As we look ahead to the new year, we want to take one last chance to say thank you for the year that was — and present our "Best of 2021"! Please enjoy this episode from our fan-favorite podcast, Solved Murders. In August 1969, actress Sharon Tate was living the Hollywood dream. Until it turned into the bloodiest kind of Hollywood nightmare. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
On Christmas Eve nearly seventy years ago, Dorothy Martin and the Seekers stood outside in Chicago and sang carols. They were waiting for a spacecraft that would shepherd them away from Earth — and the impending apocalypse. On this Cults Christmas Special, join us for a look into a doomsday cult awaiting deliverance, and the psychological breakthrough that arose from studying them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
The Manson Family’s infamous murder spree may have been partially inspired by The Beatles’ song “Helter Skelter” but it was The Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson who opened doors in Hollywood for their charismatic cult leader. From our friends at Sinister Societies, hear how Charles Manson almost became the next great pop hit of the ‘60s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
After a decade of abuse at the hands of Colin Batley, a young woman made a desperate escape. Early one morning, with her baby in her arms, she ran out of the cul-de-sac that Batley and his church called home and never came back. Now, out from under his grasp, she could bring Batley down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In 1980s London, Colin Batley started a church based on the occult teachings of Aleister Crowley. Batley soon moved his congregation into a quiet cul-de-sac 200 miles away — where, behind the façade of suburbia, he and his followers sexually assaulted children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We end our three-part special in Japan, where a yoga teacher named Shoko Asahara preached a violent, apocalyptic dogma. In 1995 his cult, Aum Shinrikyo, used chemical weapons in targeted attacks in Tokyo to speed up the apocalypse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Vanessa is joined by Lanie Hobbs from Crimes of Passion, a Spotify Original from Parcast, as they investigate the life of Michael Roach — Princeton grad, certified Geshe, and so-called king of Diamond Mountain, his spiritual retreat in Arizona. Together with his mentee and then-wife, Christie McNally, Roach lured hundreds of people to the desert with tantric yoga and karmic seeds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
How do quests for enlightenment get so sinister? Today, we’re looking at three stories of yoga gurus and guides who were loved — then loathed — for their practices. We start in Romania, charting the rise of the deeply polarizing Gregorian Bivolaru. The alleged mystic is heralded by many as a great teacher and victim of persecution. But authorities say he used his teachings to manipulate, exploit, and traffic women and girls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
When a psychic who’s been experimenting with ketamine goes missing in 1979, her brother suspects she’s been kidnapped by a cult. Today’s episode on Marcia Moore is from Unsolved Murders, a true crime podcast and Spotify Original from Parcast. Follow Unsolved Murders for new episodes every Tuesday! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Millions of followers. A powerful political ally. And his very own Garden of Eden. Televangelist Apollo Quiboloy spent decades turning his small congregation into a multinational religious empire. Along the way, he’s faced alarming accusations of brainwashing, human trafficking, and murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
After predicting a nuclear war, Hawkins offered salvation to his increasingly isolated followers. But cracks began to appear in his kingdom. By 2008, officials charged him for bigamy and child labor violations. A year later, three former members gave T.V. interviews to reveal just how bad things really were. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In the 1980s, a prophecy about two brothers and an ad in The National Enquirer drew hundreds of people into the House of Yahweh — a church in Abilene, Texas helmed by a deeply unsavory and swindling man named Bill Hawkins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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? If you enjoy this crossover episode, follow Conspiracy Theories, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
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. If you enjoy this crossover episode, follow Conspiracy Theories, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
By the 1990s, Rama Behera was living lavishly in his compound in Shawano, Wisconsin, while his followers traveled from far and wide to hear his divine message. To expand his reach, he began buying property in town. Little did locals know, it was the opening shot in a conflict that would escalate for decades before reaching a dramatic breaking point. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
After Rama Behera came to the U.S. from India to attend college in the 1970s, his life changed forever when he claimed Jesus Christ contacted him. He dropped out to become a missionary, and settled on a compound in Wisconsin. Behera’s connection to the divine cemented — and so did his grip on the growing number of followers who came to him for guidance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Alistah Laishkochav was a New Zealand man who thought he was a messiah. To the world, the former police officer maintained a big happy family with his nine wives. But beneath the surface, his family lived in a house filled with fear and abuse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Judy Z built a business empire by channeling Ramtha and his Atlantean wisdom. She converted her home into a headquarters and held gatherings for thousands of followers from all over the world. By the 2000s, she began using her influence and cash flow to step into politics — gaining favor until 2016, when she started catering to QAnon believers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Judy Z spent her early life in poverty before making a living as a cable salesperson in the early 1980s. Then everything changed. While standing in her Washington home, Judy saw a giant being appear before her eyes. He came from Atlantis… and promised divine wisdom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In the mid-2000s, Toni Ellsberry claimed to hear the voice of God, and ruled over her followers in a small Baltimore apartment. But when a toddler there died of starvation, One Mind Ministries began to crumble from within. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fleeing to Austin, Texas in the early ‘90s was supposed to be a clean break for “The Teacher” and his followers. For a while, it was. But after an explosive accusation threatened to destroy Buddhafield for good, Andreas — as he now called himself — fled again, this time to an island paradise where he was free to do whatever he wanted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jaime Gomez came to the U.S. from Venezuela in the 1960s looking for stardom, but when careers in dance and film didn’t materialize, he shifted focus. Feeling a deep connection to eastern philosophy, he started leading meditation classes and founded a group called the Buddhafield. Before long, he was claiming he had divine information about the secrets of the universe… and controlling the lives of over 100 people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
After Gourasana passed away, his wife Kalindi took over Miracle of Love and propelled the group to new heights. She held increasingly demanding seminars that broke down attendees until they joined the fold. As time wore on, Kalindi’s enthusiasm and exploits brought many of her followers to the brink, and she showed no signs of slowing down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
By 1987, David Swanson and his wife Carol Seidman had been on a decades-long journey to find enlightenment. Their prayers seemed answered when a divine presence launched itself into David’s body. Donning new identities, the pair spread their “wisdom” around San Diego — preaching material abandonment as they amassed a fortune. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Church of Wells cemented its place in the small Texas town by being uncompromising and radical. But when a runaway in her 20s named Catherine Grove joined the group, a new level of scrutiny followed. Clashes with local residents escalated in 2014. Still, the congregation remains… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
When Baylor University students Sean Morris and Ryan Ringnald met in the mid 2000s, they both felt the world around them was spiritually empty. They leaned into a strict, uncompromising version of Christianity, joined by fellow literalist Jacob Gardner. The trio eventually formed a small congregation that settled in a small town. But for residents of Wells, Texas, the move was more like an invasion… and their lives would never be the same. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.c...
By the 1980s, The Work was a real estate empire worth millions. But Julius didn’t concern himself much with the business. Instead, he focused on preaching armageddon and engaging in “special work” with his young female followers. Several lawsuits, a disastrous TV interview, and a brutal murder marked the beginning of the end. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
While stationed in the South Pacific with the Navy during World War II, Julius Schacknow had a divine vision. Armed with the knowledge of his supposed destiny, he established a devoted following in New England in the 1970s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
As the Adventist movement spread across the United States, and as the date of Miller’s predicted apocalypse approached, his followers prepared to leave the world behind. With the fervor came scorn and smear campaigns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The origins of the 19th-century preacher who founded Millerism, revived belief in Jesus’ imminent return, and landed himself at the center of a historic religious crisis in America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
