Nearly two decades after the Waco Siege, people are still wondering what transpired at the Branch Davidian compound. Though the government officially investigated and exonerated the FBI, some have found evidence of a massive cover-up. Did the government actually fire the first shot that led to 81 deaths? This episode is a crossover with Conspiracy Theories and originally aired October 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Nov 15, 2022•33 min
On February 28th, 1993, ATF agents raided a compound in Waco, Texas, belonging to a religious group known as the Branch Davidians. A 51-day standoff ensued, ending in a violent siege. Eighty-one people lost their lives, many of them children — but to this day, no one knows which side fired first. This episode is a crossover with Conspiracy Theories and originally aired October 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Nov 08, 2022•33 min
With more than 900 people dead, the Jonestown Massacre has sparked many theories over the past 40 years. Did the government have a hand in these deaths? Could the cult have been connected to the mysterious MK-Ultra program? And was Jim Jones murdered, or did he fake his own death? This episode originally aired on Conspiracy Theories . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Nov 01, 2022•58 min
At the command of Jim Jones, more than 900 followers of The Peoples Temple drank a beverage laced with cyanide in an act that Jones labeled “revolutionary suicide.” But was this truly a mass suicide, or was it a mass murder? And why do some people think Jim Jones faked his own death? This episode originally aired on Conspiracy Theories . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Oct 25, 2022•1 hr 1 min
This is the finale of our Serial Killers and Conspiracy Theories crossover: By 2011, the FBI was ready to reexamine the evidence. A theory emerged: What if the Mad Poisoner was actually the Unabomber? Ted Kaczynski had proven he was a revenge-seeking terrorist, and he had connections to Chicago. Perhaps he traded homemade bombs for poisoned pills. Or maybe the deadly concoctions came straight from the Johnson & Johnson facility itself. In the absence of clear answers, only theories remain… a...
Oct 18, 2022•42 min
If you enjoyed part 1 last week, we’re back with part 2: If Roger Arnold wasn’t behind the murders, who was? Police turn their focus to a new suspect: a disgruntled accountant named James Lewis. But the more police dig into Lewis’s life, the more questions they have. The road ahead is paved with extortion, false identities, and revenge. This is a crossover special between Serial Killers and Conspiracy Theories . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Oct 11, 2022•38 min
Listeners, we’re popping back into your feed this week to share a special crossover episode from Serial Killers and Conspiracy Theories . Forty years ago, cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules led to the deaths of seven people all around the Chicago area. America was gripped by paranoia and fear. Why was this happening? Who would be next? Police grasped for suspects who might be the so-called “Mad Poisoner.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Oct 04, 2022•40 min
When Sun Myung Moon decides to step down as the public face of the Unification Church, the ensuing succession drama embroils his family in multiple scandals. Frozen out by his mother, Sean Moon decides to start a new organization — Rod of Iron Ministries. The mass wedding ceremonies continue, but new rituals have cropped up, too. This time centered on guns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sep 27, 2022•43 min
The ‘70s see Reverend Moon’s star on the rise in the U.S. His missionaries have spread around the globe, his businesses are raising millions in capital, and his already vast reach is expanding. But the self-proclaimed “True Father” is about to face some of his fiercest backlash yet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sep 20, 2022•40 min
Branded a heretic in the towns where he preaches, Moon moves his small following to Seoul. There, his ranks begin to swell. Whatever slander and imprisonment he endures, Moon remains uncompromising in his vocation: find a new wife, raise the ideal family — and mobilize his holy mission out into the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sep 13, 2022•41 min
In South Korea, a young religious convert thinks he’s destined to become the second Christ. His mission is to unite every Christian and kickstart God’s kingdom on Earth. What he creates along the way is a global empire and infamous political force. In this 4-part special, we examine the Unification Church, nicknamed “the Moonies” after their founder Sun Myung Moon, and explore the new religious cult led by Moon’s son. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Sep 06, 2022•40 min
By the early ‘90s, local authorities had long suspected something was off about the small, religious Florida community. A harrowing incident of child abuse gave them the proof they needed to take a harder look at what was going on. The more they looked, the uglier it got. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Aug 30, 2022•36 min
Fifty years ago, Anna Young got away with murder. But the guilt ate at her. She leaned hard into her Pentecostal faith before moving her family to Florida to start fresh. Her “House of Prayer for All People” was meant to be a place of refuge and salvation. It didn’t take long for things to turn sour. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Aug 23, 2022•39 min
Once you’re in, there aren’t many ways to get out. At least, not alive. But that doesn’t mean people haven’t tried. When Alex Sanchez decided he was done with gang life, he retired, and poured his life into helping others do the same. But his path forward was threatened by everyone from a vigilante death squad in El Salvador to the LAPD and FBI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Aug 16, 2022•39 min
By cult standards, they aren’t one. But MS-13 does share a common language with even the most insidious fringe groups. Bound by loyalty, ideology, and power, the members of MS-13 make up one of the most dangerous gangs to ever exist. And it all started on the streets of Los Angeles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Aug 09, 2022•40 min
By 2008, Daniel Perez had collected millions in life insurance payouts. Fake identities and fraud had kept him untouchable. But a tip to the FBI gave investigators the fuel they needed to take him down. And what they uncovered was so much darker than what they first suspected. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Aug 02, 2022•38 min
A man claiming to be a thousand-year-old angel moved his small commune from state to state, never staying too long. When money ran tight, the mysterious deaths of his followers — and their life insurance payouts — kept him going. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 26, 2022•34 min
Jim Baker might’ve attracted famous diners to his hugely popular restaurants. But “Father Yod” gathered disciples. And they were going to usher in a new age of Aquarius. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 19, 2022•44 min
Ancient aliens. Biblical messages. The final chapter in our new book details how Applewhite created an alternate reality for his followers, ending in tragedy. Listen to this clip from our Cults podcast episode on how his beliefs evolved. Then order the new CULTS book to examine his methods in full: parcast.com/cults Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 17, 2022•6 min
Credonia Mwerinde leveraged the turmoil in 1980s Uganda to lead a movement that ended in death, destruction, and her own disappearance. Today’s clip outlines the political and spiritual context she arose from. Go deeper into her life as a cult leader with Parcast’s first book, available now! parcast.com/cults Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 16, 2022•5 min
Before he led the celebrity sex trafficking cult NXIVM, Keith Raniere had dreams of starting his own MLM. But first, he needed to seem like the right man to do it. Enjoy this clip from our Cults episode on how Raniere propped himself up as a genius. And dig deeper into his story in our new book, available right now — go to parcast.com/cults to learn more and order your copy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Jul 15, 2022•4 min
The seventh chapter of Parcast’s new book features David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidians. Enjoy this clip from our Cults podcast episode on his journey to Waco, Texas. You can find more information and order your copy of CULTS — this summer’s can’t-miss true crime read — on parcast.com/cults ! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 14, 2022•5 min
Parcasters, the CULTS book is officially on sale NOW! You can order it online at all major bookstores, or go to parcast.com/cults to see what it’s all about. In the meantime, enjoy this clip from our classic Cults episode on the insidious manipulations of Roch Thériault, a Canadian cult leader who brutally murdered members of his own cult, the Ant Hill Kids. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Jul 13, 2022•6 min
“Keep sweet” was the refrain of Warren Jeffs, the Prophet of a fundamentalist group that broke off from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. As practicing polygamists, FLDS already drew the attention of law enforcement. But it was the systematic sexual assault that made Jeffs a fugitive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 12, 2022•42 min
Chapter 5 of Parcast’s new book features the French sports writer who began communing with ancient aliens. Listen to this clip from our episode on Claude Vorilhon, and preorder your copy of CULTS: Inside the World’s Most Notorious Groups and Understanding the People Who Joined Them at parcast.com/cults! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 10, 2022•6 min
What was going on within Jonestown leading up to the tragic mass suicide event that claimed over 900 lives? Revisit this clip from our episode on Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple, then go deeper into Jones’s cruel methods of psychological conditioning in our new book. Preorder now at parcast.com/cults! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 09, 2022•5 min
His cult coordinated a deadly bioterrorism attack in America. But their beginnings are rooted in a spiritual ashram in India. Revisit a clip from our episode on Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, then go to parcast.com/cults to preorder Parcast’s first book — where you’ll find a compelling deep dive into this leader’s history and motivations, including details never covered on the podcast before. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Jul 08, 2022•5 min
The Narcosatanists performed ritual murders under the eye of Adolfo Constanzo. Today’s classic Cults clip features some of the tales that burnished his mystical reputation. Listen here, then go to parcast.com/cults to preorder the CULTS book and dive even deeper into this black magic priest’s life and crimes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 07, 2022•5 min
The very first episode of the Cults podcast features one of the most infamous cult leaders who ever lived. Now, Charles Manson is the sinister subject of the first chapter in Parcast’s NEW book. Revisit a clip from that classic episode, and check out parcast.com/cults to learn more about the must-read true crime book of the summer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 06, 2022•6 min
In the 1980s, David Koresh was a man with a divine mission. He spent the decade ingratiating himself with a religious sect in Waco, Texas, using his charisma to prey on teenage girls in the community. The Branch Davidians gave Koresh their devotion. He delivered them to tragedy and infamy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 05, 2022•45 min
