Sounds Like A Cult - Sneak Peak!

Episode Date: May 25, 2021

This is Sounds Like A Cult, a podcast about the zeitgeisty cults that have inducted us all—from SoulCycle and Peloton to spiritual influencers to fraternities and sororities to flat earth conspiracy theorists, and beyond. Each episode, your co-hosts Isa and Amanda discuss a different modern-day “cult,” and with the help of guests, games, and legitimate research, we attempt to answer the big question: this group *sounds* like a cult, but is it really? And if so, what category of cult does it fall into? Live Your Life, Watch Your Back, or Get the Fuck Out. Here’s a sneak peek of the show, premiering June 1…

This is Sounds Like a Cult, a show about the modern day, cults we all follow. I'm Issa Medina, a comedian and documentarian, and I'm Amanda Montell, author of the new book Cultish, The Language of Fanaticism, and we're just two pals who are obsessed with cults. But we're not just talking about Jonestown and the Mansons here, we're talking about all the fanatical fringe groups that exist in our culture nowadays. You know, like Taylor Swift stands, or Bernie Bros. even, exactly, or Peloton, multi-level marketing companies, the cults good and bad that have inducted us all.

Every week here on the pod, Issa and I are going to deep dive into one of the zillions of cult-like groups out there these days to try and answer the big question. This group sounds like a cult, but is it really? And if so, how bad is it? We got an episode on The Bachelor franchise, where we got to talk to a former contestant about how culty it feels being isolated in a mansion in a polygamist relationship that the whole country is watching on TV. I think men create cults in order to have sex the way they want to have sex.

That's the basis of a cult is sex. Then there's the one we did on celebrity stan culture, where a bunch of you listeners called in to tell us which celebrity you think has the most intense fan cult. And then things got a little dark in our episodes on sororities and fraternities and flat-earth conspiracy theorists. Part of me wants to get high and talk to one of these idiots about it all, but the other part of me is like, I feel like I'll end up getting in the community. That always happens to me.

It depends on what drug you're on, you know? Yeah. Basically, our theory is that cults really fall on a spectrum. So Issa, should we tell our followers about our cult categories? Hell yes. So like we were saying, there's no such thing as a good cult, bad cult binary. So we've come up with three categories along the cult spectrum to keep in mind. First there's Live Your Life, which are like baby cults that are kind of zealous and intense

but not necessarily bad. Yeah. Then there's Watch Your Back, which are cults that are kind of sus and could potentially be super destructive. And the last level is Get The Fuck Out, which is like Scientology, Waco, QAnon level, aka run for your effin life. On each episode of Sounds Like A Cult, you can expect guests, games, banter, and legitimate research as we debate a wide range of zeitgeisty cults to try and figure out whether they're

a Live Your Life, a Watch Your Back, or Get The Fuck Out. Is it that kind of a red flag? The algorithm is the ultimate cult leader. Literally going to get canceled by celebrity stands. No way you're going to convert me, lady. I'm not selling you my fucking soul. Sweet cheeks, you're in a fucking cult. Sounds Like A Cult is coming June 2021, wherever you get your podcasts.

But in the meantime, stay culty, but not too culty.