneath Gaiman’s seemingly wholesome dynamic with his doting fans was a campaign of lovebombing, sexual assault, and bizarre rituals, involving the author’s ex-wife Amanda Palmer and a history with the freaking church of Scientology. It’s truly a heartbreaking, stranger-than-fiction story. Join Amanda and Reese, as they analyze it chapter by chapter. P.S. While we for the most part try to keep things fairly lighthearted here at SLAC, this week’s episode is obviously covering a genuinely dangerous individual, and therefore some very sensitive topics. This is a content warning to maybe skip this week’s episode if the following are especially uncomfortable territory for you: sexual assault, emotional and verbal abuse, suicidal ideation, emotional abuse, abuse against LGBTQ+ individuals Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube! Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles. Thank you to our sponsors! Head to https://www.squarespace.com/CULT to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code CULT. Stop putting off those doctors’ appointments and go to https://www.Zocdoc.com/CULT to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today. Please consider donating to those affected by the Los Angeles Fires. Some organizations that Team SLAC are donating to are: https://mutualaidla.org/ https://give.pasadenahumane.org/give/654134/#!/donation/checkout https://shorturl.at/SGW9w Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    50 mins

Featured Article: Delve into the Darker Side of Human Nature with the 15 Best Podcasts About Cults


Cults are fascinating. There’s something curiosity-inducing about stories of ordinary people who get wrapped up in groupthink that quickly veers into dangerous territory. Part of the appeal is because we think it could never happen to us, even though we suspect, deep down, that it absolutely could. These listens explore the nature of cults, the figures who lead them, and the followers who have been lured into their orbits.

Featured Article Delve into the Darker Side of Human Nature with the 15 Best Podcasts About Cults

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Fun/Funny/insightful

I think they’re funny and insightful. The way they discuss language and culture reminds me of smoke circles in college lol literally talking about everything under the sun and how it all connects

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Stuff is cooling I fed my fort the thennhugly y. M. Uh n v nuggetyc cute yyyv chicks

Kinda just that’s. B hut Io I in Mimi th DC idk what else to put and for what everj reason there is a word minimum so im just yapping at this pointless thing thing Ty

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Gossip Without Substance

This is a witty and humorous Podcast, but it lacks substance. Although they choose interesting topics, they throw around the word “cult” with recklessness and abandon. Listen for yourself (and pay attention to how frequently they contradict themselves within each episode). The result amounts to less news and analysis than you’d get, for example, from Entertainment Tonight.

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Profile Image for Akth

Very ‘not like other girls’

Interesting premise, but dear sweet baby Jesus in heaven above the level of obnoxious, quirky, NLOGs these two hosts are at is just… superior. Damn. After a single episode my face was hurting from all the cringing.

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