Sounds Like A Cult - The Cult of Peloton

Episode Date: February 28, 2023

Did the first episode of HBO Max's Sex And The City reboot turn you off of Peloton? That makes one of us. This week, Amanda and Isa unpack the fanatical riders, worshipped instructors, and dystopian nature of the highly fetishized fitness brand that has been described as “SoulCycle via Zoom.” Peloton is definitely hardcore, but does that make it dangerous? With the help of insightful listener call-ins, your hosts explore just that. To support Sounds Like A Cult on Patreon, keep up with our live show dates, see Isa's live comedy, buy a copy of Amanda's book Cultish, or visit our website, click here! Thank you so much to our sponsors! To receive 50% or more off your first month of therapy, go to modernfertility.com/CULT.  Dipsea is offering an extended 30 day free trial when you go to DipseaStories.com/CULT.

The views expressed on this episode, as with all episodes of Sounds Like a Cult, are solely host opinions and quoted allegations. The content here should not be taken as indisputable facts. This podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Thank you to our sponsor Modern Fertility, a super convenient and affordable service that helps you plan for pregnancy from home. Right now, Modern Fertility is offering our listeners $20 off the test. That means your test will cost $159, which is a fraction of what it would cost at a

fertility clinic. Get $20 off your fertility test when you go to modernfertility.com slash cult. What is your love language? Dipsy has invented a whole new love language with sexy stories for whatever mood you're in. For listeners of our show, Dipsy is offering an extended 30-day free trial when you go to dipsystories.com slash cult. Hi, Sounds Like a Cult. I'm Chelsea from Denver, and I think the cultiest thing about Peloton are how the instructors use catchphrases and inspirational mantras to create in-groups and foster a sense of belonging.

Not to mention the slogan for all of Peloton, together we go far. This is Macy from Houston, Texas, and I think the cultiest part of Peloton is the Century Club. It's when you complete your 100th ride and they even send you a free t-shirt to commemorate it. It's kind of weird. I think the cultiest thing about Peloton is how compelled I am to tell you that it is not culty. But really, I know that it is culty. I'm a Peloton user, and I do love it. However, in truth, I think the cultiest part of Peloton is that you have to spend so much money to buy the bike, but then you also have to spend $40 a month on the membership.

Okay, Issa, this is the very first question I ever asked you in episode one of our podcast. We've now covered all of these cults, and it's time to complete the trifecta. Issa, fuck Mary Kill, SoulCycle, CrossFit, Peloton. Oh, baby, I am so excited for this one. I have now done all of these things. You're right. I ultimately am in love with and I want to take on a honeymoon and marry Peloton. I would murder CrossFit with my fist, with the strength that I got in the class, and I would fuck SoulCycle. I would still fuck SoulCycle on a Friday morning, morning sex. I like that too. I would fuck SoulCycle right before a weekend to feel hot and sexy. Right before your weekend vacation with Peloton, your spouse. Exactly. I'm like having an affair

with SoulCycle when I can't make it to Peloton. You've now checked off all of these exercise cults on your cult fitness bingo, so you're more qualified than you were in our episode one to answer this question. I still have not tried any of these cult fitness classes because I fucking refuse. And I'm not cool with that. And I'm still angry about that. And I think you need to try them. But I don't know, maybe if Peloton sends us each bite, then you have to try. Or already shamelessly plugging. But from what I know, from all of my reporting, and I have done a great deal on each of these topics as a distant observer, I too would marry Peloton, fuck SoulCycle and kill CrossFit. And I think this is what I answered back in the day. I don't remember what

I answered because I have short term memory loss, but this is long term memory loss. So I just have universal memory loss. Too much TikTok. All I know is from week to week, I would go back to Peloton and I'm obsessed with it. I just took a reggaeton Peloton class on Monday. It was like, okay, they literally played bad money. It's like, what am I going to do? But as we both know, you know, cults are everywhere. And we have to get into it because it's not as simple as it looks. This is Sounds Like a Cult, a show about the modern day cults we all follow. I'm Amanda Montell, author of the book Cultish the Language of Fanaticism. I'm Issa Medina and I'm stand-up comedian. You can catch me performing all over the country. Every week here on our show, we discuss a different

fanatical fringe group that puts the cult in culture, from Disney adults to flat earthers, from Instagram therapists to the Kardashians, to try and answer the big question. This group sounds like a cult, but is it really? So whether you find yourself constantly slipping and falling into fanatical fringe groups like Issa or consider yourself quite the cynic like me, we're all a member of a cult of some kind. And today, we're talking about the cult of Peloton. I feel like personally for me, actually, I'm going to go back, you know, have you seen that compilation on YouTube where someone made a video of Taylor Swift saying, I feel like personally for me for 10 minutes straight because she begins every interview answer with that? Yeah. And now

that we have a podcast, I totally understand why she does that. I feel like now every time that I start a conversation, I'm like, I feel like personally for me in my brain, the way that I feel in my heart that has nothing to do with you in my opinion is that I think Peloton could be a cult. Subjectively and allegedly with no basis. In fact, I must make the disclaimer that I personally find that in my heart, yes, Peloton could be considered a group that can risk your life for the better or worse. I mean, I feel like all eyes have been fanatically fixated on the quote unquote cult of Peloton ever since the pandemic. First of all, when fitness went virtual, but also ever since the sex in the city reboot really just chef's kiss. I mean, it killed a man, you know what I

mean? Like it left a woman widowed, you know, so when a bike and a company can do that, it's posing threat to society. It sounds like a cult proverbially. But you know, this is the perfect, most classic type of topic that we cover on sounds like a cult because it's a community that I have researched and that you've been a part of. Yeah. And also I recently am a part of because as we know, Peloton is famously expensive. So it's not like it's like as easily accessible as other fitness cults that we've covered where it's like, oh, you can just take one class. If you want the full circle experience, you kind of have to invest in it a little bit, you know, you have to go all in. And that is quite a cultish aspect. I literally tell everyone this because like when I tell people

I do Peloton, I'm like, wait, wait, wait, I'm not rich. I'm not rich. My gym got two Peloton bikes and I go to the gym and do Peloton now because the subscription itself isn't that expensive. And it comes with like yoga and stretching. And I'm like, I'm a walking ad for Peloton. I feel like it's kind of antithetical to the exclusivity Peloton wants to perpetuate that you go into a communal space and use a communal Peloton bike. Not really, though. And we can get into it a little bit later, but you can also use your own bike at home and like put an iPad on it. Totally, totally. Or ride your bike in front of your TV playing Peloton classes. So it's really accessible for anyone. And we'll get into this analysis in a bit, but one red flag that something

is a little too cultish for comfort is when it's a so-called closed system, when everyone involved in the group has to use exclusively their products, exclusively their language, follow exclusively their beliefs. And Peloton is leaving a little wiggle room, I feel. Yeah, they're leaving a little wiggle room, but you are right in that is very much a closed loop. And the one thing that scares me about them is they have so much data on us. I'm like, if you wanted to kill me, but is that what happened to Mr. Big? Maybe. Maybe they were like, it was an inside job. He's too big. So Issa, can you tell us a little bit about how you were inducted into the cult of Peloton yourself? Even as someone with a cult podcast, how did they get you? So the way it got

me was I mentioned my gym had Peloton bikes, but I went to go ride them. And then I found out you still had to have a subscription. And I was like, no, I'm already paying for this gym. I don't want to like pay for another subscription. And then I got a notification on my phone that they were doing like a summer pass thing. And it was only like $12 for three months. And so I was like, fuck it, I'm just going to try. And then I logged in and I picked like a random class. And the music was just like amazing. And the instructor was making direct eye contact with me, direct parasocial eye contact and smiling at me in like a way that used to make me feel uncomfortable, but now makes me feel safe. Through the safe barrier of the screen, you'd never felt more held. Yeah. And I

mean, I don't know, for me, one of my favorite parts was that like I was just at the gym, randomly like forcing myself to get a workout. And I happened to be able to get like a perfectly curated class at the time that I wanted it. You know what I mean? It was like a bespoke cult just for you. And are you trying to explain to the listeners and to me that Peloton single-handedly introduced you to the feeling of intimacy? Oh yeah, for sure. I still, okay, relax. I still don't make eye contact with anyone in bed. I always say I'm a power bottom. Most Latinas are power bottoms. If you don't know what that means, it means you like to be domed, but you're not happy about it. So you can choke me, but don't look into my eyes because I will kill you.

Oh my god. Is this a sex education podcast? Are you trying to create a sex cult? No, but I was a little too defensive. A little too defensive. And our OG listeners will know that the second you start to get defensive about why you're not a cult leader, you instantly sound like a cult leader. Hi, my name is Molly and I'm a Peloton user from Central Illinois. I think the cultiest thing about Peloton is the official Peloton member page on Facebook because people use that to complain about the most inconsequential things imaginable. For example, on Amazon Prime Day the bike was 15% off on Amazon Prime. People complained about that because when they bought it, it wasn't 15% off. People lost their shit over it. Hi, it's Andrea from Miami. I'm a proud

member of the cult of Peloton. Lots of culty things about Peloton, but for me, more than anything, it's my intense parasocial relationship with the instructors. I feel like I know them. I feel like I know which instructors are friends with other instructors. I follow them all on Instagram. I quote them. And of course, there is the always the promise of the live shout out when you're celebrating a milestone or a birthday. I have received one live shout out in class, one before class, and I literally squealed so much that I shook the house. That feels pretty culty to me. Hi, I'm Taylor. I'm from the Midwest, very loyal Peloton user. But I think the cultiest thing about Peloton is how much they emphasize that we are one Peloton, one family, we're all a part of

the same thing. All of the users from across the globe with vastly different life experiences are all one Peloton. What cults offer is essentially a sense of community for people who feel isolated and unseen by mainstream establishments. They're seeking a sense of belonging. And cults introduce you to a charismatic leader who will like shower you with compliments and encouragement. That's the stuff of love bombing. And these leaders are people that you can't help but idolize. And of course, the word cult has many meanings and implications depending on the context. But cult workout is a phrase that I started to notice was cropping up in the zeitgeist maybe like five or 10 years ago. And that was the sign that fitness programs were beginning to mean far more to the

average American than just exercise. Like more traditional cults, workout groups also draw you in with explosively charming leaders like the famous instructors and a sense of community and ritual like high fiving while upholding traditional American values like normative beauty standards, productivity and self-improvement. The interesting thing about Peloton though, in particular, is that its model has always been to deliver on those culty promises without you ever having to leave your house. And I know that from personal experience. Well, actually, you did have to leave your house because you had to go to the gym because you're cheap. That's true. But sometimes I do like the 10 minute stretch classes and those I can do on the floor of my

bedroom. It's true. It's true. You don't need a bike to Peloton because they offer an individual customized way of participating in this cult for everyone, except for me. So a teeny bit of background about the cult fitness industry in general, it really boomed in the early 2000s and the early 2000s are back as we know in terms of fashion. Lowest to jeans. Fuck that shit. I do love me a head bandana, however, but it was the early 2000s when intimate boutique fitness studios rather than the big box gyms started positioning themselves as these sacred spaces that not only offered you physical fitness, but a better and more enlightened life. It's like six pack abs and access to spiritual transcendence, you know? And as culture moved away from sites of like traditional religion,

they started moving toward cult fitness studios as a replacement. So in the year 2000, we got CrossFit. In 2006, we got SoulCycle and in 2012, we got Peloton. So it kind of looks like every six years, we get a big one. That's the pattern. Yeah, what's next? Rowing, actually. I feel like rowing is like about to have a big moment. I see that everywhere. You know, something is about to have a moment when high end condos have it in their built-in gym. You know what I mean? They're like, oh, this building has Tesla charging or like this building has a rowing machine and you're like, okay, this building is gentrifying, you know? Oh my God, look at you observing the wealthy trickling down into the zeitgeist. Have you ever heard of the cult fitness program, the LIT method?

It's like the SoulCycle of rowing. No, I thought you were going to say it's like the SoulCycle of reading. The literary method. Yeah, it's like for every word you read, you have to do one ab crunch. You would have a 12 pack. I would not really have much. I only work out my mind. Yeah, I mean, the funny thing about the brain is that it is a muscle. It's an organ. A lot of people don't know that and a lot of people don't know. It's an organ. It's an organ. Sure, whatever. I read once that it was a muscle. No, you didn't. Okay, everybody knows that when I say read, I mean tick-tock, okay? Oh my God, I have to just quickly shout out the cult of Bookstagram. There is a cult like corner of Instagram for everyone and my corner is the Bookstagrammers

and they want me to shout them out. Of course that exists. It's like book tick-tock or like cooking tick-tock. My corner on the internet is ASMR cooking, but that's just me. Oh, that's so pleasant. Yeah, I highly recommend it. No wonder you're better relaxing than me. My relaxation is like learning about marketing. Yeah, I can relax. I just can't fall asleep. So if anyone knows, anyone has any recommendations on how to, I don't know, sleep seven hours a night, that would be ideal. Actually, I am putting the pieces together because I think one of the reasons why you work out is in an attempt to fall asleep more easily, is it not? Yeah, that's literally why I work out so that I'm exhausted by the time I get home.

The problem is that I've been doing my little peloton classes in the evening and because they're so exciting and fun, I kind of end up getting like hyped up and then I'm like, I want to go fucking clubbing and then I get home and I'm like, oh shit, it's time to sleep. You want to go clubbing? After a peloton class? Yeah, it gets you hype. But you don't go clubbing, do you? No, I go to my bed and then I roll around all night and I can't fall asleep. Poor thing. And I just have like nightmares about, I don't know, not getting my next goals. Okay, so the listeners are learning that we're overexhausted and this podcast isn't helping. My mom said 60% of people have trouble sleeping when I called her this morning crying.

She was like, the good news is most people struggle with what you have. Yeah, yeah, no, it's 100% true. I mean, the cult of toxic productivity culture is conditioning and converting and coercing us all. But back to the subject at hand. Issa, tell us a little bit about the background of the cult of peloton. Who are its cult leaders? Yeah, I mean, as Amanda mentioned just a second ago, it was founded in 2012, which is actually kind of hard to believe because I feel like it's been around for so much longer. Well, 2012, let me remind you, was 10 years ago. No, not me giving away my age. Issa was born in 2001. I actually was born, yeah, no, 2009, right after the year session.

I remember a session maybe. Issa is an infant. Issa is an embryo. I have a child. I'm on this couch because I don't know how to walk, but I'm Issa's mom. Yeah, actually, for those who are new, I'm her. So yeah, Peloton was founded in 2012 by John Foley, a former Barnes and Noble executive, literally cult of reading and cult of fitness at the same time, though, mind blown. And also kind of insane how Barnes and Noble was on the verge of collapse, and then he moved on and founded an amazing company. I'm shook that Barnes and Noble has not collapsed, and I'm- Has it not? No, I thought it was done. No, no, borders. Remember borders? Oh, that's the one

I was thinking of. Okay, John. No, John Foley clearly knows what he's doing because Barnes and Noble is alive and well. It's kicking. I love a moment. I love an afternoon in Barnes and Noble. Yeah, it's probably because their pastries are so good. That's why. That's why. Kill me. That's probably why. But the reason he founded it was because he wanted the convenience of soul cycle in his home classic, as all executives do. It's essentially soul cycle via Zoom. Actually, John Foley was very prescient, and one of the reasons why Barnes and Noble didn't fold was because he decided to launch the Nook, which is like Barnes and Noble's version of Kindle, which is like the Peloton of reading. So, oh, okay, it's going from one thing to another.

Yes, he's cult hopping. And he launched it in a very low key way. I mean, he launched on Kickstarter in 2013. And now, less than 10 years later, Peloton is worth about $3 billion. Oh my god, $3 billion. I remember there was this whole thing in Silicon Valley about Peloton becoming a unicorn, a unicorn being Silicon Valley cult language for a company that's worth a billion dollars. That's kind of crazy. But I also feel like that might have to do with the times is like inflation, wealth disparity, like people be billionaires these days. You know what I mean? And I'm like, I do. I mean, where are they getting all the money from you and your fellow Peloton diehards? I mean, without a doubt, the pandemic also skyrocketed Peloton's valuation

after the onset of the pandemic. Peloton became one of the first ever companies to emerge as a, and I quote CNN, a clear beneficiary of the pandemic's disruption of consumer behavior. In layman's terms, that basically means that Peloton was the first ever cult fitness company to adapt really quickly to the pandemic's demands when everybody went virtual. And that's what changed it overnight for them. Yeah, but I feel like it was also just like the timing of it all. You know, I mean, like people needed to be remote. There was like no choice. And so they just got so lucky that it happened to be when they finally had already set up their entire infrastructure to a point where they could be delivering these bikes or people could be like

streaming their services on their iPads or iPhones. So true. And that offers another opportunity for a little bit of cult analysis. We've said this on the pod before, but we oftentimes think of cult leaders as these genius masterminds. But really, they're just lucky opportunists. And that's exactly what the cult of Peloton is. Yeah. And I famously love an opportunity. I do. I can't lie. In 2021, Peloton had 5.9 million members, which is so many people. Do you want to follow me on Instagram? I mean, they had 2.33 million people subscribe to the connected fitness membership and 134 million completed workouts quarterly. It costs currently around $1.5K, and it has been lowered from around $2,000, which is a lot of money that if you can't pay upfront, you're going to be paying

a monthly fee for. And that's on top of the $40 monthly class subscription via the app in order to take the classes. So it's not a cheap experience to be a part of. It's true. Although I feel like the pandemic made the price of Peloton seem somewhat reasonable comparatively, especially as this pandemic was dragging on with no clear ending. Peloton is cheaper than Equinox. Yeah, that's so true. But Peloton doesn't come with a sauna. That'll be next. Oh my god. Oh my god. If there was a Peloton of saunas, that might be the wellness cult for me. I would put a motherfucking sauna in this room that I'm in right now. You're like, if all I have to do to join a cult workout is sit in a hot room. Oh my god. I'll do it. That reminds me of the Amy Schumer

sketch from a million years ago, Sleep Gym. It was so funny. Did you ever watch this one? It's like it was this fake commercial for a service where instructors would like put you to sleep and then work out your body for you. Oh my god. Amy Schumer is a genius. I know. I know. Something that shocks me so much about doing Peloton is when I'm in the classes, they do this thing where they give shout outs to people and when they hit certain goals. So they're like, shout out to Los Angeles Babe 101. That's not my username. Los Angeles Babe 101 for hitting 1500 classes. And I'm like, I started this thing three months ago and I do maybe two classes a week and I still haven't even hit 50 classes. I don't know if the math checks out. Don't do the math.

Maybe I'm not going twice a week. But I don't know how these people are doing 1500 classes. Well, they're clearly dedicating an inordinate amount of time to Peloton, which could be taking them away from their friends and family, which is a classic cult red flag. But actually, speaking of the handles, people get so into the culture of Peloton that they'll get extremely creative with their little Peloton usernames like Spin and Zin, you know, like the Peloton Wine Moms or like I ride so I can drink. No, literally, I had someone like that in my class the other day and that actually got me thinking. I wanted to change my name to sounds like a cult so that if I ever got a shout out, they would shout out the pod. It'll just take a really long time for me

to get one day, I believe in you. So before we get into our true cult analysis, let's talk a little bit about how the fuck Peloton works because it is not just like showing up to a spin class in person. Peloton is a subscription based fitness app and it offers online workout classes referred to as shows because you can take them live where the instructor is in a studio and live reacting to the way that you're taking the workout or you can take the class as a recorded workout program after it has been recorded. Another way that you can take a class is that you can jump into live sessions. So if you don't have time to like take the class live at like 6 a.m. when the instructor is giving it, you can jump into a session which restart like every five

minutes. So that's usually what I do where like I'll be taking my class at like 7.23 p.m. but I'll wait an extra seven minutes so I can jump into the session at 7.30 and high five other people taking it around the world. I love high fiving. He so loves a high five. It reminds me of poking on Facebook. Do you remember poking? It literally is poking on Facebook. It even has, I feel like it even has like the same emoji. Yeah, well, I think allegedly. Yes, let's cover our asses allegedly. You know, poking and high fiving and all these little opportunities for online connection really reflect the cultishness of these platforms because it's like the uncanny valley of community. It's the uncanny valley of belonging. It's like you're connecting with other people,

but really you're just engaging with a tech company when you poke or high five. The thing about cults is like, the thing about cults is that they get you at your weakest point and when are you going to be weaker than in the middle of your workout after you've climbed a hill, you're out of breath, your resistance is as high as possible, and then someone high fives you. You're like, this is a sign from God that I shouldn't have made this person. There is a very strategic, almost religious church-like liturgy to these Peloton classes, very similar to SoulCycle, but in a way almost even more intense. I mean, that's reflected in the way that they're called shows. Clearly, they're trying to create a theatrical experience that is so much more than

a workout. And because these classes are hosted online, so many more people can attend a Peloton class than a SoulCycle class. Literally thousands of people can take a class at the same time, and this creates an even bigger community than your average boutique fitness class. There's theoretically no limit to the number of members that you can recruit to this cult, which incidentally is also what MLMs pitch. Yeah. I mean, that's true. Also something that feels important for me to highlight is that during the pandemic, I feel like everyone had to be remote, but now there are also in-person classes. So I do feel like similar to an MLM, there's that vibe where you take the online classes, but you also can take in studio classes, but there's very

limited amount of seats. And I actually don't know how that works. I don't know if it's like Taylor Swift. You have to get invited to these secret sessions, or you have to hit a certain level of class that you've taken. I mean, it could just be as simple as signing up and paying to take the class, but it's cool because if you're in the class, then you are ingrained in that live show, that live session for the rest of eternity, it lives on Peloton. And you were a part of it. Oh, it is. I mean, that sense of belonging and that sense of legacy is so meaningful, especially to Americans who, you know, suffer from a cultural narcissism. Says the American. But relating those in-person shows to MLM conferences, Peloton has these

annual conventions called Peloton Homecoming. And those are there for them. When are they? Where? When? Why? They're put on for the most zealous fans of the brand. At Peloton Homecoming, attendees have the opportunity to not virtually high five, but actually high five and shake hands and snap photos with their beloved instructors, their so-called pillow crushes, and meet up with the friends that they've only ever met online through the leaderboard or their Facebook groups. That's such a lame word for that pillow crush. I now no longer have a pillow crush. I obviously had a pillow crush on many of instructors, but I just think it's one of those things where it slowly gets to you. You know, when I first

started doing Peloton, I was like, they're just instructors. They're just instructors. And then they say something that really hits home. I'm gonna add a touch of resistance. I'm so lit right now. This is powerful. This is purposeful. Get your spin on. This is it, team. I love you. I'm about to kick your ass, though. No, these Peloton instructors are hot shots. They are celebrities, your best friend, your clergyman. They are everything to their followers. I do want to say quickly that Peloton is not exactly like an MLM for multiple reasons. One of them is that they don't actually require you to recruit anyone, but you just want to. You just want to. And that's because of the sense of transcendence

that they create in those shows. Once you get hooked on a workout community like Peloton, not only are you gonna want to continue, you're gonna want to evangelize it to all your friends to prove that this thing is actually incredible and that you're not really in a cult. Speaking on personal experience, I don't think the reason you want them to join the cult is to grow the strength of the cult. It's like you wanted them to join the cult because it's something positive that you experience, something that changed your life for the better. It's kind of like going to a concert. And because, like you said, they are called shows and they are show-like experiences, it's like, you know, when you see a band live, you're like,

oh my God, I went to this concert and I saw this band and I'd never heard of them before, but I experienced it in a whole other dimension. It's like, you don't want to shut up about it. 100%. But that's why anyone joins any cult. Nobody's like, hey, you want to come join this like destructive power abusive group and empower the leader? No, they're like, I found this positive thing that truly changed my life and I want to tell my friends about it. And okay, maybe in some groups, you're required to tell your friends about it and in others, you're not. But regardless, if the group is compelling enough, you're gonna want to all on your own. Yeah, you're right. I mean, people don't join cults thinking that their life is gonna take

a bad left turn, you know, and you don't have to do it with friends, but I will say I did take a friend to my gym and we did Peloton next to each other and we like live high-fived each other and high-fived each other through the chat in one of the live sessions and it was so much fun. Oh my God, that reminds me of something my parents would do. Yeah, I mean, yeah, it was really nerdy. But the fun thing was also that I'm like really competitive and I was feeling really tired that day, but I could see on the leaderboard that her stats were higher than mine. And so like I worked harder because I'm competitive and I wanted to either like get the same stats as her or beat her. And if you don't know, the leaderboard is this

live scoreboard system that is at the side of every Peloton class, you can either pop it out or pop it in if you don't want to see it during your workout. And it's a combination of your cadence and your resistance, which is how fast you're pedaling versus how much resistance you have on your bike. And then you have your total output. And that's the number that you're competing with the other riders to see like who has a higher number, who's working the hardest. And so even if the instructor is like, okay, cadence at 88 and resistance at 35, even though that's what the class is telling you, some people might be pushing themselves to a higher limit because they want to be at the top of the class. You are competitive. And I think this is probably one of

the reasons why you keep finding yourself joining these fanatical groups, because we've talked about before how competition is one of the ingredients in cult like influence, but it's not the only one that you need. You need that connection. You need that transcendence. And I have like connection ADHD or as we've talked about it before, commitment issues. But I am competitive. Like the other day, I was like getting a bagel and the bagel shop was hiking so long, I was like, I swear to God, if I get angry enough, like I'm going to open a bagel shop just to prove to these people that you can do it better and faster. Power bottom. Hi, my name is Kelly. I'm from Orlando. And I think the cultiest thing about peloton is the

way that people just worship the instructors and the chance to hear their name come out of their mouth. Super weird. Hi, Amanda Nisa. This is Margaret. I live in Washington DC. And although I am definitely a proud member of the peloton cult, I think the cultiest thing about peloton is that it makes people feel like they have the right to gatekeep exercise. People who love to ride the peloton love the peloton exclusively. They don't necessarily like other exercise groups or classes or ways of being healthy. And health is an essential human right. And just because you can't afford a $3,000 bike or whatever doesn't mean that you don't have the right to be healthy. Did you know one in eight couples struggle with infertility? Seriously, that's a staggering

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Dipsy is offering an extended 30 day free trial when you go to DipsyStories.com slash cult. That's 30 days of full access for free when you go to DIPSEAStories.com slash cult DipsyStories.com slash cult. Let's talk about charismatic leader vibes like SoulCycle at Peloton, the cult of personality forms around the instructors. The instructors are trained to pepper you with encouragement affirmations and they love to build you up as a member of the community. I mean, like I mentioned earlier, they give you words of encouragement that hit home. Peloton like SoulCycle is obviously nothing without the instructors. As we described, instructors are not just spin teachers. They build considerable followings on social media,

millions, bajillions. And they're so important to the brand that in February 2022, when Peloton announced that they were cutting 2,800 jobs, not a single instructor was laid off. They're these sort of exalted, protected, true cult leaders of the brand. I actually think that's like a green flag of the cult because they could have let go of more experienced instructors that they were probably having to pay higher wages and hired new less experienced instructors once they popped off, which I feel like is what a lot of companies do, you know, so that they can pay people a lower wage for a higher level job. But they didn't. They held on to their instructors and I'm not just saying this because when I watch Allie love

workouts, she says they all get along really well. And I believe it. I believe it. But I have to say, I don't think they could afford to let go of their most experienced instructors because that is the heart of the cult of Peloton. And they put so much effort into training these leaders to be as charismatic as they can possibly be. Currently, there are 27 Peloton spin instructors at the time of this recording. And some of the most popular ones are Cody Riggsby and Allie Love, as you mentioned. That's crazy that Allie Love is one of the most popular instructors because I loved her without knowing that. I just want to put that out there. You're like, she's my best friend. How do other people know her?

You know Allie Love? I literally didn't even know she was famous. I just clicked on her class and it was like one of the best classes. She has over a million followers. She's like a celebrity. She is not just close to a million followers. Okay, but not like you're keeping meticulous track. Not like I have it up on my phone or anything. But Peloton sinks incredible costs into making sure that their instructors are the most charismatic spin instructors in the world, even more than SoulCycle. Peloton instructors go through this extremely intense exclusive recruitment process to make sure that they are the best of the best, able to cultivate their own personal voice as a cult leader. And it's even more exclusive than SoulCycle because while that's

obviously an in-person studio with physical locations all over the country, Peloton is virtual and instructors can teach from anywhere and reach thousands of people. So they only need and want a super tight roster of all stars. I mean, that makes sense that they couldn't let go of their top instructors because I personally struggle to try new instructors. You know, they have cults within their cult. And so as a company, their difficulty is probably getting other people to try new instructors. For example, when I finish a class with my girl Lee Allie Love, I always have cool down workouts pop up at the end of my class and they always recommend new instructors because they want to be able to use more instructors that can start their own cult

following. But it's really hard. Well, that is because they create this sense of intimacy. Even though they're in a setting where thousands of people are taking their class, they'll reveal like little bits of their personal lives. And once you develop a relationship with your favorite instructor like Allie Love for you, you're more inclined to keep going back every time, every time. And now they're talking to you every day. And even if you can't talk back, I mean, that's literally like praying to God. Yeah, but I mean, you make it sound like they don't have a communal experience either. And I, you know, as someone who hello takes the classes, I want to highlight how they do recommend you take other instructors. For example, Allie Love

was like, take Camilla's bad bunny class. And I was like, yes, ma'am. Yes, cult. Yes, cult leader. Yes, cult leader. I'll do exactly as you say. And I think again, that's something that's kind of like a green flag because they are internally supportive of each other. It's kind of like the big cult leader, like with reality TV, are the producers, you know, like the big cult leader is almost this like non existent figure that even the instructors fall under, which is Peloton HQ corporation. Yes. So yes, I think in Peloton, there are absolutely cults within cults. I had a source for my book, tell me that she thinks that Peloton is not one cult, but rather a collection of cults. I do think though, that at the end of the day, writers' loyalties are not

with Peloton. They're with the instructors. And if the instructors struck out on their own, they would follow them into the proverbial woods because every instructor has such a strong brand. So like put yourself in the shoes of a diehard Pelotoner who's done 2000 rides. This person rides every single day. They're canceling events with their family. They're pulling away from their everyday life because they're so obsessed borderline in love with worshipping this instructor. Among Peloton diehards, the phrase changed my life is always used. It's almost like a mantra that they repeat. Like they credit their survival and their happiness to this instructor who doesn't even know they exist. Yeah. And I mean, you're right in that like

these classes are one on one. So like sure, Ally Love has like over 800,000 followers, which means like over 800,000 writers. But every one of those writers has a personal relationship with her in their mind. It reminds me of the way that followers of Charles Manson would talk about Charles Manson. Like he was fucking everyone in that cult, but they each felt like they were his favorite. Something that scares me about Peloton is the power that they hold with the data that they have. We all live under a capitalist society. We talk about it in this podcast all the time. No ethical consumption under capitalism. And that's the question. Is there ethical workouts under capitalism? Also, no. But we need them. So we need things to inspire us. And so we

join these groups that are number based and data driven so that we can be like beat our own best record. But where does all that data go? Peloton has all of that data. So you know, when you like go on the internet and all of those cookies are absorbing all of the things whatever the cookies do. Yeah. It's like Peloton isn't just a workout conglomerate. It's almost it's a data company. You know, they are connecting your bicycle to your Apple Watch to your iPhone. So when you download the app on all of your different devices, you are all of a sudden giving Peloton permission to collect really intimate data on not just where you browse, but the beat of your literal heart. Yes, they've captured your heart metaphorically and your heart

beat. Yeah. And then imagine what what can they do with that data? They can sell that data to insurance companies to charge you more for I'm like popping off on my fucking if what is it called? What are we doing right now? Making up things? I do love when you get conspiratorial. I do your stand when you get conspiratorial. Sometimes once I get on my conspiratorial soap bath is that what soap box soap box. I can't stop. I'm like climbing a soap box of conspiracy theories. But all conspiracy theories kind of come from a like a small level of reality. Well, there's a grain of truth. There's a grain of truth in everything. And that's the trouble with cults is that they do offer positives or else no one would ever join. But on the flip side,

conspiracy theories, there is often a little titty bitty sprinkle of truth in those theories. Yeah. And the nugget of truth here is that Peloton is collecting a lot of your data. So while you're having fun while you're getting into shape, while you're following your favorite cult leaders, they could have alternate motives that we don't know about. They are so good at basically growth hacking and using really savvy marketing strategies to combine the cult of fitness with the cult of tech to take over your life. And this speaks to how dystopian the worst culty case scenario of Peloton can get because we cannot cover the cult of Peloton without bringing up the commercial. Yeah. I mean, if you didn't hear about this commercial, I don't know if you

were in a class or maybe you were in a SoulCycle studio, but there was a Peloton commercial where a husband or a man partner gifts a alleged woman. I don't want to like misgender this person. But it seemed like it was a woman who was gifted a Peloton exercise bicycle. And she said that she was a little nervous, but excited. And she was like, let's do it. And then she kind of makes like a documentary of her experience with her iPhone, of course, or other phone cult of Apple. Check out our cult of Apple episode. The ad ends up being a video that she makes for her husband, partner, person, whoever she lives with, whoever gifted her that bicycle as like, you know, like this was an amazing gift and it literally changed my life. But

the commercial got a lot of backlash because it was a little sexist, I guess. No, there was backlash because the commercial was fucking creepy and step fruity and culty because here was this normatively gorgeous woman with this creepy brainwash twinkle in her eye, like defecting away from society and only using Peloton to become like some fembot of a perfect creature. And there was like this air of maybe she was being held captive. It was just very black mirror. And this was a Peloton commercial. It was not a Peloton roast. And so it just begged the question like, what is Peloton trying to communicate here? Is it that you should be dedicating your life and all of your time to the cult of Peloton? And the thing that's scary about that is that if that

does become your whole life, even though it feels like it's a community, unless you're going to the live classes in the studios in person, it's actually a very isolating community. You know, it can almost isolate you from the people that you love, the people that you would normally go work out with, you would go to the gym with, you would go on a neighborhood walk with, you're leaning into a digital platform at the end of the day. And so you're really isolating yourself more all in the name of alleged community. But it's community with instructors that you don't actually have personal access to. Oh, 1000%. I mean, January 6th, 2021, showed us that you can be a member of a cult from the comfort of your own home without ever leaving.

You can completely dedicate your entire life to a forum or to a Facebook group or to a workout thinking, like, these people care about me. These people will go to bat for me. Like, who knows if they would go to bat for you in person. I remember reading a story in the cut about a devout Peloton user and stay at home mom who had completed thousands of rides. And she founded this Facebook group for admirers of this one fan favorite instructor named Jen Sherman. They called themselves the JSS tribe. And they would all spend hours and hours and hours every single day in this Facebook group talking about Peloton, but also not talking about Peloton. And it really all consumed them. And that's the thing about Peloton is that what a lot of people

think makes it approachable and not cult-like is the fact that you can do it from the comfort of your own home. But what else, like you said, can you do have the comfort of your own home is, like, become a literal incel? So at the end of the day, it's a social media platform where it has, like, one-sided interactions. I mean, you're interacting with these people who you idolize and you're isolated in your own home. And so, luckily, it is self-help and they are giving good advice. But what if people start to tell a different story? What if the instructors start to slowly integrate their own personal beliefs into the end of their ride speeches? You know, there is a lot of potential danger that could happen because you already have these people

at the tips of your fingers. Yeah, at your fingertips. We talked in our SoulCycle episode about this one evangelical SoulCycle instructor who would preach the gospel of Jesus Christ on the bike. And, you know, we have freedom of speech in this country, of course, but it's so cult-like to make false promises of community and transcendence when the very structure of your organization is pulling people away. And isolation, if anything else, is what causes a cult to go from a live your life to a watch your back to a get the fuck out. I just find it so sort of sci-fi-culty because Peloton is kind of the most disembodied way of being in your body. Like, in your mind, you're at a Bad Bunny concert with your best friend surging with endorphins, but in reality,

you're just alone with an iPad in the liminal space of your empty garage. And all of that goes without mentioning that people have gotten injured on Peloton bikes. If you're in person in a spin studio and something goes awry, you get injured, a bunch of people are going to rally around you, or you can go to your instructor and be like... How would you know, Amanda? You've never been to a class. Sorry, I'm just fucking with you. Journalism is amazing. You would not believe what you can learn. Amanda's like, I heard that if you get hurt in a class, you will... Okay, I have exercised in the past. I know what the experience of exercise feels like. I've been to lit method. No, but it is true. I mean, social rules merit that, you know, if you're hurt or

if there are people around you, you're going to be able to get help. Whereas, like, if you're in the isolation of your own home, I mean, you might have your big moment, not your big moment, your big comma moment, where you collapse on the bike. But not even as extreme as that. I mean, you could be like slowly and insidiously fucking up your hips. Yes. I think that's what happens on a spin bike. And no one's there to advise you. No one's there to care for you. Yeah, I don't know if it's hips, but I definitely know that when you're in person in a spin class, the instructor might be looking out for all of the members and being like, hey, adjust your spine or adjust your arms. And when you don't have that personal feedback at home, you know, my mom thinks she's

been doing yoga right for the last 10 years. You know, a little, she knows she could have been fucking her neck up this whole time. So it's like, if you're doubling down on something, but you're doubling down on it wrong, you could be harming yourself. And on that note, actually, we do have to mention that Peloton has recalled products in the past because they were dangerous in May of 2021. It was announced that Peloton was recalling and refunding their treadmills because, and this is really sad, there was a hazard on the back of the machine that resulted in hundreds of accidents and injuries, including the death of a child. I know, so sad. We looked into it a bit more. And there are actually thousands of treadmill related deaths per year,

Peloton or not, I know, everything is dangerous. But this story is kind of a perfect storm example of how when a super fast growing tech company builds a cult following, they might be making mistakes that can have serious consequences and people aren't protecting themselves because the brand is so trustworthy. But also, there's no in person instructor there to protect you either. Like, they did do the right thing by recalling the product, but it's just interesting to look at the events through a cult lens. And to that point, in Peloton, much like on social media, you are your own cult leader, following your own cult. Like, you are the only one in the room at the end of the day. Yeah, I mean, I don't want to use the word sad because I think as long as

people feel happy and it makes them happy, that's good. What's the difference between real happiness and fake happiness? I mean, just one of the many simple questions we like to put forth on sounds like a cult. Exactly. But my thing is like, when there are people who have been doing Peloton for so long, that they isolate, you know, their communities, their friends, and they're saying my Peloton friends are definitely my real friends and they have never met them in person, that can create this dystopian world where you can't tell the truth from reality. And I think that alone is just dangerous. Hi, I'm Sophia from North Carolina. And I think the cultiest part about Peloton is the way the instructors cultivate huge followings from Peloton and also kind of

use religious and very motivational language to get you to work harder, but also come back to their classes. Hi, my name is Alex. And I'm based out of Denver. And the reason that I think Peloton is a cult is because Jess King is a cult leader, and I would follow her into the ends of the earth. All right, Issa, out of these three cult categories, live your life, watch your back, and get the fuck out. What do you think about the cult of Peloton? I mean, you know, it's this dark dystopian app that has so much data that we just can't control. And I think it's actually a live your life. I do, I do. And stay with me here. I know we got dark, but I think that because you can do it from a gym, you know, now that gyms, that's how I

got into it. Maybe I have this unique experience where I am doing it at a gym surrounded by other people. I feel like you can take your iPad to the gym and do Peloton on your gym bikes, or you can do it at home with your family, or you can text friends and be like, let's join a live session together. So you don't have to do it alone. It's just the fact that it can go that dark, but it hasn't. And it has been around for almost 10 years. To me, that's like a green flag, you know, like they've been through the hardest of moments, which was the pandemic where they really could have doubled down and gotten a lot more toxic. And they haven't yet. So yeah, I mean, plot twist, I would have to agree. When I look at Peloton in comparison to a lot of the other

fanatical communities that we've covered, I think it falls squarely in the quote unquote, cult followed category. There is no doubt fanaticism. There is this intense sense of community. There are these charismatic leaders. They do target vulnerable people who may be looking for a change or an outlet outside of their stressful, time pressed life. But to your point, it gives you the freedom to try something out without worrying about being judged because you're at home and no one can see your body. There are no exit costs if you quit. It's not that expensive compared to some of the other cult workouts. You can use another bike other than the Peloton brand bike. So it's not truly this closed system. And they are constantly adding

new instructors. Yeah, the instructors don't have that cutthroat sense of competition among them. At least they don't seem to. And generally speaking, the fitness industry at large is already default culty. We know this. There are these biblical undertones to the way that we talk about fitness. But Peloton actually pushes against that. There are at least moves to be more inclusive about their language to talk less explicitly about weight loss and more about listening to your body and strength and mental health. Yes. And I also think another thing that keeps it green flag vibes is that you can take a class as short as a five minute class or as long as a 60 minute class. So you don't have to be hard on yourself because you didn't go to an hour

long class. You can take this 10 minute class, five minute class and see how you feel and then maybe add another class. Or hey, maybe you don't feel like cycling. Hey, your subscription includes stretching. It includes meditation. So like you can do other things that just make you feel good. The whole point, I don't know, as a user is that it wants you to do activities that make your mental health better. Okay, I have two things to point out. First of all, I just want to emphasize the fact that you use the word user. And I learned this in the documentary The Social Dilemma, but tech companies are the only companies that call their community members or customers or guests users, which is the language of addiction. So it just goes to show that technology can be

insidiously addictive. The other thing is I realize I lied to you. I have used Peloton. I took a Peloton dance workout class with my mom. Oh my gosh, congratulations. Thank you so much. And I famously do love to line dance. And this was not that dissimilar to line dancing. So I did enjoy it. See, that's what I'm saying is that you can find your groove. You know, when I go down the checklist of cultish qualities, the fact that Peloton very easily could envelop your entire life would classically lead me to believe it's a watch your back. But we dug into it, y'all. Peloton, it really seems like a live your life. We did the research. Well, you know, we had help. We did the digging. And turns out I'm in a live your life cult and I'm never leaving until I get

over it and enjoy the next. Well, that is our show. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back with a new cult next week. But in the meantime, stay culty, but not too culty. Sounds like a cult is created, hosted and produced by Issa Medina and Amanda Montell. Our research assistant is Naomi Griffin. Our theme music is by Casey Colb. This episode was edited and mixed by Jordan Moore of the pod cabin. To join our cult, follow us on Instagram at sounds like a cult pod and Issa here to check out tickets to my live standup comedy shows and tell me where to perform next. You can find information on my Instagram at Issa Medina, I S A A M E D I N A A. And Amanda here, you can feel free to find me on Instagram at Amanda underscore Montell and check out my books,

cultish, the language of fanaticism and word slut, a feminist guide to taking back the English language. We also have a Patreon and we'd appreciate your support there at patreon.com slash sounds like a cult. And if you like our show, feel free to leave a rating on Spotify or Apple podcasts. And if you don't like our show, feel free to rate other podcasts the way you'd rate us.