Last Podcast On The Left - Episode 518: The Troubled Teen Industry Part II: Synanon - The Dirty Double Dozen

Episode Date: January 14, 2023

The boys continue the series on The Troubled Teen Industry, shifting our focus towards the 1950's Santa Monica based drug rehabilitation attack therapy program turned cult, Synanon and the story of Charles E. Dederich.

There's no place to escape to this is the last time on the left That's when the cannibalism started No, you don't you just be you man be you bro That's what everything I think that's what every series we've ever done That's really what's ever been about. This is be you bro be you bro be you dude because guess what man? Guess who doesn't guess what the other guy gets to do what be them? Oh The only person gonna be you is you except for me. I'm many I'm an actor there are many voices that all sound you're making at some point at some point only because as we now know as I have

Discovered which one day linguistic experts will say they will understand that the base of every single speaking accent is Jamaican Fantastic, there we go. And are you many or are you truly none? I'm truly none. Yes You're waiting to be filled with another personality. I am zero right today. Technically. I'm Chuck Dieterick So again Henry's gone. Yeah, that's why I'm impervious to any form of crime or being accused of a crime It's because anytime you put that on me. I mean like who's who you talking about that was mr. Benchiepence Magical heart haberdasher Happened to maybe not fill out all the forms for his taxes that he should have been but that's him

That was that guy doing it when you get to prison, of course, you'll be the sexiest little mushroom boy around Podcast on the left everyone we are on to the troubled teen industry part two specifically focusing on Sinanon Sinanon before there was QAnon there was Sinanon Now as we said last episode the troubled teen industry certainly had spiritual precedents in America such as the American Indian boarding schools that operated until the late 1960s, but when it comes to direct inspiration No organization was more influential than Sinanon and can you believe it was created by a 300-pound bag of gnocchi

With half a missing face who somehow like while being a true villain of American history Yeah, is also one of the funniest guys you'll ever meet. Well, that's good I'm happy he's fat and funny because fat and disgruntled Michael Moore Rob Reiner. Yeah, it's a bad look Rob Reiner Be like no one choose smoke. I was just watching the South Park episode where they made fun of Rob Reiner So basically I'll just copy and paste that into a written statement really good Really good. See all the physical tortures inflicted on teenagers like spankings Solitary confinements and beatings they could be thought up by any regular old Joe man. I spanked myself today Yeah, I know you did. I've seen the tushy footage

the thing about Solitary the thing about really suffering with torture you can't flip it and reverse it the spanking you can get hard Spanking you can really be like one more daddy. I'm gonna be like, oh, let's not do it But solitary you really can't pretend to like it. I love this That only can last for so long they can also they can just leave the room. Yep, and then you're just screaming at yourself Yeah, I guess what once you're alone with yourself. I should know very well everything stops me and entertaining Well, well any regular old Joe can do physical torture the psychological techniques used to pound these teens into square pegs They were adapted from a complicated method of attack therapy created by Synan on called the game

I've seen some YouTube footage and Steven Seagal also does attack therapy He does but he all he has to do is this tiny little like his little flipper maybe arms and then he can always defend himself But today's episode is really kind of again the origins of what we just kind of touched on in the first episode and kind of where it all Led because this is again, it's not a Synan on series at your treble teen industry series But then sit on this is what's unpack here. Yeah, there was a ten episode podcast just about Synan done by Robert Downey, Jr. Is that right say by Robert Downey, Jr. What do you mean by he wasn't in an office and the same time Under his name made a podcast about it. Gotcha. So he showed up. Are you sure he showed up?

I'm certain that he was told at some point that he was doing that But then when it came down to it, he's still begging to be Tony Stark again I would believe Robert Downey, Jr. He grew up trouble teen industry that is Holly weird. Yep He was addicted to drugs his father had him doing cocaine at like 12 So I actually think he might be a proper voice in this now. He's totally sober and his wife saved his life Yeah, that's what I actually like Robert Downey. I do too. I would lettermen interview. He did was actually very powerful powerful Well, unfortunately the people who founded and ran these trouble teen programs that took inspiration from Synan on

They were mostly sociopaths Ergo, they simplified Synanon's game to such a degree that this well-meaning method for kicking addiction became the worst Psychological torture of all that's what's fun about an effective tool is that it's a shovel, right? You can dig a trench, right? But he became he used to feed children you fill with sloppings or children only I'm sure whatever you did same time that that same trench you can then push the kids into the slop now. It's a grave great But before we get into exactly good

I love it. Yeah, it's like either good from sloth bucket to grave. Yeah. Yeah. That's it. All takes us up. There you go You can make any hole in grave Yeah, but before we get into exactly what the game was Let's talk about who created the game and where it was practiced That was a drug rehab turned cult called Synanon for this episode Our main source is the rise and fall of Synanon by Rod Jansen While some argue that it's too soft on Synanon It seems to be the most fair and balanced history of this fascinating

Organization right up to their dissolution following a bungled and bizarre attempted murder and if you do want even more information There's a lot of it out there. Obviously it brought up that podcast But also there is the website Paul moran's calm that comes from the perspective of a person that very distinctly has a bone to pick Listen on and you'll see why as we get through this episode, but his is really him He basically he's like the rise and fall of Synanon doesn't understand the degrees of violence So we all suffered, but we'll see. Yeah, I mean it really is a perfect Crop to pick from when it comes to Synanon former drug addicts or people dealing with drug addiction

Oh, yeah, you know, they're looking for help and then obviously they're gonna be in massive peril when they go through with Drawls and stuff and now we get to experiment on you We took you at your most baby-ish form when you were literally dying like you were super sick from your and then we like Took that dismantled personality of someone getting over drugs and now we're gonna rebuild you in our way Which is a yellow screaming a a yelling screaming soldier for a man for with half a face That's why I'm gonna start a new company ice cream for diabetics There is that oh well concerning that attempted murder We also used an article about Synanon published in 2018 in Los Angeles magazine by

Halel Aaron which nicely covers the incident that led to the downfall of the largest cult you've never heard of A synanon was originally established as a sincere drug rehabilitation program in the 1950s that became a full-fledged cult by 1975 what were the drugs in the 1950s whizzers zappers poppers heroin The heroin there was like real good. Yeah in the 50s. Yeah, it's Charlie Parker heroin. It's good shit. Wow, okay Cia heroin. Yeah. Yep. Well, no with any well, I say I would say later heroin is more Cia here Oh, yeah, that's what they started like and then you know, they invented a crack which must have been a fun afternoon

And then like that that's a whole other episode. This is like mobster heroin. Okay. Yeah Now billed as a community striving for a creative and effective approach to drug rehabilitation Synanon was not the first drug rehab center But it was among the first to be taken seriously see prior to the 50s people with drug addiction problems with substances like heroin They were either thrown in jail or mental institutions without even an attempt at treatment because the word treatment concerning addiction Wasn't even in the lexicon Usually the addicts caught in this cycle which shuttle in and out of these institutions until they died from their addiction or diseases of poverty While the general public sort of just shrugged and said why are you gonna do well cuz again

It was a problem that was kind of like new when it was even though it wasn't no it was it was an interesting way to kind of like We're looking at it for the first time. We're really now as a society all like kind of seeing like hey It seems like a lot of people like heroin. I mean, I think they missed a massive opportunity Give them a guitar give him one of those little drums with the sticks that have like the little things Oh you turn again jazz jazz drumming should make all the hair on your neck stand up But once Synanon became popular and once people saw that it got results People began to believe that addicts didn't have to die in streets like dogs. Well, what on the contrary? they could be rehabilitated and live normal lives under the right circumstances and Synanon provided the framework for those

Circumstances by inventing a culture of recovery specifically Synanon pioneered the idea of the ex addict turned drug counselor Okay, and as a result graduates of the Synanon program ex addicts all open their own Successful treatment centers in San Francisco Tucson Manhattan and Queens. I just really hope they don't try this same thing with pedophiles Unless you could teach the pedophiles to be attracted to other pedophiles, huh, right? Like you get a super sexy pedophile in there amongst all those supers I've seen Chris Hansen. They're always super sexy when they come through the door Once while there's there's like a kind of like a like a R Kelly technically. He's a handsome pedophile, right? Okay, so you get him in there

Right, he gets them all right lathered up and shit Maybe then they can also fall in love with each other be like just imagine. I have a big lollipop imagine. I'm much smaller right, right? I feel like you're really odd to something. Yeah, it's a year and your idea is to treat pedophiles with the magic of imagination Imagination, yes, wow mean the power of theater, which is why when I do my all pedophile Titus and Tronicus All of the LA's fine art community will arrive to see my work Just one lonely person clapping in the back and that indeed is Rob Reiner Well Synanon was actually founded right here in the greater Los Angeles area out in Santa Monica by a man named Chuck Dieterich Who actually coined the phrase today is the first day you'll rest your life

Wow, you never realized that someone had to say that first. Yeah, that was a Synanon phrase. Wow. Yes What's tomorrow the second day of the rest of your fucking life you moron whatever dude It's the second day of your life second day's first loser, but if you We're not playing Mario Kart Well Chuck Dietrich was a goal Second day's first loser, man. Yeah, you nailed it. Really good But Chuck Dietrich was a Gulf oil cells executive from Toledo, Ohio Who was a self-admitted alcoholic for 20 years?

His drinking problem was blamed on a bout of meningitis that required a mastoid ectomy that caved in the right side of his face Let's just say I got phantom cheek syndrome. The problem is is that every time I try to drink I just imagine. Oh, I got an extra cheek. I got a philtrum turns out. It's not there. So now I'm drinking nubble Whoa, is was part of his brain gone? No part of his skull just part of his skull. Yeah, I think a mastoid ectomy I looked it up like I think they just kind of pull out part of your skull. It's all infected meningitis Yeah, they just kind of scoop it out because they scoop it out like half your face is flat because it doesn't have any bone It didn't get meningitis. Was he sucking toes or something? He got it as a kid. He got it as a kid. It was a whole thing. Didn't he have that? Meningitis? A mastectomy? No, he was just in the closet. Face. No, no, no, no, no

He sucked dick, but he only did it with the half of his face that fucking worked. There was something that he did No, he had a full functioning face until it was shot off. No, he had it. It was diagnosed with a facial defect That's just people being rude in the 1800s. He's in an aberration called cranial facial microsomie That's just what they called people who they thought were ugly back then. Yeah. Yeah. He just has skeleton head But by the early 1950s Chuck Diedrich was just a regular Shlub and Toledo with a divorce under his belt So he moved to Southern California to gain some perspective and he brought his drinking problem with I'll tell you what the divorce Certainly was under my belt because he certainly was fucking me in my ass. There you go. I understand financially perhaps

By 1956 when Chuck was 43 years old His second wife left him because of his continued drinking. Man, he could still pull. Yeah, he looked like He looks like a fucking captain planet vehicle He was back in the day where if you even look at someone for like 15 seconds, you're like, well, we better make this official And then you go get married Well, after she left him, she suggested on her way out the door that he might try Alcoholics anonymous if he ever wanted to get his shit together. Okay. This is he's 43 Before Synanon even begins that shows life doesn't end in 40. That's right. No, it doesn't and sure enough once Chuck started attending

AA meetings in Beverly Hills He fell in love with the AA process Partly because he could use the meetings as an open mic to tell stories Which were by all accounts quite entertaining Or they'd better have been He stand up comedy his way into being a cult leader because once you started going to AA Because you know, you do testimonies in AA. We don't know because I am not a quitter But you don't go and like you you tell like you talk about like what your experience was and he'd go up there

And he'd chappelle it He'd take the mic for like a fucking 45 minutes whenever he's waiting But he's crushing so hard and he's running the light no one wants to stop And he keeps slapping the mic with his knee every time he laughs. That's propelled. That's his that's his happy ret move After two years in AA D-Drick decided to participate in an experiment at UCLA That wanted to test the effectiveness of lsd on alcoholics And this may or may not have been one of the lighter mk ultra experiments

But you know not every lsd experiment done at a university in the late 50s was funded by the cAA Just most of them The vast majority 99% of them were funded by the cAA. I definitely think it falls into the realm of Coincidence of the fact that it's another person that is in this counterculture world that was touched by some form of I think it what did we learn about mk ultra the ultimate like the best part about them is that like You don't even know you're mk ultra until fucking years later You didn't know until the fucking 80s and you were mk ultra because you just were getting like that shadow money so

You know Apparently a lot of like long-reaching like consequences. Absolutely. What about suppositive and negative? Doesn't uh taking a bunch of acid inhibit your sobriety No, well, that's what no it doesn't we'll talk about this because then you know Seems like he's not sober if he takes a bunch of acid technically you're cali sober if you do everything but alcohol Okay. Yeah, because see that's the thing. He's staying off of alcohol But I thought a a was also like that's with this guy. That's what we're getting into. Yeah I mean didrick said that the experience was highly beneficial made him look about at his alcoholism in an entirely new way

Yeah, actually my alcoholism was a tetrahedron inside this crystal that is my soul And the only thing I need to do is understand me understand pizza and I will defeat my Hey But it rubbed the alcoholics anonymous leadership the wrong way Because they believe that the only things you needed to not drink alcohol Was coffee cigarettes and a higher power also very bad for you. Yeah, cigarettes probably the worst of all Sometimes something's got a gif. Yeah, again, it was said for last episode. Let the kids vape Now this belief had actually never sat all that well with chuck dedrick in the first place

He'd never been comfortable with a a's religious focus Because he believed that it was important for addicts to develop self-reliance He did however believe that the group therapy and community aspects of a a were key You're never gonna find helina bonham carter when you go to these meetings Fight club fight club. It's all men that are Overweights you can still chain smoking in a I believe you're not supposed to have sex with the other people that are in your Chapter, I believe that that is against it. You're not supposed to date. You're not supposed to but I mean where that's your friend group What else are you gonna do? I don't know now. I feel like there's a lot of sexy

Challenged people in these groups. You never know maybe it might be who knows So after the a leadership insisted that he find treatment elsewhere because of his lsd use Chuck decided to start his own version of addiction treatment that would fall in line with his own beliefs That's confidence. So he a is the reason sitting on exists. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah Well, it's because it's his reaction to it and is it because he also was an atheist You need to not believe in a higher power aspect of it He wanted to find a secular way to do it But it is interesting to see that he just loved being on mike

So much that he was just like I need to do this for a living. I need to call big j I need to get in the mix in the Austin scene Absolutely, but once he began tapering off from AA meetings other recovering alcoholics would check up on him because they liked him It's pretty much his fans were like, hey, bro. You're never coming to AA meetings anymore. You're fucking crushing the meeting, dude Where are you mad? Fucking sucks without you there and those checkups they evolved into impromptu meetings And those impromptu meetings evolved further into thrice weekly meetings in Diedrich's apartment He is correct in the fact that the fucking the cult arrived to him at first before it became a cult the group just showed up

Wow, so this is really he's like I didn't ask you to come here. You all just showed up Yeah, I guess I'm a cult leader now I think he did a little bit like yeah, I've heard those meetings are boring without me Like he did a couple of that being like, you know, and then he started like, you know Hitting him with the charm hit them in the sparkle. Okay What changed everything though was when a heroin addict named Whitey Walker joined the group just after he was released from prison Now the group therapy sessions led by Diedrich were always a little more aggressive than what they had in AA because that's how Diedrich liked it But Whitey Walker introduced a new dynamic

Soon Whitey was bringing other addicts that Diedrich non pejoratively referred to as dope fiends And the more dope fiends that showed up the coarser the language got and the more aggressive the sessions became Diedrich is of the Tony Robbins school that cursing and like saying like super hyper confrontational things like Make it helps engage Street people like people like it makes you feel more real or like grounded like this idea that I'm a real guy I'm just gonna mean the great name of Tony Robbins. He's six foot seven and above So I must support him. He has a lot of there's a lot of issues around Tony Robbins right now But his style was this this is kind of where it came from because Diedrich thought I was like

I'm yelling at these gays and he's calling them dope fiends in a way of like it's kind of like a light roasting because it's about us Taking the word back Whitey Walker definitely should have been doing cocaine The name like Whitey Walker that guy all white suit pimped out full of beautiful pier on god Colombian coke head if you cool if you find out you think he's a coke dealer, but it turns out he just sells milk 2% But the thing is is that Diedrich with these super abrasive meetings very aggressive He was getting results in a way that a a wasn't getting results because these and he's getting results with fucking heroin addicts

So when the gatherings got too big for Diedrich's apartment He went for broke and leased a storefront in Santa Monica. He invited 20 Alcoholics and so-called dope fiends to come live there and what was effectively an early version of a rehab facility Hold on a second. We had a hard time getting a fucking lease in New York because we have a podcast studio How the hell did the landlord like so 20 dope fiends from our alcoholics up come right in actually incredible I have a couple of couches. I want to give you guys, but I need them back. I'm just lending them to you No, it's a it was different time period. You know, they didn't like it They fucking hate like he didn't tell them

Hey, we're gonna be moving a bunch of heroin addicts and alcoholics into this place And once that he did once they figured out what was going on the entire neighborhood was to get the fuck out of here It was the first of many confrontations that chuck Diedrich would have with his neighbors He does not get along well with others much as people feel of influencers now I mean Technically, I don't want to illustrate where we're at but there is an influencer house down the street And it is pretty funny to pull up and watch like two guys doing weird like moi tai karate I'm like a dummy out front while another guy shoots them and a girl's twerking next to them

And then you kind of wonder like like are y'all paying for these are you paying for anything? Or is this awesome is robber downer johnny jr. Paying for this too. I think they're making that money on the ticker ticker As far as what chuck wanted to call his new venture the origins of the name are debated Some say that it's a combination of the words symposium and seminar While others think it's a play on the word sinners synthesize or synagogue But no matter the origin what came out the other end was synonym. Well, again, great name. Yeah Recibels there's something about it keeping it and it sounds like it's connected to recovery because you have stuff like, you know Outgol's anonymous. There's alanon. There's narcanon like all those things that are a part of it. It sounds like a I think narcanon is technically

Scientology, no, is it? I think I don't think narcanon start Scientology. We'll get it Yeah, I know someone who does narcanon meetings and I don't think they don't seem like the type who will go to a Scientology They don't say There's one of those that they don't say that it is I was trying to figure out what the term a non means and evidently It means anonymous it means shortly It says I'll see you anon, which I guess means soon or literally yes, that's Shakespeare. Yeah, that's I should see you anon Yeah, but in this case, it's anonymous anonymous. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It is on Scientology.org They have narcanon right at the very top. Wow. Great. Yep. Wow. Good. Okay. Good to know. Yeah, that's how they get you

Do you just never know? You never know. I mean, let's say at least this is on the website A lot of guys looking at pamphlets on this website. So there's a lot of interest building No Now Diedrich believed that addiction was not so much an illness that could be cured as it was a behavioral problem That was caused by underlying social and psychological issues, which ain't a bad guess You know, it's not. It's a bad vote, isn't it? But it is worth noting that Diedrich was a salesman before he founded And also, you know, I can sell. You don't think I can sell? I can sell a ketchup popsicle to a bit like mustard

Yeah, absolutely. I knew you're gonna steal that line from Tommy boy and I called you on it. Your father was such a good salesman He could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves. Ketchup popsicle We're 40 Marcus, you'll be 40 next week. I will be. I'll be 40 a week from today. Welcome to the club I tell you what we're only getting younger and we're getting more fresh and we're getting more available to the young The culture is getting younger and older at the same time. So we're evening out. We're evening out I'm out. I'm right in the middle. I'm where I should be. Yeah, we don't have any choice. No, it's not our it's not up to us Well, Diedrich had no more experience in treatment care than the people who founded straight ink or wasp

But to place Diedrich apart. He was rarely sadistic And could be said in at least the first 10 years to have been quite caring We seem like a fun guy for a while for a while. Yeah, and he did we was sadistic sometimes Oh, he got to the area. You know, he got extremely violent. Yeah, definitely I wouldn't say extremely violent when we're talking about cults. Well after an hill kids Nothing can be called violent or jones town. Yeah. Oh, yeah, of course. Yeah, but that was just the one big one I mean, I remember like sometimes you want to smack your friend who's just hung over because they're annoying So it must truly be difficult to deal with a bunch of people who are going through

Which role like sometimes you'd be like Tommy The lungs in the toilet not on your face And so at some point you do have to kind of get upset. Wow, that's a thing you're man. You're about to have your mind fucking blown here Well, similar to other cult leaders with initial good intentions like jim jones Chuck's ego eventually got out of hand and while it never got to jones town levels Chuck and jim's paths would cross Just before the shit hit the fan in Guyana think about this this shit's happening in so cal

There is a lot of the same guys elrond's in town fucking jim jones is in town He's these people like jim parsons. These guys are all There dude It's just wild to think that like all of this shit was happening like Charles Manson. Yeah, all this shit was happening at the same time Yeah, and this guy chuck didrick Tight deadlines can leave us feeling less than jolly Especially when you're coming back relaxed from a holiday break or not. Grammarly's communication assistance can help you get your work done confidently and

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That's 20 off at g r a m m a r l y dot com slash b o d c a s t Now synan became truly innovative starting in 1959 with the introduction of the cop out method Which was later used extensively and wrongly in the troubled teen schools See a lot of addicts at synanon were admitting that they were still using drugs and they knew that other people were still using drugs But they were keeping it all to themselves because their brains were hardwired against snitching It's the number one criminal crime. Yeah, it's a snitch. Yeah, I mean like and you get learned it's omerta I mean, you don't fucking tell everybody everybody's business because you never know who's a fucking cop Absolutely, but didgeridt convinced everyone in synanon that snitching on yourself and others was not only preferable

But essential to the recovery process to snitch Honesty, he said bound you to the community and that concept became central to synanon's most well-known and influential method See after several open-ended discussions in which people snitched on each other's drug use The group began digging deeper at what else everyone was keeping secret People started getting very honest about everything people stop being fake and start getting real Well, that's what they wanted on real world But it's it that is kind of where all that came from I do believe that this is the the true inspiration for all of that style Of shit of like we would get into like I mean the only thing missing is cameras and dr. Drew

Yeah, but this inspired what came to be known as the game In the game all players were required to be intimately honest with each other using a series of what they called indictments to attack hypocrisy and fraud in a fellow group member also I know another game and you just lost it Why oh, yeah, what yeah game you just lost it. It's why don't you don't need to he doesn't know this No, no, it's like schoolyard man. You never had time on the schoolyard. No, I was out there with all the boys No, you weren't you were You didn't I played handball and then we did sometimes play like married life where I would be a husband

Oh my god, and then I played superheroes and then we played with the Ouija board But I did play handball. Oh, okay. You played handball. Oh, yes I sport. It's a little racket But the game is the thing that you say and then if you say the game become aware of the game you've lost it. Yeah I don't know. I don't know. It's like I'm talking to my father Sound like a teenager trying to explain 4chan to his uncle like how cool 4chan is it's cool Man, it's new 4chan. So that's the fourth grandson of Jackie Chan Is that correct?

Well in the game like I said all players were required to be intimately honest And the idea was that this introduced a brutal kind of accountability that led to the development of personal integrity A drop in impulsive action and a sense of social responsibility And remember at this time here it is all done with consenting hardcore adults Yes, it is that's the that is key at the very top of this there was a kind of an edge to it that did seem to be helpful Like it was a little bit of it But you know because obviously we're discussing the troubled teen industry Yes, and this is adults because the idea is that you might think twice about doing something shitty

If you knew that you'd be publicly bowled out during a game session for doing that shitty thing Gotcha And by dedricks reckoning drug addicts couldn't hide anything if they expect to be clean because secrecy was the root of their addiction I mean, it's it's a simplification. But yeah, yes I mean, that's the thing is that the game and Synanon worked for some people just like a a works for some people I mean, I'm just saying when I think of drug addicts, I don't think of secrecy because you see them The only do is run their mouth talking Like kind of falling over but also not but it's that's what the twin towers needed

heroin Have you ever They should have had one entire floor just full of heroin Yeah Back up just fine, but you know what they're not being honest with is anybody but themselves Well, it's the thing is it's Synanon is someone it's a program for people who do keep it a secret and they need to talk And yes, they need to talk they want to talk they want they are actively asking for this

And people who participated they said they felt invigorated afterward their behavior some people it changed significantly Great and as far as how a game session went they lasted between two and three hours and were comprised of eight to 15 players And all of this was transposed in an extremely simplified form to the troubled teen industry to many of the troubled teen schools Okay, each player was asked to quote run their story Which was their cue to open up their life to the other players like me. I'm a fuckable unstoppable force of nature But he says chuck chuck chuck stop fucking right you leave some ladies in the rest of us and I was like all right I will quit the boobs

Well after opening up the other players confronted lies and weaknesses in a public forum of analytical and humorous gossip No holds barred you could attack interpersonal issues work patterns emotions idiosyncrasies Basically any weak spot sounds like a comedy central roast of an alcoholic Yeah, and honestly a lot of those the more lives have been changed insides of roasts And have had him most rehab centers. I'm pretty sure yes indeed, but the thing I mean it is a roast, but it's an uncorked roast uncorked But and this is absolutely key the point of the game was not to attack the person But to attack the behavior hate the sin not the sinner. Yes exactly

This allowed the target to separate themselves and look at what they were doing rather than absorbing the abuse personally The problem was that when the game was adapted to troubled teen programs like the alon school or straight ink No such distinction was made that subtlety was lost In essence they were handing this fairly complicated and subtle method to emotionally unstable traumatized teenagers Who were usually just looking to transfer the pain they'd received to whoever was next in line So the drugs aren't the problem. You're the problem. That's the idea But then did you even say that it's complicated and subtle? But the where it would go like it actually is it's a different process that I think a lot of other like

Therapies that maybe I'm wrong here, but it sounds like it's done complicated at all, but it's it sounded It started complicated and subtle and actually became more simplified as it went Well, yeah, like because as they started doing the game more and more the more abusive it came as we'll see. Oh, yeah Very much so but in sitting on the game at least in the early days it was described as an emotional dance It was a dream that could either be a nightmare or a pleasant experience You know and I realized there's no word for a good dream Yeah, there is nightmare. That's a one word. What's a word for a pleasant dream? There isn't one Gather us. What is it euphoria? That's not but that's not a that's the name of a tv show

No, there's got to be something dream I guess you just say pleasant dream. Yeah. Yeah. Good dream. Nice dream. That's how well That's how very few times a nice dream happens. That's right. Isn't that isn't that my I had a dream I couldn't stand up Hmm. Wow. I was going through a lot of knee pains because the because of the weather The rain You just sat in a chair in your dream. No, I was trying to stand up and fight people, but I couldn't stand up That's really sad. That's hard. My knees were hurting. Wow. Wow. Interesting.

Move on I had a dream last night that I was being choked in a garage full of silver balloons, but that wasn't a dream Whoa. Yeah, that happened. Yeah, we were there. Sorry, dude. Sorry. Yeah, we fucked you up real good We hired a task rabbit Yeah, he was so good. I give him four stars though because the five stars is something special He's actually dressed as a huge rabbit. No, okay. Well, I thought it was just the Henry and I are doing our own CIA We're scyophing you. Yeah, you don't know that. Yeah. I mean, we just blew the cover. I mean, but you'll forget

I'll forget. Yeah, that's something you just say the magic word and it will just go back and say like peabody and then I'm done Artichoke So in other words it was nailed it In other words, it was something far too complex and sensitive to be directed by sociopaths and or Traumatized teens because sometimes it was both But one thing that both the game and the troubled teen attack therapies like a lawn school's general meetings shared was the use of extreme profanity

It's kind of fun Did you believe that the use of obscenity and blasphemy helped lower inhibitions? Which can be fun if it's all adults But when it's used by teens, it's usually just a bunch of fucks Strung together with no real structure or purpose I feel like I used more curse words in a general sense when I was younger But now I like to use them more and I use them more effectively Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Come

Come But it's not but you made me laugh. Yeah It's not easy. I know I used to just say full sentences that were all Oh, but you could understand when I was like get that fucking bullshit out of my goddamn asshole Good ass and fuck yeah Yeah, and that's basically what happened right now the game wasn't the only method taken from synanon like the alon schools New synanon residents had to break outside relations for the first 90 days first step. Yeah, that's bad Although that could be extended to a year if those outside relations were deemed detrimental

Well, that's the first thing that is a red flag to me. Oh, yeah And similarly anything that might distract the attic was taken away For example, synanon was extremely popular amongst the jazz community because heroin was very popular amongst the jazz community. It's how you get relaxed That makes sense So most jazz musicians were barred from playing instruments or singing for the first part of their stay at a synanon center I actually want to thank synanon for saving my favorite bar on friday nights. Jazz night has been cancelled But it's kind of fun though, but it is sad to have a room where specifically no saxophones are allowed

Yeah, that is weird. No, yeah, that is weird. No saxophones not not a single saxophone but it's specifically pointedly no saxophones or trumpets I mean that's also again if you're bringing feels saxophones more friendly We're bringing a trumpet to a meeting. It sounds like you're trying to disrupt something. Yeah, that's true I feel like a trumpet is friendlier. I feel like a saxophone is a very aggressive instrument But I play the sax and the sax can sound beautiful alone a trumpet is just Remember, I just have those associations because of the saxophone guy that used to be on the l train

Yeah, play me to stop. Yeah, pay me to stop. Yeah, and I was back when it was fun back when I was Yes, but all of this these are the seeds of the cult-like behavior that synanon would eventually fall prey to Another was the institution of something non-sensically called ramadoula. He just I feel like because the It sounds like a name from the water boy But Chuck Dieterich loved the sound of his own voice, right? And he was constantly improving these model logs and people would go like this kind of started early And then just got worse and worse and worse as it went But it does sound like it's a lot of people adopted his little pet sayings

And that they became official terminology for the club I mean, fuck dude. Literally. Fuck. We all say that sentence that he created Yeah, the first day of your rest of your life. No, he was he was a quote machine. Wow. I mean, that's pretty incredible to be honest Well in ramadoula synanon members had to act Unnaturally upbeat no matter what they were doing and visitors often described being met with an unsettling sea of smiles Synanon facility. It's what he took from a which is uh act as if You know act as if you were the person you wanted to be like an idea of you fake it till you make it Yeah, but why would you want to be a smiling buffoon all the time because that's not the right emotion for 90% of life

But straight up Chuck Dieterich said that I want you to be so busy when I look at you You're nothing but a blur of teeth and pink sounds like my manager at wendy's That's your manager at wendy's said that you wanted to be a blur and she wanted you to be a blur of teeth and pink If you got time to lean Actually leaning doesn't take a lot of time No, it really doesn't you really get will not let go if you got the time to lean you got time to clean It's the most offensive thing that has ever been said to have worked at eight fast food restaurants every time I got a fine for breaking the law I had to go pay it off and I had to go to a fast food job

Well, Synan they actually got a lot of positive attention in their early days and some of it was oddly prophetic A senator named Thomas Dodd declared that synanon could quote Lead the way in the future to an effective treatment for not only drug addicts But also criminals and juvenile delinquents senators immediately looking to find out a Because they just want a one-stop shop where it's like great. We'll take these troubled people. We'll fucking put them in a room Boom done. They're done. They're fixed boom back in the workforce. Like they just don't give me shit They don't care. They just think that they can do it fast to be honest though It seems more sympathetic than the war on drugs. Oh, it's very much the very least. They're like, well, let's not incarcerate them

Let's go to meetings. I mean, no, I could see this actually if Obviously because it's just gonna spiral out of control, but if it's If it stays good, it could have been something good. It just seems to be that it never does Well, it's ego. It's always egos getting out of control It's why Jim Jones and Chuck Diedrich are very similar because They're men who start off with good intentions that I do believe they do have good good intentions at first With you know, with Jim Jones, it was racial equality with Chuck Diedrich. It's you know, it's treatment of addicts but at one point

Either they get bored or their ego gets fed their ego just gets too fat And they just lose it and then when you when substances come into play with Jim Jones It was amphetamines with Chuck Diedrich. It's gonna be the relapse of alcoholism Yeah, they just Spins out of control and just things and things get real fucking weird Trying to think of anyone has started anything with bad intentions and ironically it turned out to be good It's kind of interesting that most things people do think they're doing good and then it turns bad That's why we have that whole uh the saying the road to hell is paved with good intentions

I feel like um, I mean we developed a whole series of drones to go blow people up But now they make incredible cheap shots in our favorite superhero movies That's worth it. Yeah, it's worth a 20 year war Plus the next thousand year war we're about to have it's pretty good. Yeah, we got those cool shots and smile We gave me a think about that really cool They lent Tom Cruise. They they lent that slave owner full jets to just fly around in the sky. It's incredible And now now there are movies and we like it

But before they were being used to strafe like civilians that okay great good sure Well a little like Scientology Sinanon attracted a fair amount of attention from the entertainment business Besides the aforementioned jazz musicians a feature film based on Sinanon's founding called Sinanon was released in 1965 Co-starring earth the kit in a supporting role as Chuck Diedrich's wife Betty Let's play a little bit of the trailer. Can we see earth the kit? Yes. Oh, yeah, I'm most beautiful She's incredible. She's always my cat Sinanon is a real corporation

Its business is junkies Chuck Diedrich is the ex-drunk who dreamed it up and fights to keep it from becoming a nightmare Nice get out of that car and shut up stand over there put your hands against the wall get in that cell and stay there But nobody tells me what to do The ex-con with the killer's fist tends so tight for a fix they bleed Look Betty, I don't make scenes with chicks because I've got other things on my mind Doll face with a deadly expensive appetite. What are you my nurse? Oh

No, just another dope thing the tunnel A hip hop hip up from the gutter to grab anything you could get cool. Yeah, and zanky doesn't make it by the way Yeah, zanky's not going anywhere. Wow. You could almost hear the big fat tie and suspenders. No, it's cool Because again, talk about a movie that at least everybody who's in it looks horrible Do they know this is a weird movie? Well, the guy not to bother with it looks great. Yeah, but Chuck Diedrich is like played by It's so nice to have him not played by like Joaquin Phoenix Like it's just like a fat ugly guy playing a fat ugly guy. It's relevant Tory. I mean, I loved uh, I love the dude who played penguin He did a great job, but he was great. He they could have Danny DeVito

You know Colin Farrell and Farrell. Oh, that's right. Yeah, so just hire hire an ugly actor every now and again It's hard man. Ugly actors To be honest, a lot of times they're guilty of crimes. The person who should have played the penguin who truly seems evil judging by all of his stories is Joey Diaz Yeah, you think about the ugly actors that would be good at playing penguin. That's also a criminal Jeffrey Jones. Jeffrey Jones as well Actual criminals should play. Yeah, exactly. Hire criminals to play criminals, please representation Fantastic Now within 10 years of its founding right around the time that the Synanon movie was released in theaters

Chuck Diedrich's unlicensed rehab startup had 1,100 members and was getting 2.5 million dollars a year in donations Yeah, it owns 7 million dollars in real estate in five states It had its own merch business and it ran a number of gas stations He learned that from Scientology. He said you buy in a real estate He actually is a better businessman than all of adult swim. Yeah They actually have merch. Yeah. Well, I mean, that's the thing you say. He learned it from Scientology I don't think he did because Scientology and Synanon ran parallel to each other. Maybe it was an executive already He had started his working for he was working for a big corporation and then he just understood like oh, I just use that structure

Yeah, I think he's just smart. You know, like there's some a good idea is a good idea. You know what I mean? Yeah Now partly Synanon had gotten so cash rich because it had opened its ranks to non addicts in the late 60s Because Diedrich figured that anyone could benefit from the game and non addicts They got a lot more money than drug addicts. You got one foot shorter than the other You got one leg shorter than the other. We're gonna have to tuck in that leg Allegorically, I just feel like if you don't have a problem, why would you go to this? Because again, we're gonna get into it. It's about building an understanding community Okay

Well, these non addicts synanon members were called squares And once they joined Chuck Diedrich realized that people shouldn't quote-unquote graduate from synanon anymore used to be you could graduate from synanon Be a seed in the world. It was supposed to correct you and help you and then it'll release you But then he is like he realized what was the quote he realized that you can't graduate a religion Yeah, but he's not quite to that point. Yeah, we'll get there. That's the beginning of a cult. Yeah. Well Well, he realizes at this point that synanon can become a lifelong commitment. Why let people go? Yeah, this is like what happens when they allow you to graduate with a master's in sociology and your only profession is being a teacher

That's hard. Now predictably once synanon became a long-term thing and more people with money joined Chuck Diedrich began building compounds and by 1971 and this is what I'm talking about the largest cult you've never heard of Almost 2,000 people lived in synanon facilities mostly here in california. Wow Good thing Janet Reno wasn't around then. She would have had a field day killing all of them. Oh, yeah Well, consequently Chuck Diedrich and synanon became more controlling and militant in the late 60s and early 70s In 1971 for example Diedrich tried putting some uppity dope fiends in their place with an act that was later called the dirty double dozen Oh Dirty double dozen. Oh man, that sounds like a great like that. It sounds like a great donut shop in portland. Oh, I was just only heard was bukkake

Yeah, I saw I just I just thought are like really unhealthy donuts like really good doughnut difference between us I gotta take a break. I could see that being like a special every thursday at burger king the dirty double dozen Oh, yeah. Yeah, I could see that. Yeah, so burgers doughnuts come. Mm-hmm. That's about the show That's the show that nails it Well after ordering 22 dope fiend old timers and two young squares onto a synanon bus They dubbed the Sinecruiser That's cool It was a greyhound bus they bought it's like that's the Sinecruiser. It's all sweet though

Paul Morance also hits it a lot with the term jitney jitney. He kept calling it a jitney. Okay And then actually Chuck Dieterich went as far as to say is that that bus the Sinecruiser Was the second most important element of synanon other than him He loved his bus So elrond hubbard had the Seecraft at the boat and he's got the Sinecruiser. He's got the Sinecruiser But the Sinecruiser is very uh necessary because they're two biggest Um, they're two biggest compounds are in Santa Monica and in marin county like right north of San Francisco

Yeah, you know, they're like about 400 miles apart from each other. Yeah, it's a five and a half hour drive Yeah, putting out the bus zip zip zip back. Oh man being on a bus with a bunch of people who are recovering drug addicts I mean, it is just a greyhound we're singing songs. Yeah, but that's the thing is that they actually no Total silence on this trip. Oh Whole silence from Santa Monica to marin county. Actually, maybe that's best Now that I think about it, if I was a passenger I maybe silence well mandatory silence is definitely better than mandatory singing Yes, like that is for certain. I agree. Well, the double dozen once they arrived They had all their possessions taken away and they were then verbally attacked in a special game

Featuring dedrick his wife betty the one that's played by earth a kit It was also the synanon director of the board and an attorney square And amongst the indictments were skimming community supplies and smoking Which were two things that were newly banned in synanon because it used to be smoking was almost mandatory They sit they actually spent something like 70 thousand dollars a year and on cigarettes Oh, yeah, man. This is back when cigarettes were good for your teeth Yeah, and this is back when cigarettes were like a dime a pack and they're still spending like 60 grand a year You can't just you can't pull the rug out like that though. Yeah

You have to give because you gotta wean them off the cigarettes. It was all because chuck deedrick had just stopped smoking cigarettes Which becomes a theme and every single time he decides he wants to do something the whole group either says Oh, that's a great idea or chuck deedrick has sort of like hinted This would be a great idea for you all to say that this is a great idea No, that sucks and then it becomes a law I see Well in addition the double dozen was also accused of not playing the game enough Which is basically you're not as invested in the cult as you need to be and also impregnating two other residents

So that one's kind of serious. You're not supposed to do that. Not supposed to do that. No, this is also a weird strain Yeah, and so after over a hundred confessions were made during dozens of games The dirty double dozen were made to shave their heads as contrition as was the synanon custom. Oh, yes Why is that? You know when it comes to a certain religious beliefs the hair is so important I mean, obviously you go to prison the first thing they do shave that dome off military humanize you It really does change you doesn't it? It does you look at the same thing we talk about with heaven's gate that we joke about the haircuts and stuff on that on that episode But again, it's about creating a unified identity so that everybody looks exactly the same and at the very beginning of that

I will listen to the first couple episodes of that The show about synanon. I think it was called the sunshine place or whatever And because it was from two kids that were grazed in it and one of them were saying like it is just wild to see your Like once you get your head shaved and you're like, oh, I don't look like me anymore Right, and that's why Ben Kitzel's cult bush hair a big old bush. It's got very specific rules and standards for your bush Yes, because then you go around with a ruler To measure the level of bush hair mean like you need to actually be taking more keratin This clown could be an enshire

But it's a thing. What if you're come that's the thing everyone's got different curlies and everyone's got different thickness in their Curly typically I have a lot of bush hair, but it's almost translucent. Yeah, and that's the thing I got a lot of bush hairs. Yeah, but I got really thick like I got I got bush hair like a fucking like a thorn bush Yeah, well, that's a lot. I'm just glad for nanos here in the room I'm gonna he knows we're all it's good. He knows it's good for the company Absolutely, but while the act of shaving one's head started off as contrition Everyone was eventually contrite so often that almost all synanon members just kept their heads shaved In fact, so many people in synanon had shaved heads that george lucas used a synanon chapter as bald futuristic

dystopian extras in his first movie thx 1138 You know things are going wrong when you're just cast as a dystopian nightmare So you guys you guys are all a bunch of like, you know like slaves to a godhead, right? Like great perfect Stay over here. Yeah, no makeup needed today. Yeah Now at one point synanon did dip their toe into the troubled teen industry But once they did so it was the beginning of the end of the good times for the soon to be called that fast Yeah See during the 60s and 70s synanon coordinated with the san francisco and oakland police departments to see if they could

Adapt the game to help juvenile offenders This had come about because synanon had previously hosted games between police and felons in order to improve relations between them And at one point they had put on a very tense game between oakland police And the local chapter of the black panthers. That must have been really fun. That must have been a great game of laser The energy in that room must have just been out of control Wow, what a game of dodgeball But since it seems like those games yielded positive results, okay, synanon took 49 adult criminals in an experiment That was overseen by california state university and they began gaming them

Surprisingly the program led to positive successes for 38 out of those 49 people Okay, so they figured if it worked for adults, it must work for kids So a synanon supporter named donald kressy who was actually a sociologist and a criminologist He worked with synanon on what they called the punk squad. This is just again because adults Can understand. Yeah that you're making fun of me. I like and I'm I'm like owning it Right, like you can call an adult a dope fiend and they can understand the vague sense of irony. That's kind of like attached Okay, you got me. All right. Yeah, but kids don't like on some level. It's very difficult I mean like yeah, they do but it's like it gets in there like it fucks with a bunch of you call them a bunch of punks

And like that's what you do and we're like, you're yeah, you're some troubled kid We're gonna fucking straighten you out and shit I it feels like maybe I'm wrong But it seems that kids don't really respond to that as well. They don't most don't I certainly didn't that's for sure No, they internalize it and uh, it becomes trauma and they Become what you tell them they are I think so. Yeah, I used to get called a really cool kid Yeah, that's why I look at him man. That's why he rode up here on a motorcycle. But what's where's the engine wasn't going? He just walked in with his feet. I was like that's

How economical cool kid Now the complete contradiction to everything Synanon previously believed none of the kids in the punk squad were in the program Voluntarily, which was a key component for the game to work. You gotta want to be here Otherwise, you're just got fucking forced into a room where everyone screams horrible things at you Mm-hmm exactly and additionally the punk squad used physical force for the first time in synanon's history Because synanon leaders decided the punks needed to be pushed to the ground by the chest when necessary if they didn't listen Or participate

Very quickly and these kids are not there on their their own will right? So they don't particularly they are prisoners there in a way and so yeah They're not really responding to the game the way you want them to so instead of you just kind of understanding leaving room for that Yes, they just started like mushing their faces into the ground. Yeah, they're juvenile delinquents Like they don't want to do your stupid little fucking game. Also. They were probably right It's like seeing through the shit just being like y'all know that this is bad, right? You know, this is gonna go south. You don't want to go fought to be a cologne under name of democracy You don't want to do that. No, dude. I don't yeah, you're a punk

It really feels like I should just stay home Well treated as second-class citizens within the already rigid synanon hierarchy punks had to sit in the back of the bus Hold doors open for non-punks address every non-punk as sir or ma'am They had to wake up at 4 a.m. Every day and they were required to smile at all times The force to smile thing is so nefarious to me Oh, it is because it's thought it is literally trying to control the inner life of any one human being And I would assume if they weren't smiling then some jackass would be like where's your smile? Yeah, you get called out

Oh screaming Yeah, and you probably get pushed to the ground if you refuse to smile But one punk who was only nine when he was put through the nine nine years old He said that he was forced to run two miles as a punishment But ran at a breath less than a quarter of the way in by his memory He was shouted at punched and kicked in the butt by a punk squad coordinator. They called the coordinators. They called them ramrods Yeah, the ramrods. Well, that is not even a euphemism Well, there is a weird name ramrod ramrod. Yeah, and of course as soon as corporal punishment and physical intimidation was used on the

Punk squad with the kids It slowly seeped into the rest of the community It was a slippery slope and that's where things started going very wrong We're for synanon. It's a multi-level marketing scheme, but just with violence just with violence Now what synanon began admitting so-called squares into the program things became more cult-like And the adult members of synanon began subjecting their children Sometimes as young as three years old to the game. What now in the early days Wait, hold on a second. What the fuck could a three-year-old be accused of?

I don't know like literally what does a three-year-old do that's purposely wrong Yeah, it's really difficult to kind of like it's it's weird because in some ways they treated kids like We talked about this in the last episode, but Something about them not being people Yeah, like they're these little robots There's these things that we can just make them and break them and we do whatever it is that we want with them and that That a three-year-old like it does not we just don't do no leaving no room for the fact that these brains develop Yeah, and that they are changing and then the sea of like hormones all these bodies are like these things are happening in you're three

You just started it's very difficult to have a lot of baggage And if you do a lot of times it's because you've already been a soldier for two years Like in some other country. Yeah, which is very difficult to find the helmets that small. Oh, I've seen baby soldiers Yeah Now in the early days of the squares the early 70s children of synanon members reported more or less positive experiences With the game when it was complicated basically and you took your time with it But in later years when things got a little looser children found it traumatizing and this was the game being led by fucking experts When interviewed as adults many of these people said that children were nowhere near the appropriate level of maturity for the game

And most of them incurred emotional damage because they couldn't play it correctly It's like asking a 10 year old who usually only plays fortnight to beat dark souls and when they can't do it You call them a dirty cocksucker. Actually, I think in that way you might be right I think that it's because you should force the child to understand that video games are important And then they need to get their shit together, right? Because you know because now video games are money You can be a professional video game player You sit there and you one day you said that we'll have our adopted children And you'll look down at them and you'll force them to run dark souls

Over over over again do a speed run. Yeah, that's an idea. You good at this Yeah, not to don't tell them that you just run past the asylum demon the first time don't tell them that no Because see if that little fucker can beat the asylum demon with the broken sword. Fuck him. Fuck him. Fuck him. These games are too hard these days I'm trying to play Callisto protocol, man. I'm playing it. I'm minimum security and I can't play it and I'm done No, I know one or two hard go back try to play some mega man Then you don't want to play mega man. Also, isn't he a woman? Which one's the woman? Metro. You're thinking of Samus Iran. Metro. That's Metro.

Can she be reading the damn encyclopedia? Well speaking of kids Sinanon also had a fair amount of child abuse accusations not sexual but physical Yeah, it seems like it. Yeah It's like when a 50 year old runaway sit in court that she'd been forced to clean up pig manure with carrot sticks as a disciplinary measure Okay, yeah, I mean, so we're gonna be eating that in 2030. So Yeah, that's gonna be a luxury. Oh pigment or with carrot sticks. Hmm. What kind of Animal matter? Wow Did you know that property crimes like burglaries and packaged theft spike over the winter?

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There's no safe like simply safe Now as far as the game itself when it too took on a different structure in the 70s Where before anyone could say anything in the game and not be punished. That was sort of the point of it You could now be disciplined for what you said in the game Tell the truth then the whole point is again is starting to create this system This like it's eat your own tail system where no matter what you're guilty and you're guilty and you're guilty So you're forced to be in that you're forced you're forced to like no you haven't changed it. You're not done yet You were not done

Yeah, and because you could be disciplined outside of the game for things that you said in the game Players stopped being honest and the entire the therapeutic benefits of the game were completely lost the whole thing fell apart from here Then Chuck Diedrich also began recording game sessions and sending on meetings With the supposed idea that it would make everything open to everyone But in reality it gave Chuck Diedrich the ability to keep tabs on what everyone was saying and doing right And it was a further bad idea because those game sessions and meetings would later be used in court in various attempted murder trials Oh, it's like he's collecting evidence. Well, he did it Accidentally at first and then you realize that he can use it against everyone's another way to keep everybody in yeah leverage

But it was a compromise But it was also nearly impossible to understand the context of everything being said in those recorded games Because the game itself had become so Byzantine and varied it had become both more complicated And simplified at the same time because there were different kinds of games It seems like everyone just made it up themselves, which makes it extremely complicated. Yes, again, you're just everybody's Everybody's running train on it. Hmm Sorry, we just think about the story of the one cop that was blowing all the dudes the cop that was fucking all the other cops inside of The station wall dunes the cop blow bang. Yeah, you know about this Ben, right?

Have you heard about this? Have you heard about this? No, this is one of the stories that must have fallen through my Thrawn through my purview this week. Thank you. You like it. I love it. It's caught. It's cop blow bang I don't know how I missed it. It's all I do all day The synonym basically had four stages of development the first and second stage from 1958 till 1968 That was focused on the voluntary rehabilitation of alcoholics and drug addicts It was there solely as a therapeutic community that made a little bit of money

But did a little bit of money. Well, you need a little cash to keep it going. Listen, you were created a proper proprietary system Okay Okay, you know me mommy. I you're trying to come here I'm fine with it. It was well worth it. I got better. Okay the third stage that lasted from 1969 till 1975 That was focused on building a social movement to create a utopian society That's gonna totally work out and that's in a time when many hucksters were trying to do the same This is when they expanded it out to the squares and when they expanded it out to the squares It made a little bit more money. You mean it thought me. You're gonna be mad at me because I'm bringing a bunch of extra people

Yes, to my proprietary system. Yes, maybe I make a little money That's my business man. We're soda inside of me You're gonna be mad. Oh, I gotta do certain things. I gotta make certain choices because this is about It's looking at financial stability here. That's all you're gonna do. Yeah. Yeah, that's it But the fourth stage that began in 1975 and lasted until synonym disintegrated in the late 80s That was when they got greedy and began to self identify as a religion Oh, yeah, that eventually became a full-scale charismatic Dictatorship run by Chuck Dietrich. Amen because he realized

Hey, if we center it, they did it the old they did it. They came to the Elrond idea All the way the backwards way. So the savior the savior of the world is a dude named Chuck. Oh, yeah, buddy Well, Chuck, he doesn't need a whole head He's a half-headed dude named Chuck. Yeah. Yeah, uh, but that's actually the thing about it is that it's a religion not a religion You know, it's like there's no IRS and it's very much a religion. I see. Yeah, but then synonym because that's that was their kind of joke. It's like Well, who's god then? I don't know Must be Chuck

Yeah, yeah, but then yeah, it does it does become Chuck becomes like godlike But not god god. He's god-esque god-esque god. Yeah, it's like, it's like, you know, when you go to see a mall santa Yeah, that's not in the main santa. No, it's like I'm like I'm one of the gods helpers It's like it's like that representative the guy george santos who lied about his entire life He's currently in office. No, hopefully not for much longer. No, I he claimed that he was jewish and then he said no No, no, I said I was jew

He watches woody allen movies That just sounds like a review in a theater in the upper west side Is she ish? Yeah, does he look like a man that used to be a haunted clock? Like he looks like he was magically changed From being a fat little table clock to being a guy. I agree. There's something wrong with him. That's for sure It really is but once the dictatorship came in synonym So too did the violence and sexual weirdness that seems to be a specifically californian cult phenomenon It's the sunshine. It's it's always with the sex and violence out here. I mean every time I see a moan I do see titties

Okay, the sex I get that the landscape makes you horny. What about the what about the violence? I think he's just lonely No, not the violence. I'm good on violence. I don't have any Okay, I don't see any violence. No Where's the violence? Where is the violence? Honestly, if you do look at californian cults are among the most violent Oh, when it comes to that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's our brand. See the sex comes Okay, you're saying that the sex comes from the landscape being horny. It's a horny landscape. It is and the violence comes from tv Which we also make Yeah, it comes back comes back around. I see what you mean. Yeah, absolutely

Now synonym made a very concerted effort to become a religion and they did so for practical reasons Namely, the federal government recognized them as a religion in 1974 No taxes listen guys, and I'm saying this to our listeners right now. You look at me Look at me dead in the eyes and you know for a fact, right? That I'm I'm good for it, right But when we start this if you do happen to see a thing where they say last podcast that works a religion, right? I'm gonna need all y'all to just Roll with it. Yeah boxes. Yes. Just roll with it because no listen

We're gonna give kickbacks to you because guess what I get to do for you if when we're a religion Guess what? You get to be forgiven for free done As soon as we go just listen you're cool with me whatever you've done. I mean certain things. I won't I can't forgive everything You know what's on you don't tell me about those Tell me all the things you want. I forgive you. You're done. It'll be completed. You're fixed Yeah, perfect two on the nose two on the nose. What do you mean? Well, you just said that publicly So now I think the government's gonna be like, oh, they're scamming us

No, no, no, no, no, no. No, I'm gonna understand that this is a part of my awakening period The great awakening. Oh, this is gonna go great Well additionally being a religion that meant that they didn't have to be licensed. Oh Oh regulations no taxes even faker bosses From just being like there is no god to chuck's god. It's just like wow You get nothing but benefits. I love the government recognizes magic as a reason not to pay taxes That's fantastic

Broken system. Yeah But perhaps most importantly being a religion meant the synonym was forever He would eliminate questions like when does a person graduate from synonym because nobody graduates a religion When do you graduate Catholicism when you say fuck you like come the pope you finally did it Yeah, I guess I guess you could technically you do graduate Buddhism eventually when you leave the wheel of karma that is great You do graduate Buddhism, but does anybody but has anybody I want to see some proof Okay, show me proof of your enlightenment. All right, send me a postcard from the netherworld They wouldn't have to do that because they're enlightened and they don't care if you agree or not

That's what's maddening about Buddhism because they'll be like, oh, I know you don't care But you do care you're wearing you're wearing it now. You just handed me the gold card and you're making me give you 10 bucks I don't know either way you cutism. I think you're thinking of moonies. No, is that moonies? I think that's moonies So when they think where they hand you the card it's for good luck and then when you go to take it they pull it back and they're like Give me money. We're just gonna say that whatever you're saying is wrong We're just gonna cover that bad. I don't know what base I'm there with you. We're all we're here together me and you. Yeah, when does my I'm sorry for everything run out

That never runs up. I said, I'm sorry for everything. I don't have to renew that right you do. Yeah, you have to yes It's fine. But whatever you just did think about it like every six months Like, you know when you have a medication that you have to be on forever and like once a month They have to like Revaluate your value. Yeah. So like once a year. Yes, you do you can get it done for the whole year right now if you want I'm sorry for everything. That's a whole year see in 2024. All right, great. It is 2023, right? It is okay. Cool. Yes And well around the time that Synanon started calling themselves a religion Shit started getting weird as it always does

Two years after they got their tax exempt status Synanon instituted a policy that members would no longer have children because the world was overpopulated Yeah, now no children wasn't a hard rule But women were coerced into having abortions more than a couple of times But eventually Synanon put the onus of no kids onto the men which actually I find it but up weirdly Refreshing it is refreshing. It's about time. It's a great way to get to come on titties faces, but come come come come come come come Come come come come everywhere else everywhere else. Yeah, well, I mean it got rough Yeah, because in 1977 Synanon required that all members over the age of 18 who had been in synanon for over five years

Everyone's got to get vasectomy. It's a vasectomy. You get a vasectomy. You get a vasectomy. Wow. Yeah, it's like being on opera It's reversible. Yeah, and these vasectomies were performed collectively at so-called clipping parties. I'm gonna need a doctor Yeah, yeah, over 250 men participated in these clipping parties and a lot of people, you know immediately ask, you know Like what do you bring to a clipping party if you go to one and I'll tell you what you bring ice ice Oh Yeah, I'd sadly can't bring booze. No All of this all sober if and when I go and get my because I might do that You can't show up drunk, right? Like the vasectomy. Well, you don't want the I can't do one final like all right

And like come out like do one big come out. You still come Yeah, you still come with vasectomies. There's no semen in it. Come with living squits Yeah, right. Like come a couple of living squids and you're thinking like oh like grandparsons when he partied already on before But he died. I think you'll die though for because it's thins your blood. Yeah, so you want to be careful You don't want to have you don't want to be super hammered during surgery. Okay Let's check it. I'm glad Kissel told me. Yeah, absolutely Now this naturally led to a mass exodus of members. Not everyone wanted to get clipped. Yeah, I could see that one member said quote Hey, I'll give you my life chuck, but not my balls

That's how much men love their balls I won't die, but did you touch my nuts? That's my calm. Yeah, but things got weird again in april of 1977 when chuck dedrick's wife betty died of lung cancer at the age of 55 One day we'll do a an oscar style Memoriam to all of the wives of cult leaders that died that allowed the cult then spin wildly out of control It has happened time and time again They always have some form of stabilizing influence that vaguely keeps them in pocket for a certain period of time and then as soon as that's gone It's just like

All right But in fact the rice can play Well, look at look what happened with george lucas if he stood would have stayed married. We never would have had jar jar banks Yeah, his wife created star wars. Yeah, well. Yeah, she did the edits and all the stuff in the store and all the things that mattered Because then when you watch the one that didn't have her editing you're like, why is that there? Yeah, it's very interesting Yeah, she said give the wookie hair. Don't make the wookie a space owl man, he's stupid George Lucas was just kind of just shows that all you have to do is be accidentally right once

Once that's why Warren Buffett says as you said about billionaires She's like you only got to make three good decisions a year and it's just like what does that mean? He drinks coca-cola just like I don't think he does. I think it's a little. No, he drinks coca-cola. Just like gosh He lives in a house. It's just a house. Just like that. Don't understand Now so respected was sitting on that the mayor of los angeles proclaimed a beddy deedrick day to recognize her work In drug rehabilitation when she died and condolences were sent by jimmy and rosalyn carter Who just can't catch a break when it comes to their association? jimmy just he had a

rosalyn between shanwin daisy jim jones and the leader of synanon. Maybe she wasn't the best judge of character You know what? I'm just gonna blame and I don't mean this because he's doing it. It seemed like the carter whole administration A lot of weird shit happened during that time period. There was it was a very the late 70s We're an odd time to be an american. It feels kind of similar now. Yeah. Yeah, it actually does odd Do you feel the malaise? I do you feel the malaise? I do. We have a skeleton president Jimmy Carter was young then. Yeah. Yes. Yeah, but then you're still kind of a skeleton peanut man No, we had a full head of hair, but he was still skeleton-ish. He was just in shape

Oh, yeah, yeah, I mean, but you guys call me skeleton You've guys had called me a skeleton since I was fucking 32. You also like bones more than us. Yeah, it's more of a bone thing Oh, is it more of a bone thing? I always thought of you saw bone like our first gift to patreon was you sawing bones Like henry and I didn't be like give them bones. You were like, I got a great idea I got all these bones. I saw all these bones and then you would complain about how it was getting in your lungs And we'd be like stop sawing the bones. You gotta saw the bones. They're gonna stop listening if they don't get the bones I think it was illegal as well Where I was doing it was also illegal

Don't worry. All you have to do is pay off the health inspector. Isn't that a nice thing to just say Uh-huh. Well, it's no longer in business Yeah, but doesn't add nothing felt right since like about 2015 or so things have been weird. Yeah, things have been real odd Yeah, I know. Yeah, it's January 2016. That's about right before bowie died. Yeah. Yeah, and then after people blame him Yeah, it's a bit of real weird since then. Oh, yeah, I'm just kind of used to it. No, I guess Yeah, it's just becoming it is now normal technically because it's been seven years Yeah, rip bowie. We just uh passed his uh, is the anniversary of his death just a couple of days ago. Jesus Christ Ziggy stardust

Yeah, well, you're gonna live longer than that because next week you're 40. Yeah No, bowie was like in the 70s. Yeah, I'm saying Yeah, but he's longer in January, you know, he's trying to be encouraging. Oh, yeah Yeah As for truck though his wife betty much like marshal apple whites partner bonnie nettles She was the one who kept him from doing anything too crazy or too sexual although. She was on board with the vasectomies She just wanted not to get pregnant from fucking all the cult members Yeah, but after betty died both the violence and the weirdness at synonym escalated once again

At the age of 64 two months after betty's death Dijik decided to remarry. He told reporters quote and this is a direct quote I sent up a flare like any monarch of old times would have done. I let out the word that I was available Um, my mother scheme coming looking to see where what was underneath the belly And guess what they found A tiny little set of dick and ball Yeah, four feet above that was the smartest half head that woman ever met her damn wife Well, indeed, uh, so you think you're a king kind of a monarch then you kind of

Yeah Who are you a king of like king of this belt? Yeah, come kiss the belt. All right. I'll kiss the belt king of this belt. I like that. Yeah That's what I feel about all my little mama clothes. I think out of all the cult leaders jim jones would have the best Oh charles manson would have the best belt buckle I could see charles manson. He was mostly belt buckle when he was wearing one. I could see him having a belt Just one day he'd be like hey man, look at my belt. I don't see that But that's the thing is that I think it's it's that thing like you know how most porn stars are like tiny and that's why the dicks look so big

Exactly. That would be like charles mans because he's so tiny the belt buckle's gonna look a lot bigger That's what optics are everything optics are everything. Uh-huh. Well six women applied to become detrick's wife. Wow applied But chuck eventually settled on a 31 year old teacher at one of synanon schools Woman named jenny shorin pretty soon after they got married though Detrick declared that marriage Should no longer be a permanent institute He is the monarch of that belt dude because he understood he got married. Usually he's like this is the thing about getting married Is it it's they call it an institution for a reason so I see we let them out let out the

Let out the patience institutions have doors. I suppose He told every married couple that they had to split up and form new three year long love matches with new partners Plucked from the synanon membership pool. It's just like he's going fucking full crazy. It's really interesting again It's just every one. It's just they all did without even knowing that all these guys other cult leaders do this Where he they all have the same celebratory like we need to fuck each other's wives It's more that I need to fuck all your wives at least he spread the love Yeah, I don't know now many of these couples had gotten married within synanon in mass marriage ceremonies And they'd actually how romantic. Yes, and they'd actually committed themselves not only to each other but to synanon itself in their vows

During these ceremonies men wore overalls and dress shirts while women wore ankle length granny dresses and broad brimmed hats actually overalls were sort of the synanon Uniform because chuck dedrick one day. He's one of those guys that just decided I just want to wear overalls every day for the rest of my life. He can do that. I'm wearing sweatpants I don't ask you guys to wear the same Um, so basically he's like you bitches look like diane keaton Dude

looked like someone named elmer. Yes He because again, he had a real overalls body. Yeah now you might just say what is that? Like if you've seen magazines a man in overalls a lot of times really cut and he's about to drop it He's going to show his haul with one little suspender down But guess what most people in overalls look like Porky pig. Yeah, and that's because you look like yeah, because you wear overalls so your pants don't fall down when you're farmed You are now want quick access to shit And you're sick of dealing with the hassle of all these tight-fitting belts and pants

Right. Yeah, and also they all get married dressed like that and they got married by a reverend who was riding a shetland pony Because then you have the majesty of a horse without worrying about the The ima- emasculating lack of height and you receive standing next to a man in a horse. Is the bad guy from shrek? Now since many of these people had been married to and within senenon 230 couples agreed to chuck switcheroo plan So 460 legally married people got divorces and hooked up with someone new Imagine at some point there's somebody who's just like yes, like yes. Oh, yeah excuse. I needed yes I'm sure but I'm sure there's a lot of people who weren't like that

You know who got excluded chuck's brother. He didn't have to do it everyone else had to do it But chuck's brother got an exclusion. So I kind of like my wife. Yeah All right, you fucking dweeb All right But since this is another weird-ass request senenon had another huge drop in membership and they lost 300 members In 1977 alone. They actually lost more people from the marriage thing than they did from the vasectomy thing I could see that almost yeah, then right around the same time that shit got weird shit also started getting violent Yeah, see a few years before senenon. It started stockpiling deadly weapons. God. It's the stockpiling. It's a stockpiling

They got 57 shotguns 24 coal 45s and 300 000 rounds of ammunition Now this transition like we're doing a little bit of like yada yada yada because it's very difficult to put in This is a there's a lot of complicated shit happened during this time period But it's just it's important for you to know that the shift actually did happen fairly quickly Yeah, but the ramp up happened, but it started just like Compounding I feel very exponential like I feel like once one thing started happening The next thing started spilling the next and he was ramping up this talking points because everyone's living in a commune And so he's talking endlessly all multiple communes multiple communes and they are playing in the recordings of his speeches

They're playing and stuff and all they say he's got his own radio station that he called it the wire Yes, people could listen to it all good name of radio station He would go to his bedroom and literally start Monologuing and the whole place was built for sound. So you're just living in chuck deeterick's head all day He's he learned from jim jones in a way again. I don't know if he did or if it's just again I did jones's years later. I think that he's the I feel like in a way that he's the carlos mancia And it's jim jones still like the elite, right? Why did they feel they need to start stockpiling weapons? Was the government coming after the paranoia?

It's paranoia. Yeah, and I think it's also just a general You know getting being plugged into the decade man Like you know chic gets real dark starting in the early 70s, you know They're kind of caught up in this whole utopianism type thing and it's not working out It nothing's working out in a utopia. You don't need to stockpile weapons. No, not normally No, no, but it's about you got to defend your utopia. No, I know because it's not utopia Yeah, and it's not because a bunch of people are like hey You might have developed the system of abuse in there and I everything I hear coming out of your little right

It sounds shadier and shadier and shadier and he's like no they're beginning the persecution complex They're gonna come shut us down because they don't get our lifestyle Well, I think it's fairly simple. You know that saying if it smells like shit everywhere you go check your own shoe You know, I think Chuck Diedrich was second What? Oh my god Thomas Jefferson said that. Yes. Thomas Jefferson. I love that if you're the type of person who says that says that everyone's an asshole Everyone sucks. You suck. You know like why why is everybody always mad at me? It must be their fault

It's everybody else. No, you're the asshole. Yeah, and I think that's what happened with Chuck Diedrich Chuck Diedrich had a way of antagonizing Everybody around him, especially his neighbors because they said his issue is truly was the fact that he forgot He'd spent so long in these Synanon groups and it forgot that other people don't talk like that Yeah, they don't curse and scream and yell at people and like a quote-unquote straight shooter And a lot of times I find that when someone calls themselves a straight shooter again They mean a fucking insufferable asshole massive ass And then it's that where it's like always insulting people and talking all this shit

And so his world is really closing in and he's becoming way more isolated and because he's becoming so aggressive Everyone around him is becoming so aggressive. He's getting what he's putting out Hence the guns exactly and Chuck Diedrich started getting paranoid about the many Split he's that's what he called people who left the program And that's another thing is that there's this mass exit these multiple mass exodus of People and he's thinking like they're all against me There's no other reason why they wouldn't meet down for his vasectomies or leaving their wives so they can talk to someone random Yeah in group screaming sessions and everybody getting starting to get physically beaten and moved around and pushed around

Yeah, it's very yeah Well pretty much anything bad that happened was blamed on split ease and eventually that paranoia translated to violence Synanon members began assaulting members of their communities seemingly at random including a rancher who bordered their land He sounds like such a sweet man. His name was Alvin Gambonini. No Okay, hold on. Alvin. First of all, he does not he sounds like he's on the lamb because there's no yeah names, uh Tony get no elvin Gambonini

I get to see like no You like I try to bring a fresh man Go and this time you tell me I need to cut my balls Yeah, man. I go up to him. I say oh, I got a nice little And he's saying why you come with this little worker. No, and I say I'm a gamma nine Seems like all of your horses don't have heads. Mr. Gambonini. Are you sending those to random beds? Sometimes a message must be delivered In direct manner

No, he's gonna knock on your door. He's like, I got some good ones to go. No, he's not. No. All right. Everybody got a head of shit Alvin Gambonini, but if you do If you do want to know about the real did this fucking it's crazy There's a bunch of fucking shit Look at the sit and look at the poll morance.com and go to the true story of Synanon violence and how it started The roll-up of him. There's a thing called the siege of Tomales Geez, which is what he they literally took because so as one thing we're yadda yadda yadding is that they moved Right, they moved from Santa Monica and they moved to riverside. They bought a bunch of complexes, right?

They bought a bunch of land and so once they went they they went isolated themselves These like these neighboring towns are like who the fuck are these people just rolling in it was the same thing happened with Jonestown. Yeah, it's a shock to the community. I would think Jonestown with the people with people's temple when they moved from Indianapolis to California and northern California the redwood. Yes, it started with that, right? Because he's doing this and but the local police department loves them They're hiring members of Synanon to be like deputies and shit But they literally get tacked an entire town because they believe that people were trespassing on their land or on the roads And he would like say hey, we're gonna go and we're gonna attack these people that anybody tries to fuck with us

We need to go on the offensive and like we need to show them that we're actually in control of this entire environment So you have these like a bunch of like malnourished bald-headed people and overalls showing up and like taking over town squares and shit With like broomsticks and shovels. Like it's really weird. Well, just take the statues down. I don't care Just look up. It's the siege of tamales. It's very weird. It's just all very weird I mean the way one former Synanon member put it is that like Synanon wasn't very good at violence Like they were violent, but they weren't very good at it. I know you see that. Well, we're just lucky that they were not Yeah, we are we're very lucky. They weren't but you know, Synanon was also sometimes the target of violence You know like residents Synanon residents said that they were shot at sometimes they said like teenagers would try hitting them with their cars

Yes, exactly. They were on the street, but this is their this is their extension out This is the part of the persecutory thing that they said it was that everybody hated us and it was like No, it's because you showed up and then you like would claim back roads for synanon And he would like do this thing be like no this is our road now and then like you'd show me like no That's I've been driving this road for 25 years. It's like now you forced us into conflict And then you're gonna blame me for having to react to you. Yes, exactly But synanon members they began training with guns and batons and eventually They created their own martial art to defend themselves. They called it syn-do. Yeah, I'm gonna shoot myself

The key is since you want to do is you want to pin the guy into the table Or you want to get him down into a cherry and the thing is you put that fucking tv on He's giving us some pizza and you make it too lazy to frame she back And then you take that life you stick it in between the left ribs and directly in the heart and then he's Oh, wow the old jesus death there. Uh, what if I just punch you in the head? You'd have to fucking get the mission half Well from what didrick said he was tired of turning the other cheek tired of the spineless hippie shit That's how we put it. Oh In one case synanon members caught a guy siphoning their gas

So they grabbed him held him down and shaved off his head and beard I do like that's people who siphon gas see everything as a cup Again synanon doesn't do violence very well like to them. That's like oh, we're shaving his head. We're shaving his beard Oh, no, it's a hair for hair match. It is weird though. I feel like they're not good. They're just weird Well, it feels like dream violence Yeah, it feels because it's a lot of pinning people down because again I think there's a they were it sounds like there were several lawyers that were in the inner group Of uh synanon. Yeah, I think we're advising them in many ways

Kind of like in a way of like if we do this this and this this is what we get away with Right, like just pinning somebody to the ground adults pinning another it's like it's very difficult For people to prosecute these things like like it's very difficult to call the assault Especially if you're in a town where half the police force is the synanon members that are putting the guy down on the ground Yeah, it seems just juvenile Just juvenile enough where they're like, all right move on we got bigger crimes to do to worry about Well, synanon well synanon also built its own security force that they call the imperial marine. Yes. No, no, they're not marine store The imperial no, no, no, no, no, I don't know where the word imperial came from

I think that's because he's just again chucking away He has his own sense of humor about how he's the godhead of this group. Yeah, okay Well, they began running drills in which all residents had to stop what they were doing when they heard the words Hey rude. Hey rude. Hey rude. I would love to see them run drills. That would be amazing in the army now Put your jazz musicians trying to figure out how to be an army They then had to grab anything they could that could be used as a weapon and come running. That's my uh dick, dude. Yeah And like Charles Manson Dietrich became convinced that a race war was coming No, it was well. He called it a holy war a holy war

But it was the subject well the thing is that synanon was actually integrated Uh at a time when so what's the races that are going to be fighting the other ones outside of synanon? No, it's everyone in synanon is going to be cool with each other, but outside it's going to be black versus white. It's the same thing It's helter skelter great. Yeah, basically. It's gonna work out fantastic. Yeah. Yeah And as such synanon members began reacting not only to actual attacks but to anticipated assaults Yeah, he's like he's ramping it up saying they're coming to get us. It's that it's the same jim jones cycle You gotta have that fear I guess one former member named phil ridder was almost beaten to death by two so-called imperial marines In his own driveway his skull was broken and he was in a coma for a week

But that wasn't meant to be a murder synanon's next major act of violence one of the weirdest in cult history was See in 1978 an attorney named paul morance that henry has mentioned a couple of times already He became involved with a case in which a woman with mental health problems was referred to synanon Without asking her what she wanted synanon whisked her away to a facility hundreds of miles away Shaved her head and held her there against her will probably didn't want that. No. No all this was illegal It took nine days for her husband to find her and the man who assisted him was paul moran's

Now paul moran's caused a lot of trouble for synanon Especially because his actions triggered charges of kidnapping wrongful imprisonment and practicing medicine without a license Those are all crimes. He was actively doing. Yeah, it was and also because she was mentally ill. She wasn't an addict That's how they got the practicing medicine without a license. I think synanon may have caused their own problems Oh, yeah, it was just sort of like exposed to maybe but therefore chuck dedrick began to see paul moran's as a mortal threat to everything He'd built uh-oh Now moran's knew that dedrick was a dangerous man because he'd heard about the severe beatings And threatening phone calls from synanon members didn't help matters either

Eventually moran's bought a shotgun and started checking his car for bombs every time he got in Geez as it turned out moran's instincts were correct. Is everyone thought for a while that he was crazy Yeah, they were like they're just a group of kooks. This is just a thing. There's like a fad or whatever They're not going to do anything But he was like I think these guys are going to kill me the idea of a car bomb. It's uh unique I mean it happened really you think they're going to use a car bomb to kill you It definitely used to happen way more than it used to I feel like car bombs were used to were like I know the car bombs were used a lot in the italian mafia

Uh in the neo nazis and the nazi in the the troubles in ireland There's a lot of car bombs and good stuff It's it is you go through the drive through a taco bell. You got some friends in the car next thing You know you got car bombs now that is Old-fashioned humor. That's good humor. It's a very good humor. I'm gonna call you the good humor man. Yeah, they call me the booby chalupa Oh That's bad. Yes, indeed Well one night in october of 1977 moran said he was just going to go home

Sit down watch the world series and not think about synonym for one goddamn second man. Mr. Moran. That's a lot of detail Yeah, all right. Usually just say good night One goddamn one goddamn But before he could do that He had to check his mail. Oh Now he didn't have his glasses on that night But through the grill of his mailbox. He said he could see the outline of an unusually shaped package Oh, look at that someone's in my slinkies. Yeah. Yeah, wow when he opened the mailbox

He found a four and a half foot long rattle steak with the rattle removed. Oh, yeah Well, is it poisonous then still oh Yeah, the rattle isn't in the the rattles what keeps the snake away from you What are you? The rattle's there. I'm sorry. I'm a fucking snake expert Oh, this is the least of our troubles. You know what I mean? Well things that he's gotten incorrect. This is the very least Like it's like it's why technically he was correct about the bees last week I'm so usually correct. You can tell the things I've got incorrect The amount of times a clock is broken the corner of the poop story. They're clocks. No, you corner poops

Cornered poop. No, you're allegorical tail. Hey, then you said a long time ago. Um Um, and the clocks actually holds up. I've had people DM me and tell me that that was true That's because they're just trying to Just trying to have sex with you for some reason. I've been told that that's kind of smart They actually said I got a DM saying that's kind of smart actually that's kind of smart Well, the snake immediately struck and bit moran's on the hand and moran's yelled quote call the police Call an ambulance. I've been bitten by a goddamn rattle snake. Oh my god. It's sitting on It's sitting on got me. Yeah, he's running around his apartment complex sitting on got me

Jesus, there's something very symbolic about the snake as well. I suppose. Oh, yeah, dude It's because he to them he was a little snake in the ground He was as it turned out the rattle snake had been put in moran's mailbox by two synonym members named joe musico And lance can't let's just say you come at half face With even a little bit and you miss You might get a little bit of a sniffing Snatland In your fucking mailbox like a snake or something. Yeah, I didn't say it

Like a snake. You said that. Yeah, lance canton was actually the son of stan canton famed jazz artist All right. Yeah, you see that like anyone on earth knows stan canton. Bernando play the tune He's known for this one the peanut vendor Okay All right, it's extraordinarily famous thinking not extraordinarily famous, but this is a famous Oh From your mouth at god's ears Yes, indeed, but as far as stan canton's son went it's arguable that the rattle snake in the mailbox prank

That killed stan because he died two years later probably of a broken heart Oh, because you know once you break a jazz musician's heart, it's hard to put back together. It never goes back together. Absolutely not This though was on stan because his son had been a lifelong synonym member Who'd lived in one of their compounds since he was 10 years old So stan sent him there because he didn't want him to interfere with his music career Interesting indeed. Also, you're just saying that jazz is sometimes about the sons. You don't raise absolutely Yeah, you give me a jazz musician and a father Yuck

Well, both lance canton and joe were picked up after the getaway vehicle was traced back to synonym because they actually waited To make sure that the rattlesnake got them. They are so stupid and then when they saw they're like, oh got him Then they of course sped away and some was like, okay, this guy's screaming about a rattlesnake Those guys are peeling out. They brought the rattlesnake That's the it is the rattlesnake's driver so stupid And based on the tapes attained from a raid in which dedrick said that anyone could get quote Killed dead physically dead for messing with synonym. Chuck was arrested too

Oh, but luckily for them palmer ants. He got the anti-venom in time. Good, but he is still like affected by the snake He was alive. You can get anti-venom for uh, I'm saying he is alive Um, he's as of the article that I read like two years ago. Yeah, he was still alive two years ago No, shit. He died this uh, october 23rd 2022. Wow Wow Interesting. Yeah, he that's what he said is that snake finally got him. Well, that's what he said It was the longest murder in history

Wow Because this rattlesnake bite it's kind of like a kind of like think a gym brady. Yeah, it fucks with you. Yeah Now when the police found chuck dedrick, he had long since tossed away his sobriety He was arrested in his one million dollar lake havasu compound Staring straight ahead in a stupor with an empty bottle of shivis regal in front of him Um, he was so drunk in fact and 300 pounds to boot that he had to be carried out of his compound on a stretcher Man, that is the cult leader's way to go. That's the only way I want to go dude Having to be physically removed from my compound. I'm too drunk to arrest. I'm too drunk to be arrested, sir

Now dedrick was able to dodge most of the blame actually he did kind of use the um, too drunk to go to jail Excuse he was able to dodge most of the blame because by the time the cops got to him He'd had a stroke from being so fat and he was suffering complications from drinking two quarts of shivis regal a day So he's back to being an alcoholic. He has half a face and now he's 300 pounds and suffered a stroke. Yes Why is he gone again? Hey, hey, because sometimes god's gotta fucking relax Okay, but as far as Synanon went it very quickly found itself in the wrong climate to be a crazy potentially murderous baldheaded cult five weeks after the rattlesnake incident

Jonestown And synanon had direct ties to people's temple Yikes Synanon had donated supplies to jim jones multiple times over the years and their sneaker collab was also out of Control dog. Yeah, that's like donating the E. Coli filled beef to Bob's big boy Is it Bob's big boy that had the E. Coli? Jack in the box. Jack in the box. Yeah, don't align Bob's big boy. I'm sorry. I took it back. It was Jack that did it In the late 70s synanon members had played the game with members of people's temple where some very

Real feelings about jim jones were unloaded. Oh, and then some of them they then got for synanon Didn't he like brought him into their cult synanon still better than jones town Yeah, well actually one of the women who survived the jones town massacre by virtue of being at their georgetown base When the shit went down same place where george jones's son. What are charge jones? Synanon may have helped george jones Yeah, jim jones, you know when all the shit went down with him, you know, she was out in georgetown She participated in a synanon game that was focused on jones town about a year after the massacre Then she joined synanon. Yeah one cult to another

Was only non-cult for one year. I mean, I guess it's like slightly Oh, I don't know. It's like stopping McDonald's and only eating subway because it's kind of healthy. That's the idea Oh, yeah, that's we are when they started putting apple slices at mcdonald's. No, that worked out great Now while the two guys who put the rattlesnake in the mailbox got off relatively light with only one year in prison For conspiracy to commit murder. They both led no contest sure synanon never recovered and they lost more members every year After the rattlesnake incident, they lost 500 members and by 1984 they were down to only 550 members Which was a precipitous drop in the almost 4,000 they had just 13 years earlier. Yeah, he's going in the wrong direction. Oh, yeah

Then in 1987 there came what was eventually known as Rape weekend Nobody was raped during rape weekend. Nobody was right. I don't want to see the people that were disappointed Yeah, why why is it called that? Listeners who was disappointed. Yes. Yes. Why is it called that then? Well two weeks prior to this weekend Diedrich began showing major cracks during media interviews. Yeah, he started getting real loose slipped He invited various news outlets to talk But when they showed up Diedrich gave the interview shirtless with a half empty bottle of vodka in his hand. Oh, man

This is what happened with Dennis Rodman. We went to North Korea Interestingly, Diedrich proclaimed that Oliver North was a hero second time we've mentioned Oliver Who sort of wonder why conspiracy theories like really just start to shoot fucking everywhere What the shit like all of these things are all on top of each other. They all know each other. They're all touching. They don't know. They don't know each other Don't do no that is conspiracy thought like they say they know each other. No But it does tangentially tied to the iron country. That's what I'm saying somewhat. It's it adds to the It adds to it just adds to the mess it adds to the smoke and to the fucking yeah

Because Diedrich like drunkenly mentioned Oliver north in an interview one I'll tell you what because Oliver north is fun. Have you ever met his fucking cousin Oliver south? I'll suck your fucking dick No, you are It's struck from the record No, well Diedrich proclaimed that Oliver north was a hero and he should run for president And this is like in the middle of the iron contra Show conspiracy does show we are all connected. Yeah, that's really all it is It's fern golly, but for for people that are all alone in their homes

Yeah Well Diedrich drunkenly said that all of synonym would vote for north because and this is a direct quote I want you to write quote this one. They do it. I tell Most of them don't even know why I do anything Yeah, but I mean, that's still like what is it like 2000? They do what I tell them to do most of them don't even know what I do I mean, Ross Perot got like 19 million votes. He didn't even get one electoral college You tell me five things about Ross Perot and the only thing I'm gonna tell you is big ear dickhead

Those were the first two things I was gonna say Well two weeks after that speaking into an intercom at one of his compounds Diedrich went on a tirade because he couldn't find his glasses. Oh my god Someone had just moved them they cleaned his desk and they moved his glasses But he became convinced that someone had stolen them and he announced that quote theft was similar in nature To rape His glasses was definitely close to rape. Yeah, he then set off the sirens to call all synonym members to a general meeting And he spent the weekend comparing his lost glasses to being raped during a series of lectures

God, I mean even a day of that can you imagine going to sleep and thinking oh, thank god That's over and then you wake up and he starts another damn thing about why my glasses can't rape Did I see my glasses can't rape? Everybody get closer. Where's my belt? Yeah, I mean, I can't even handle Bonnaroo Yeah, he then made an appeal for everyone to go get naked and do a game session in the pool Hey, man, let's get groove. Let's go to the game session I mean that's those kind of fun, but it's totally not what we were talking about Yeah, it's you and if you're trying to set up like a fun pool weekend, maybe you shouldn't be called the rape weekend

Maybe it should just be called like hey do we want a pool party? Not this like a long like weekend 72 hours of comparing all of this my glasses your glasses and sexual assault Yeah, but by that time nobody was listening to Chuck Dietrich. He's lost. He's gone He's after a rape weekend as it came to be known. They refer to it as rape weekend afterwards Yeah, more than half of synonym left. Yeah, they're like, you know Yeah, it was it was because up till that point they could still kind of say like, okay He's got some good ideas But then after spending a weekend of him comparing the last glasses to something so fucking awful hammered the entire time

Yeah, they're like, okay. I'm out. I'm getting out of here. I don't care. I'll go back to the fucking streets I can't listen to this shit. Yeah, I literally go back to the street. Yeah. Why not? Two hundred ninety people were left out of two thousand. This guy is sucks as a cult leader. Oh, yeah Yeah, what finally killed synonym though the irs who they always get their man Don't they I guess so synonym had lost their religious status and by 1989 they owed 17 million in back taxes Wow, dude, that is just that's a lot. That's like one of those numbers you look at and you just laugh Okay, sure. All right, 17 million dollars. Let me call my account. Who's a leprechaun And you call my guarantor is a fucking unicorn. Yeah, I will get right on that

They declared bankruptcy and synonym officially dissolved But synonym's legacy remains while the game went out of vogue with adults plenty of people in the trouble team community Took it and ran with it. No all the wrong ways Particularly the alon schools. Oh, so Who would take a relatively benign concept like the game and turn it into a punishment? What kind of person is so sadistic that they would take something obviously meant for adults And skew it into something to be used on kids in the most brutal ways possible The answer is joe richie the founder of alon school

Oh, he'll be our focus for the conclusion to our series on the trouble team industry Although he'll certainly share the bill with alon school's most famous alumnus convicted murderer Michael skekel It is this whole story has been both. It's like this is kind of the more Funny section of a very intense sad topic and so next week. It's like again, we're gonna get into Joseph Richie's life I'm gonna say thank you to everybody who sent me emails Yeah, like all we there are so many people that have been a part of these programs that are still going like as you just see

Did you see the agape? Like that that place the school this week. It just closed really it literally It I want to say like two days ago. They just voluntarily to close their doors the volunteer the agape boarding school in Missouri We did it again boys It was another disgusting cult to close down. Well, thank you all so much for listening seriously And there are many other shows that have covered things that from people that have had like these experiences There's the sunshine place which talks to a lot of people that experience this that true non story A lot of those kids like those that podcast people had developed like we're in these systems

And so it's it's just everywhere, but next week we're getting into Joseph Richie territory, which is it's it's weirdly chuck Deterick But without the charisma. Yeah. Oh my goodness, but people still like we'll get to it There's like a hero worship about him in a way. It's a weird very weird thing kind of it's a hero worship amongst Fucking sociopathic morons. Yes, like that's the people that were really drawn to Joe Richie, but yeah, he's a Unique piece of shit. I'll say that indeed. All right, everyone. Well, thank you so much for listening Let's see. Do we want to talk about the release the butthole cut tour? You want to come out see release the butthole cut Well, it was on page seven but taking their entertainment wears across this country of ours We're getting out there with their tap dancing for your dollars. You got literally dancing

You got to dance more than us and they sing more than us. They do. Yes So go check them out. They are in San Francisco at the independent this friday january 13th Go check them out and then this sunday january 15th and los angeles at the bourbon room and a couple of us will be there To yell at you as well. Yes, don't expect me No, he's gonna be he's gonna be bitten on his games Don't expect me All right. Well, thank you all so much for listening. Do we have anything else boys?

Thanks for supporting all the shows. We got our serious shows, but you're going so great Open lines and heal yourself. Thanks for everyone who's calling in The last comic book on the left is coming soon. Yeah, number issue number two We got some great stuff coming up for issue number three as well Yes, we do and then uh, eventually we will tell you where you can purchase our new comic book that we're writing for dark horse called operation sunshine So we'll let you know when that is coming out. Um, but yeah, all right, everyone. Thank you for listening. Hail yourselves Hail satan again My good stuff like jones. I know what you remember today is the first day and the rest of your life

I can't believe an alcoholic cult leader coined that phrase. Is that incredible? Nothing is sacred. No, nothing is right. Nope This show is made possible by listeners like you Thanks to our ad sponsors You can support our shows by supporting them for more shows like the one you just listened to go to last podcast network dot com