RedHanded - Bonus - Sinister Societies: A Sneak Peek

Episode Date: October 25, 2021

As a bit of a treat for you, our dedicated Spooky Bitches, we've decided to give you a little sneak peek of our new show Sinister Societies, which debuted last week exclusively on Spotify. The show comes out every Tuesday and features the same RedHanded flavour you love but covers the world of faith followings, dodgy clandestine organisations, and of course, sinister societies (basically cults). So have a listen to this sneak peek, and then follow the link below for new episodes every Tuesday exclusively on Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/show/2BhFY0PV8Op0lroMibz8bV?si=b757a0c36a884596 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Red Handed early and ad-free. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. They say Hollywood is where dreams are made. A seductive city where many flock to get rich, be adored, and capture America's heart. But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune, and lives can disappear in an instant. Follow Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, friends.

You're probably looking at this on your phone in your beautiful little hands thinking, what on earth is this? What am I listening to? Have I been duped, tricked, vernangled? None of those things. It's only good news. The good news is that we have a brand new show.

We have a brand new show with the amazing people at Parcast over at spotify and it's called sinister societies and coming up after this little announcement is a little snippet of it for your listening pleasure and sinister societies is all about cults faith followings just all around interesting stuff some secret societies are thrown in there we've got some, we've got some yoga, all sorts coming up for you. So make sure you check it out. If it tickles your fancy, take yourself over to Spotify where you can get a brand new episode every Tuesday. There are already some out so you can binge those to your heart's content. I hope you enjoy what's coming up next. Hi there, it's Ruti and Hannah Hannah, and welcome to Red Handed. Today we're bringing you a very special treat.

It's an exclusive look at our brand new Spotify original from Parcast, Sinister Societies. That's right, we've teamed up with the Parcast Network for a sinister series exposing the most nefarious groups in history. And we have a sneaking suspicion that you're gonna love it. Each of these cults, clubs or movements are analysed in detail for their unique rituals and the impact their beliefs had on those who followed them. It's dark, disturbing and just the way we like it. Ready to dive in? Enjoy this exclusive clip from our first episode. And afterwards, be sure to follow Sinister Societies to hear more. New episodes air every Tuesday, free and only on Spotify.

Nestled in the foothills of the picturesque Sierra Nevada, it was once called California's strangest vineyard. The winery was built and run by a secretive religious society called the Fellowship of Friends. The society's founder once predicted that Armageddon would happen in 2006 and also claims to have communicated with Walt Whitman and Plato. This is a story of how a so-called doomsday cult cultivated award-winning wines that have been consumed at an American president's birthdayeties, a Spotify original from Parcast.

I am Hannah McGuire. And I'm Saruti Bala. Every week we're going to cover your favourite cults, faith followers and secret societies. We'll have a look at some of how the biggest secret societies and cults in history have made their fortunes and how they've also managed to run in plain sight and made people like us oblivious to the fact that we're supporting them. Today we're going to tell you all about the Fellowship of Friends and its once flourishing and critically acclaimed Renaissance Vineyard and Winery.

Let's get into a little background on the founder of the Fellowship of Friends, Robert Earl Burton. And how he went from teaching elementary school to religious leader to owning prime real estate in California's wine country. It's a well-established career path. Do you know what it kind of is? Because teachers are firstly, you've got to look out for them, and secondly, all total records. So teacher to wine makes perfect sense, I think. To then cult leader, you know how to command a room well it takes so long absolutely that's it there's a tipping point but the one thing i have to say though is i cannot say fellowship of friends without wanting to die of laughter why fellowship of friends that's a terrible name i it. Sounds like you've just fan fiction Lord of the Rings. What are they called in that?

The Fellowship of the Ring? Yeah. Even that's better. No, this is terrible. This is terrible. So to give you a little idea of just what we're in for, Burton once drove around in a blue Rolls Royce with the license plate that read Oracle.

So I guess he's trying to tell us there that he has the power of incredible sight. And also, I think anybody with a personalized... I know I'm calling out a lot of people, but welcome home. I'm your dad now. Anyone with a personalized number plate is asking you to look directly at them and i think it's a very odd thing to do well you know it fits his vibe but i do enjoy the fact that he's

you know hinting at the fact that he has um all of this sight but apparently not enough sight to know that that was going to make him look like a total twat not enough sight to foresee me being nasty about it. So yeah, we don't know much about Robert Earl Burton's early childhood or his teenage years. But what we do know for sure is that Burton was born in Arkansas in 1939. He grew up on his family's farm until the age of four, which is quite like a grand way of saying that he grew up there. If you're just 30 or four, he didn't really grow up there. It's like when people say they've been to India, but they've actually just been in New Delhi airport.

Do you know what I mean? Oh, yeah. I grew up in California, but actually I lived there for two months. It's bullshit. It's not how it works. It's not how time works. It's not how the passage of time works. No, it's not.

And if he were any sort of oracle, he would know that. But yeah, so he's on this farm until he's four. And then it's around this age when his mother moved Burton and his siblings to California. Here, he attended San Jose State University. And soon after graduating in 1963, he got a job at Spring Hill Elementary School in the San Francisco Bay Area. Now, one of Burton's former teaching colleagues told a local newspaper in 2008 that, quote, he was kind of one of the stars. Everybody loved him. But the colleague also added that after one school vacation, Burton came back, quote, transformed. He was dressed like a hippie, complete with a headband. Speaking of people who spend an afternoon

in New Delhi airport. We are all one trip to New Delhi away from a headband. From being hippies with headbands. During this famed vacation where he learned how to style his hair differently, Burton unsurprisingly got caught up in the spiritual movement of the 60s and in 1967, the so-called hippie with a headband

resigned from Spring Hill Elementary, no doubt, to seek grander things. Three years later, in January 1970, he founded the Fellowship of Friends. At the time, he was living and preaching out of his Volkswagen bus in Berkeley, California. If someone is living in a bus, don't do what they say. I was going to say, in the 70s in California, that's the man you follow. That was going down, wasn't it? I mean, sure, there were loads of them. I still wouldn't have been like, fantastic life choices. Please take control of my entire existence. Would you like all my money and my house on my dog that's why he kept all of his weird eccentricities a secret that's why we don't

know much about what he was really up to or what he was really into but thanks to an la times article from 1996 we have managed to find a few interesting facts about robert ear. For example, he apparently once liked to have his underwear pressed. Okay, define once. Like he talked about it once? I think... Or he only did it once and he was like, this is rubbish, I don't want to do this anymore. I think it's like at one point in his life, he liked to have his underwear pressed. I see. I don't think that's so weird. Do you know about radiator pants?

No. Okay. You're literally looking at me with such fear in your eyes. I mean, I can guess what they are and I'm not anti it. No, I'm very pro the radiator pants. Our American friends,

we are referring to underwear, not trousers. Radiator pants, alternatively, the spicier version is microwave pants. If you put your pants on the radiator or if you're really cold, in the microwave. Snuggly undies. I mean, I can get on board with that. What I can't get on board with is ironing anything.

I don't do that. I literally just bought an iron. I just, I refuse. I did refuse until creases in my decorative throw pillows in my new flat and just looking at the creases makes me feel upset so um so you're ironing throw pillows I'm yes they're on my bed they're not in the living room okay but yes I am now a person who irons bed sheets hello my name is Karen McGuire I am my mother I mean I like how you ended the caveat of, they're in my bedroom, they're not in the living room, like that was going to make it less weird.

Arguably fewer people will see that, so it's even weirder. But I'm not here to judge you. Not in my house. If anyone's there at all, they're coming to bed. But no, okay, so he, Robert Earl Burton, coming back to him, he liked to have his underwear pressed, apparently at one point in his life. He also liked silk socks and manicures.

Again, two things I cannot get on board with. You love silk. Not on your feet, on your head. Yes, pillowcase. Yes, always silk pillowcases. It's good for your skin. It's good for your hair. But socks should be, must be, cotton or woolly.

No other options. And manicures, I don't like it because I don't like people touching my cuticles. It makes me feel very, very unwell. Fine, let's escape the vomit bucket and press on. The Fellowship of Friends teachings are based loosely, I'm going to say loosely is even a loose word for this, very, very loosely on early 20th century Russian philosophy and the ideas are called the fourth way.

A lot of the letter F happening today. And one of the concepts of this fourth way philosophy is that humans are spiritually asleep. So are we all Russian sleeper agents? Is that... That's what I'm taking from that sentence. And all of us sleeping, Russian sleeping sleeper agents, need to reach enlightenment.

But we can only do that when we're in a state of constant self-awareness. That sounds horrible. Yeah, I think there is such a thing as being cripplingly self-aware and it's called anxiety

and I have it. It's like when you wake up at like 2am being like, you did say that in year nine, you idiot. So Burton adapted this anxiety philosophy to better suit his needs. And he thought that the needs of the Fellowship of Friends too. He insisted that his followers not give in to negative behaviours. These behaviours, P.S., are also known as behaviours

that will keep him in total power over the group. And these behaviours that were not allowed are complaining and gossiping. What? Yeah. Apart from eating, they are my two favourite things to do. It's true. Complaining and gossiping and eating. It's just no dissension within the ranks.

You can't be upset and you certainly can't tell anyone about it. I see, I see. And additionally, to keep everyone vulnerable, defensive body language was a no-go. What if you're cold? I don't know. I feel like because I'm quite tall, my natural stance is quite defensive because I'm trying to hide how big and massive I am. It just makes me think of like a Pokemon. Literally, I'm constantly hunched over like Quasimodo. You've got excellent posture. Thank you, but I do not.

I mean, you're very tall and I think you look very tall and well-postured. I'm sitting in a chair and it makes me look like I am even half the size I am because I'm always so slouched over. Terrible, terrible posture. But anyway, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about what if you're cold and you cross your arms? You're not even allowed to do that. No.

This guy's a monster. And as if that was not enough, the next thing on the list that he starts to do is a cult classic. It's Gimme Your Money. Gimme Your Money, also known as Economical Financial Abuse. Yes, nailed it.

And Christian churches call this tithing. So it's like it's a very normal thing in a lot of places in the world, but Burton took it one step further. He made all of his members of the Fellowship of Friends, every single one of them had to give 10% of their salary straight to him. 10%.

That's quite a lot of percents. That is a lot. The classic, classic cult klaxon. Ding, ding, ding. I know that's not what a klaxon sounds like, but I don't have the oral posture skills to be able to do a klaxon sound with my mouth. But yes, absolute cult klaxon going off loud and proud in your ear.

You did hear correctly. 10% of people's salary. I thought we were doing the cult wind chime. Oh, yeah. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Yeah, much better. There you go. Nailed it. Coming up,

how Robert Earl Burton and his fellowship of friends created their award-winning wines. Wines so acclaimed that they were fit for an American president. Thank you for listening. Ready to finish the episode and hear more?

Just follow Sinister Societies free on Spotify and catch a new episode every Tuesday. They say Hollywood is where dreams are made, a seductive city where many flock to get rich, be adored, and capture America's heart. But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune, and lives can disappear in an instant. When TV producer Roy Radin was found dead in a canyon near L.A. in 1983, there were many questions surrounding his death.

The last person seen with him was Laney Jacobs, a seductive cocaine dealer who desperately wanted to be part of the Hollywood elite. Together, they were trying to break into the movie industry. But things took a dark turn when a million dollars worth of cocaine and cash went missing. From Wondery comes a new season of the hit show Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder. Follow Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can binge all episodes of The Cotton Club Murder early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery Show American Scandal. We bring to light some of the biggest controversies in U.S. history. Presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our latest series, NASA embarks on an ambitious program to reinvent space exploration with the launch of its first reusable vehicle, the Space Shuttle. And in 1985, they announced they're sending teacher Krista McAuliffe into space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, along with six other astronauts. But less than

two minutes after liftoff, the Challenger explodes. And in the tragedy's aftermath, investigators uncover a series of preventable failures by NASA and its contractors that led to the disaster. Follow American Scandal on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season only on Wondery Plus. You can join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Start your free trial today.