Sounds Like A Cult - The Cult of Podcast Hosts

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

You asked. We panicked. Then we hit record. This week, Sounds Like A Cult turns the microscope inward for The Cult of Podcast Hosts, a very unserious, extremely revealing Q&A episode where your cultie hosties, Amanda, Reese, and Chelsea, answer listener questions about everything from conspiracy theories they lowkey believe to cult verdicts they absolutely regret handing out. We’re talking parasocial projection, hot takes we wish we could un-say, behind-the-scenes mess, and what it’s actually like to be perceived by strangers with headphones and opinions. Pause your shower and grab your Labubu because if anyone sounds like a cult, it might be us. Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles.  Thank you to our sponsors! To save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain Head to ⁠⁠https://www.squarespace.com/CULT Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at https://www.rula.com/cult #rulapod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome aboard via rail. Please sit and enjoy. Please sit and stretch. Steep. Flip. Or that. And enjoy. Via rail, love the way.

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 fact. This podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Okay, I'm going to switch up the energy. here because my favorite conspiracy theory that I believe in is that not a micro penis. Without a doubt. The evidence is there. It's a nice thought, even if it's not true. It's true. Okay, next question. This is Sounds Like a Colt, a show about

the modern day cults we all follow. I'm your host Amanda Montel, author of books including cultish and The Age of Magical O overthinking. And I'm Chelsea Charles, your co-host, an unscripted TV producer. And I'm Reese Oliver, your other co-host sounds like a cult's resident rhetoric scholar. Every week on the show, we discuss a different group or guru that puts the cult in culture, from Disney adults to MLMs to try and answer the big question. This group sounds like a cult. But is it really? And if so, which of our three cult categories does it fall into? life, oh out your back, or get the fuck out. After all, cult influence falls along a spectrum,

and it doesn't always show up in the places you might expect it. Sometimes, your very own favorite parasocial disembodied voices can be cult leaders. Today we have a very special end of your episode. It's not traditionally formatted. I hope that's okay. We're letting you know up front. Did you too see? There was a comment when I did a feed drop of my magical overthinkers episode about weddings on the Sounds Like a cult feed because I was like this was going to be a dark week. I'll just throw this in there so people have something to listen to. And someone commented and was like, I was so disappointed that you didn't announce earlier that this wasn't a traditional Sounds Like a cult episode because I had already gotten in the

shower and I wasn't able to switch it off. And I was like, that feels like an overshare. So sorry to whoever that listener is. We are unfortunately not responsible for your shower behaviors. I know. I was like, I don't know if you meant to say that out loud. So first world. Come on now. But in case anyone is in the shower, I'm letting you know right now that this is going to be a great episode.

It's going to be unfiltered, unhinged, unstructured. Actually, no, that's a lie. This is a structured episode. We're talking about our experiences. as culty podcast hosts, and we're doing that by answering a bunch of listener submitted questions send in via our Instagram at Sounds Like a Colt Pod, and they're really juicy and fun, but before we get into the questions, I wanted to ask both of you, Reese and Chelsea, 2025 was the first full year that you both were co-hosting this podcast with me. I don't want to get too love bomby too early on,

but like, it has been the joy of my life. I am just so grateful for you both. But I wanted to ask, now that you've hosted this show for a year and change, what do you think is the cultiest thing about being a podcast host, especially it sounds like a cult? Well, first of all, I don't know why I said first of all if I have something to stay because I don't. I was just, I just wanted to respond to the love. I also love you and I love this job. And I have so much fun getting Colty every week and chatting with all of you Coltys as well.

I think the coltiest thing about the job. I have something. Okay, go. I think the cultiest thing is that it feels like any time that I say that I'm a podcaster, that I'm in some, like, exclusive world that other people just don't understand. I think it's extremely culty. Because, like, you know, people have all these questions, and then I feel like this obligation to have to kind of get into it. But it's coming from a place of like, I know you just won't get it. You know, that's what I feel is culty.

So, like, you feel kind of like a wizard behind a curtain, but also, like, there's literally no way to show you what's behind here. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. I have similar feelings about a different aspect of the work. Like, I find most people I talk to, like, the podcasting thing, once I kind of explain what I do, that's. relatively straightforward. It's when they get to the, like, what do you talk about on the show part? And I explain that we talk about cults. And there's always a reaction there. And that reaction

there lets me know that I am part of a very, of a very special group of people that like to giggle in this cult space. And it's, it's polarizing. Not everybody's down. Not everyone's not the clown. Yeah, because there is a lot of clownery on this show, which is allegedly about Colts, and as you both know, doing like a funny, teahee-he-he treatment of groups that are sometimes pretty seriously harming people is not always easy and not everyone who tunes in is down, but the girls who get it, get it. And that statement alone makes sounds like a cult a culty podcast. It's like, of course, I think we're all open to feedback with regard to like how to make this show better.

But we're not open to feedback that wants us to, like, completely change who we are or completely change the premise of the show, even though it might come across as, like, a little bit offensive to certain people. I like see comments sometimes that are like, stop making fun of Christianity. And, like, respectfully, no. Not going to happen. No. It's tough.

Like, we're laughing alongside our fellow culties. That is a core value. Sounds like a goal A core tenant A core commandment But at the end of the day Like there are some groups That I will be laughing at

Yeah And And Mormons are one of them And the whole point of the show is like Honestly the more you're able to laugh at yourself The safer you are So why are getting so stressed about it Anyway like I feel like if you can't laugh at yourself

I'm like I don't know Maybe it's just hitting a little close to home for you And you feel a little bit Yeah yeah yeah And this is a humbling show, as we've all, like, Chelsea and I just got off a recording about the cult of Pilates. That's a scoop for 2026. And it was humbling for me. I'll speak for myself. As someone who's been to exactly one Pilates class, I believe me. Yeah, I'm fully in that group. Okay. So now we're going to get into this long list of listener submitted questions. Thank you so much to everybody who asked us a little something about our dynamic, our regrets, our favorite cults, etc. And. And, yeah, like, cozy in. It's the end of the year. We've had a big year.

We've released more, sounds like a cold episodes this year than ever in the show's history. It's been a maximalist year. Thank you, Colty, so much for tuning in. And thank you both for your very hard work. I am tired. So it's time to make a cup of tea and get under a throw blanket and listen to an episode that's like a little more breaking the third wall. Oh, my God.

I'm like, angular room. I'm like, I'm like, Caird and Mean Girls when she's like, I have a thing. It's sense. Breaking the fourth wall. Okay. So the first question goes, how did we all meet? So I slid up in Amanda's DMs after being a cult listener for a while, obsessed with the format, obsessed with the content. And I saw that there was room for me to slither in.

that's my favorite word right now and I deemed Amanda pitched myself it was after a few glasses of wine didn't think that anything would come of it and she responded like the next day

and I don't know it was kind of crazy it was just one of those like kismet situations where I was like I'm going to put myself out there and now here we are that's what I'm saying like that this is all so serendipitous Because, like, no one has ever slid into my DMs being, like, can I co-host the show?

Just a perfect stranger. That's very admirable. Yeah, it was like a crash course and shooting your shot. And I was just like, what are the odds that, like, the only person to have ever done this would be right? And then we had, like, a bunch of conversations over Zoom. And I guess that was two years ago almost. Which is crazy to even think about. Yeah, it is.

But it's just amazing to me how well we all click. Yeah, Chelsea and I met because she slid into my DMs. It's crazy. I feel like our lore is somewhat similar. I think it's pretty infamous. We've told it at our L.A. Live show, I believe we told The Colties how we met. But for those of you who don't know, I too was just but a humble listener. And a reader of the books.

And through being parasocial, an online rapport was formed, an intern was needed. I stepped up. The rest is history. And you came to a sounds like a cult live show in December of 2022. Dude, I revisited that photo recently. It freaked me out because like it was such a representation of the passage of time. You look so baby. Like you were 19.

I was 19. Or younger. And you look so young. I don't know if I'm, like, delusional. I feel like... You look a lot younger in the picture, too. I'm, like, seeing it in my brain as we're talking about it. God damn it.

I'm like, I haven't aged. She's like, I'm ageless. You're like, oh. And Reese is like, no. I'm not saying you look old. I'm just saying, I think it might be because I look younger, like, in the picture. Stop it. You know, I'm not trying to call you a long.

No, I'm okay with aging a little bit. Just to change. That's what I'm saying. If you were talking about the other day, The three of us were talking about how we feel Amanda was always meant to be in her 30s. And that's just what I'm like what I'm trying to convey is like I feel like now you're settled into the 30s woman you're so close to be. Oh, thank you. Yeah, no, I was only just barely 30.

So I wasn't, I hadn't quite hit my stride. And Chelsea and I are both the exact same age. And Reese is like our daughter and our mother and our sister. Oh, Freud would have a fun time with that. Jesus Christ. Yeah. I don't know what to say. It's like very strange how nice our dynamic shaped up, considering that we didn't go to college together.

We didn't grow up together. Literally the podcast brought us together. Dude, every time I hear Drake's song, No New Friends, I have never not resonated with a song as much as I have not resonated with that song. Yeah. Because what are you even talking about? Yes. Yes, new friends. So, let's keep moving down this glorious list.

Amanda, Chelsea, has there ever been a watch-your-back cult we've discussed on the pod that you have wanted to join afterwards? Ooh, that's a great question. It's an interesting question because I feel like some of the cults we discuss on the show, I just have the ick the whole time. Like, Trad Wives or Waldorf schools, whatever. Mark Zuckerberg. Sometimes the ick gets worse. But then sometimes as we're talking through even a watcher back level cult, I find myself like jealous of the sense of connection that the people within it have. Because for whatever reason, like the flavor, the aesthetic, the sense of unity that that particular group has really does it for me. And there have been there have been a few of

those, I would say some of the, like, witchy or more spiritual cults have made me want to lean into my more mystical side, like our Halloween episode this year, the cult of Etsy witches, which I think actually maybe that was a live your life. But yeah, groups like that where it's like ultra feminine, kind of mystical, especially during these crisis-ridden times, those groups make me kind of want lean in. Oh, and of course, the cult of Labubu. I did a live show in Canada earlier this year, and I was like, I was so anti-liboo, and then a cultie listened to our Labubu episode, learned what Labubus were from that episode, fell in love with the Labubu, and that was our fault, and then brought me a Labibu at this live show. Yep. And now I, Loki, like that Labubu. It's wearing a little

beaded choker that says culty. And so I, like, reverse indoctrinated myself. So I guess Etsy, which is in Labibu. Dude. With shame. It's also so interesting to think about how what we put out is all, like, up to the interpretation of whoever is receiving. Because we got so much shit for that episode from some people. And then other people were like, I discovered Labuobu. And even though you talk so much shit about Lubu Boo, it made me want it more. So much so that I'm going to buy you what. And really doesn't even matter. It's just the fact that you're putting it in front of people's face.

Any semblance of nuance is just beyond. I mean, that just goes to show like how inherently addictive Lubuos are that someone could talk shit about it for an hour and still no one wants it less. Literally made in the lab to be a culty totem. Plastic crack. What about you? Two, jumping. Boarding schools. Ooh.

Without a doubt. It just intensified your fire. Yes. It made me so upset that I didn't get to partake because of all the rituals. You already know, y'all know. I'm the most susceptible to Colts in our fabulous trio. And for me, when we were talking about boarding schools, I was like, yes, man, I should've I'm dead.

Come on, bye. I'm dead. Yes, it's like I saw on our Chick-fil-A episode that someone commented. that, like, unfortunately, that episode just made them crave Chick-fil-A. And, like, the Dance Moms episode that we recorded just made me want to watch Dance Moms. Like, this podcast, unfortunately, like, it's maybe doing the opposite thing it's meant to do. It's, like, all press is good press. Yeah.

The first step to recovery is awareness of the problem. Yeah. Adopting the problem is the first step in being aware. If you're aware of the problem before you adopt the problem, make there make this a layer preventative work being done there. Oh yeah. No, I agree. I agree. I agree. Eyes wide open. And with that, I will say that I have been tempted. I, full disclosure, I don't remember if these are fully watch your backs, but I have been tempted by van line and roller derby. I think both of those things sound incredibly fun, even though both roller skating and driving terrify me. Yes. Dude. But I would like, I would like to try it out. Ooh, okay. So if I were to classify each of our culty aspirations based on our answers or our culty identities, Chelsea's would be like elitist dark academia. That's what I think of when I think of Chelsea for sure. I mean like the opposite. I guess we're all just curious about the thing that we're not. So like I'm really not like a blindly consumerist spiritual person. And that's probably why I'm so intrigued by witchcraft and the boo-boos.

like demons. Oh, Satanism. That's another one that I'm like, ooh, that's cool. Oh, always. The cult is always greener. And then like Reese is very much like a grounded academic person who based on the like the van life and roller derby thing, maybe like deep down wants to let her freak flag fly. Shrek reference on the pod today. All right. Is that a Shrek? I think. No, Shrek is Shrek. It's just a, it's in Shrek. I've been, I wrote, I was writing a final about Shrek today, so. Oh, okay, classic Rees. Shrek references an Easter egg for 2026, though.

No spoilers. Hey, weirdos. I'm Elena. And I'm Ash, and we are the host of Morbid Podcast. Each week, we dive into the dark and fascinating world of true crime, spooky history, and the unexplained. From infamous killers and unsolved mysteries

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We're better than that, honestly. Well, it's mostly us accidentally spilling scandalous info about our past dating lives. True, and getting into inappropriately domestic arguments about it. After 16 years on YouTube, we decided to hard launch our relationship, and now we are emboldened to overshare with you. So you might have seen us on Grindr this week. What? My ex texted me. What?

He did. I have a confession. I completely thought you catfish. me when we first met. What? Join us every Monday on hard launch with Dan and Phil. Hard Mondays, start your week hard.

Sorry. Okay. Next question, Chelsea. You want to give a to us? Have you seen the Netflix show Wayward? What are your thoughts? So the Netflix show Wayward is a May Martin show

inspired by the troubled teen industry that a friend of theirs unfortunately had an experience with, May Martin, Friend of the Pod, was a guest years ago on our cult of stand-up comedy episode. I have seen a couple episodes of Wayward, and I was actually a consultant on the show very briefly when it was first being developed and written like three years ago. Wow. So I'm biased, but I think it's a pretty well-executed show. Anyone else seen it? Not I. I haven't seen it. Well, there you go. We'll have to add it to the list. Right. My watch list. Yeah. Yeah.

Definitely. The culty watch list. Oh, maybe we can all say like our favorite culty TV shows or movies of the year. I of course loved the latest season of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. Oh, that's another watcher back that like just recording our episode on the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders made me more obsessed with them. I would do it. I would try if I were athletic. Yes. I have my eyes glued to those Mormon wives. I was just most of the country. Oh my God. There's so much Mormon wine's drama happening right now. And I do feel like for the first time I'm kind of getting the housewives thing where it's like my whole wife. I've been like, why are you interested in this? It is so clearly, so overtly manufactured. And then that is exactly what is happening right now. And I'm still every day online like, oh, wait, there's going to be an Orange County, California spinoff. What? Which, by the way, I will be tuning in. Oh my God, it got you. I'm glad to hear that you're susceptible to something. I'm screaming. This is just because it's fresh on my brain. but the P. Diddy documentary. Oh, yes. Oh, my God. Yes. I binge that in one night, which I don't recommend just, like, emotionally that anyone do. No, hell no.

Unless you go into your prayer closet immediately following, because listen. I got to build one of those. Okay. Next question. How do you choose each episode topic on the show? And how do you choose which host will cover which topic? It's a great, great, great, BTS-type question. I can sort of speak to that. So there's a little bit of a calculus as far as which episodes are

selected and what order they go in. There's a certain tone that we're trying to capture with every single episode, which disqualifies certain cults that are too easy to categorize. So like a lot of classic cults of yore that like are no longer at large would not be right for the show. But also like active cults that are so polarizing in the culture that the episode would probably just be divisive and cause more harm than entertainment are probably not right. And then like groups that are too kind of on the nose, everybody already knows what there is to be said about this, aren't right for the show. Like, for example, the cult of MAGA, not correct for sounds like a cult.

The cult of MAGA wives, yes, because like it's a little more niche. I don't know if you've seen these stats, but 85.5% of our listenership is female. So like whenever there is kind of a more feminine spin to an episode, that will probably set us up for success. And then there's a formula that goes into like not only does the episode topic have to be totally right for the show, but it has to be culturally relevant. And yet we don't want there to be too many like super timely episodes in a row we want there to be a mix of kind of like super zeitgeisty ones but also more evergreen ones. And then a mix of like really mainstream subjects that we know everyone will be interested in, like trad wives and super, super niche ones like plant parents or roller derby. And then sometimes we'll like last minute toss in an episode if there's like a massive hullabaloo blowing up about a certain group like the sex lives of more women wives or something like that. But yeah, that's how the episodes get chosen.

And it's, like, kind of intuitive, but also kind of formulaic. Yeah. And then usually if we suggest a topic, it's kind of implied that we would like to cover it. But sometimes when we are doing more forward thinking, there is a list and we will draft accordingly. And it's pretty much just preference. I feel like that's part of what makes our dynamic so nice is that we all do have our own little pockets of interest. So there's not usually much in fighting. And if there is the more the merrier, everybody can do it.

Yeah, yeah. It's like, you know, it made sense for Chelsea to solo Beyonce because, like, that's your world, you know? Like, Reese and I would have nothing to contribute that you couldn't, like, completely do 100% better than us. And then sometimes it's just a matter of scheduling. Like, sometimes two out of the three of us are busy. And that's, for example, the reason why I soloed anti-vaxxers, you know? It's not like I was the only one who could take that on. It's just that, you know, I was available.

But I would say it's a mix, like we do have a spreadsheet where we choose topics ahead of time, but we also incorporate listener suggestions. So like please do keep leaving those on our Instagram posts or emailing us. That sounds like a cult pod at gmail.com. We really, really do pay attention. And sometimes we won't get to the listener suggestions until like years later. But like the reason why we did marching band is because we had gotten such consistent requests for that for so many years. So we were finally just like, okay, this is Evergreen. There's enough kind of niche interest in this that we should ultimately do it.

And so we did. So, like, be persistent. We really do listen to the suggestions. So, Amanda, help me. This is a fun question. What is the most unhinged conspiracy theory that each of you believe in? So, you know what? This is a funny question because I actually was just talking to my brother-in-law about this.

And he told me that I need to submit this to the My Mama Told Me podcast. My craziest conspiracy theory that I believe is that I went to Magic City a few weeks ago and, you know, you got to get the... Strip Club in Atlanta for anyone. Oh, yeah, yeah. Who doesn't know? Yes. Sorry.

So strip club in Atlanta, very famous, references so many songs, but it is a thing when you go to Magic City, not only do you experience Magic City, but you have to get the wings. The wings are what they are famous for. So we got the special wings that had one of the NBA players leave the COVID bubble, the NBA bubble. He snuck out. He went to get these wings and he was fine and he got in trouble. We got his special wings.

My theory, when these wings showed up, they were the size of a quarter. They were the size of a quarter. Here's my theory. My family, I think I've talked about this a lot. My family has had the same form in my family for generations. I come from a farming family. We raise quail, guinea, turkey, and chicken. I know the difference between a chicken.

Girl knows a poultry and a motherfucking quail. And I think that the chicken wing industry has been infiltrated by quail. That is scathing. yeah it is and your supporting arguments are very compelling i'm on board it's all i'm saying i buy it it's all i'm saying she rests her case reese do you have a conspiracy theory i do i stole this from my best friend because i i'm not a very conspiracy theory laden gal but she convinced me of this one i think that a big part of the reason why there are so many god-awful new musicals that are based on movies so like i recently saw romey and michel the musical and she recently saw devil

where's proud of the musical. And both of them were like the worst pieces of garbage we've ever seen. See also Mean Girls, Beetlejuice. I could go on. Yeah. The theory is that these... I'm so seated for this confusing theory. Right. The theory, which is not really not too theory at all. And this might be anticlimactic. And I'm like hoping I'm not happy it up too much. But the theory is that these shows are not being written and produced like to actually be put on and to garner audiences. But they're pretty much just being made to sell performance rights to middle schools. in high schools, and, like, that's why all the songs are so shit, because they're written for 13-year-old girls to sing and post on TikTok and so on. Oh, I believe that 4,000 percent.

Yeah. That's a really good thing. Like, the whole, the IP engineering, wild. If you're producing children's musical, if this is in line, it seems not that you don't know. Um, usually, like, just by the time you have, like, the rights and, like, script materials. So this is not the cost of your crew, your costumes, your set, anything. Literally just by the time you have the rights and your scripts, you're usually out probably, like, set in a rate case. Wow. Okay, it's giving MLM. Okay, I'm going to, like, switch up the energy here because my favorite conspiracy theory that I believe in is that Hitler had a micro penis. Without a doubt, the evidence is there. Yeah. It's a nice thought, even if it's not true. It's true. Okay, next question.

Great. Do any of you ladies regret any of the cult ratings, like, some. something you went too easy or hard on. No, because they're not that serious. That's what I'm saying. Like, I'm sure there are and I know they're a one, but in the moment I have felt like about, but I just, if I made myself care not much about it, I would never say a rating confidently in my life. And that's, you listen to us for confident ratings. Hmm. Yeah, I mean, for me, like, I'm sure there are ones that on second listen I would disagree with or have a different take about. But my favorite thing, and it's so fascinating. And honestly, this might be the cultiest thing

about hosting this podcast is when listeners take the cult classification system so seriously. Like, some people sometimes will get like legitimately so upset and be like, I cannot believe you called Catholic schools watch your back when you called Trader Joe's. Like, get the fuck out! That's not a real example.

But I'm just like, you know, this is like completely made up. It's their, I was just like, I'm loving that you like adopted our ideas and are really taking them to heart, but please take it with a grain of salt. Like, it's just, it's just for fun. It's just kind of like a framework to better understand and discuss. It's a framework and it's also just a technique to get people to listen all the way to the end of the episode. It's really not that deep. Well, and I think it's important to remember that these ratings are also like context dependent.

Like, yeah, when you are raking Trader Joe's, we're talking about how dangerous it is, like, in terms of what the most dangerous grocery store could be, which, yeah, we're probably going to be more inclined to give a GTFO than, like, Catholic school, there's a pretty wide range of ways in which you could harm children, and that might fall kind of low on the list. I mean, technically right now, I mean, Trader Joe is pretty dangerous with the FDA rollbacks. Have y'all seen the list? They have been having the most listeria breakouts. I mean, breakout outbreaks and a lot of their stuff. whatever, standing on it. But piggybacking off of Reese, I think that, of course, there are things that we would go back and be like, I changed my mind. But that's because even though we speak so confidently on the pod, none of us purport to know everything and to know it all.

And we learn new information every single fucking day when we read. So maybe after we air something, a few weeks later, we read new information that we're like, hey you know what maybe I should have totally and also like some listeners allegedly binge and so they might hear us classify a you know we do great on a curve but if you're binging you might hear some inconsistencies in our classifications but we're living like week to week on this podcast so like I totally forget what I don't have like a catalog of like every classification that we've ever made in my head none of us do so we're kind of making the call based on like that week's analysis but also kind of based on vibes. And so I regret everything and I regret nothing.

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Please feast responsibly. Okay. This person asks, what is everyone's favorite cult and why? Cult of Beyonce. Got to. Yeah. Feel so seen. I just feel super.

It's very parasocial, but I feel super connected to her. And that is a cult that I am so proud. of. I don't know. I feel like most of the cult that I'm in that we cover, I'm, like, slowly deconstructing from. Like, I'm not as much of a Glacier girl as I used to be. So this is kind of a difficult question. What comes to mind, I think, is Nickelodeon because I was such, like, a died-in-the-wold Nickelodeon-raised child. And, like, I feel like it was very foundational to a lot of my humor. So that's obviously not condoning any of the stuff we spoke about in that episode, any of the problematic behaviors. But, yeah, that's where my hands at right now.

So funny that you immediately both jump to favorite as in the one that you like genuinely love the most because I interpreted what is your favorite cult as like what's the one that you ogle the most, the one that is like endlessly fascinating to you. And for me, well, A, it's synon because that's the cult that my dad grew up in and it's like the seed that planted this whole fascination. But for me, it's also wherever evangelicalism and pop culture intersect. So all the episodes we have on like purity culture, Christian pop music, celebrity megachurches. We have an episode coming up in 2026 about modesty bloggers. Like all of that stuff is my bread and frickin' butter. It's just that juxtaposition of religion and spirituality with the internet and the zeitgeist. Did you all see that new podcast that's coming out?

It's a set of twins. one of them is a modesty blogger and she's like Catholic and all the things and then the other one is an atheist and she's like grunge and they are just going to be not debating but conversing about the differences in like their belief systems so fascinating the everyday conversations you have on your modesty blog right they were talking about your first conversation was yoga and I was like ooh was it Was it interesting? Yeah, I mean, I think they've got something.

I think it's going to be super, super interesting. Oh, okay, hot tip. Do you remember what it was called? No, but I'll find it. Okay. Ooh, Amanda. How many Colts can you name in 20 seconds? Oh, Jesus.

Is the timer going? I'm going to start it. Three, two, one, go. Jonestown, Heaven's Gate, the Children of God, Scientology, the Way International, the family, the two. by twos, the Mormon church, the fundamentalist Latter-day Saints, the Amish, I mean, oh God, I'm like about to spew some problematic things.

That was 10. Oh, I thought that was 11. I'm his count. 10. 10. Maybe 11. Okay. Maybe 11.

11? 11? I don't know. I think it was, it's a cold every, call every two seconds. Yeah. No, sit in on. Oh, weird. Weird.

Okay. Well, I'm glad that was only 20 seconds. I would have hit a wall at some point and just would have started, like, saying random words. Like, the cult of the color blue. Perry Winkle. Okay. Okay. Ladies, what cult should more of us join?

Something in person that has to do with nature. Something that allows you to connect something hyper-social and surrounding nature that also is either free. Yeah, maybe like joining the cult of like a community garden or something like that. A cult of mutual aid. Yeah, exactly. Just something that makes you feel like really outside of yourself and like connected to your neighbors. Is that too earnest an answer? Maybe.

Chelsea? Cult of Pilates. Ooh. Community. Hotness. Stability. Core strength. Who doesn't eat?

What do you think, Reese? I think my parents is a good answer. What about the cult of theater kids? I don't know if we want more people. No, I do. I'm definitely like I. If and when I have my little gay son one day, like, he's going to theater camp 100%. Well, I guess just, yeah, the current state of theater saddens me, but I guess it's like probably how every generation has felt about like that theater kids these days are getting is no guard.

I'm sure that's been the sentiment for like millennia. So I'm grouchy. I'm crying. Poor thing. Amanda is so funny that you said that because Scotty and I were talking yesterday and I was like, we are going to raise theater kids. Yeah. No, I know. Like, what will Casey and I talk about with our child if we can't do little salons?

Yes, that's us. I fear. Oh, no. That's so unflattering. Okay. No, it's not. Mr. Barry and Mr. Barry are your bed. Next question.

Do you tell people in your life if you think that they're in cults or do you guys just kind of let them vibe? Ooh, ooh. It depends. My really close friend, Amanda Kor, who actually just launched her own podcast called This Feels By, and I've guested on a couple of episodes, and it's such a cute podcast. She's kind of a culty seeker as a person and has been in a lot of cults in her life, including Young Life for a Brief Spell when she was in college. She lived and worked on a Renaissance fair for a months after college. And in the pandemic, she was a part of this manifestation group called To Be Magnetic. And I was like, urinical. I was like, it's a watcher back, but just, you know, like go in with a sense of critique. Don't like blanket worship. And I think she was appreciative of that. And I was also being like gentle and cheeky in talking to her about it. But there are other people I know who it would not be helpful to say things like, you're in a cult. It would be totally counterproductive and alienating. And so my approach with them is a little bit different.

But what about you too? I would say I have lost friendship with someone because they are more susceptible to cults. And I verbalized when they were teetering on joining a cult initially. And, they backed away and then they found another one. And so I will be honest in saying I was not very precious with communicating to them that you endanger girl. But now in certain conversations, I don't really engage in that way anymore. I get too nervous that I will lose friendships over me verbalizing something like that. So it's really tough because like adults are just going to do what they're going to do and kind of have to learn the lesson themselves. And then, you know, as like an intimate outsider, one either needs to have the stomach to like stick around until they come to

their senses or take a step away from that relationship. But it's really, really hard to like force someone out of those ideas. Yeah. I think I take a similar approach to you, Amanda, where I was like the more lighthearted cults like the slacky type cults. I don't even necessarily see it's a bad thing because we talk all the time about how like cultishist is not necessarily a bad thing. So if I'm meeting someone new and you're, I don't know, you tell me that you go to the soul cycle. I'm like, oh my God, that's such a cult. And then like most of the time people are like, oh my God, it is. And people love to talk about it. People get so, people love to talk about the cult that they're in. People love it. So when it comes to the bigger ones or the ones that I guess feel a little

near to someone's worldview, I tend to kind of be a little gentler with, if anything like my My sister is a very spiritual gal. She loves her some astrology. She loves her some tarot cards. And I think she gets the vibe that I think it's a little bit culty. But I'm never like outwardly judgmental because that's mean and pointless. Yeah, for sure. Should we do the rest as kind of like a lightning round?

Sure. Yeah. Okay. Favorite cult that we've covered? Strip gloves. Reborn dolls. In cells. I just, I don't know if I answered that question, right?

I just, like, loved that episode. And it was our most popular episode to do it. Wow. Okay. Worst cult you've escaped or wish you've escaped. The toxic relationship I was in in my late teens and early 20s. I'm going to say the cult of car drivers, which we haven't covered yet. Oh, because you're a public transit girlie through and through. I am. I drive my Chevroletes, girl.

I don't know. I'm, I got to abstain from this one because I don't know if I've escaped from any. I'm dead. Oh, I was going to say, yeah, you're still in all your cult. The cult of preppers. How would you navigate the end of the federal government? Yeah, well, we did an episode on the cult of doomsday preppers a few years ago. The world does feel increasingly apocalyptic, especially with the AI race. And I do some light prepping for sure.

I don't feel comfortable explaining what that looks like. Okay. But I do. I have a slight. plan for if the robots. She has an underground cabin in Palm Beach, Florida Reserve with her and Casey's names on it, which is what I'm hearing. Not quite, but yeah, I think that doomsday energy is like increasingly valid.

Yep. I don't really have a plan because I think if I have too much of a plan, I can't give my brain to that. No, she's in grad school. I'm going to say my plan is blow torch. Okay. Oh, love. I'm not asked the next question because it's not applicable to me.

Where is it in the boo-boo right now? It's to my left on like a shrine of chotchkes in a like a holy, in a sacred zone. Sacred zone. This next person asks for a book sneak peek because I'm working on a novel and it's called Where to Put Your Tongue. And it is about a Hollywood dialect coach who gets involved with a very. alluring, highly aesthetic, very linguistically driven, but also sort of pervy, cult-followed film director, and salaciousness ensues, drama ensues. Oh, I can't wait.

It's so fun. Book Sneak Peak. The working first line is the human vocal tract looks exactly like a vagina. That probably should have been the first sign I was getting myself into trouble. Oh. Beautiful. I'm already so excited. It feels like Wordslaught's fictional, fictional sister.

Yeah, yeah, very much that. I'm working on it right now, and it's so fun. And it's going to be great. So good. Okay. How would each of you describe your fashion style? A non-culte question. Thank you for asking.

What would you two say? I would describe my style as a mix of troubled teen and catfight at a bar. That is what I like to eat. exude always hot so hot that's accurate thanks guys I think it depends it depends on a lot of things depends on the day it depends on the weather it depends how much money I have I think ideally like if I had all the money in the world I think I would wear like a period accurate outfit from between the years of 1955 and 1985 every day love that oh my god I love people who dress in period close. I think it's so fun. Like that's, yeah, I don't know. I think I also find

modern fashion very fun, but I think now just the trend cycles trend cycling, it's just, it's not as fun anymore, honestly. Yeah, that's fair. I have three looks and they are brunch princess, professor coquette, and little orphan boy. I cycle amongst those. So like, if someone, if someone's like, what are you going to wear to the club? I'm like, I have nothing. Like, I can't dress for that venue. If I'm not going to like a garden party or like a faculty event or like. Wimsycle and studious. Whimsical and studious or literally like Artful Dodger.

Yeah. Best Italian food in L.A. where we all have lived at some point. I'll say my favorite Italian food in L.A. is Felix in Venice. And I also really love Spina in Atwater Village. Fina is good. Spina is good. I'm doing some people.

Yeah. I have one final question for you both. And that is, do you think sounds like a cold is a live your life, a watcher back, or get the fuck out? Level cold. Hosting this podcast. I'm living my life. Live your life. I feel like I'm living a great life hosting this podcast with you both.

What a year it has been, 2026 is going to be fire. We have a very huge surprise. announcement that we're going to be making in 2026. So sit your ass down. And that is our show. Thanks so much for listening. Stick on for a new cult next week. But in the meantime, stay culty. But not that too, culty. Sounds like a cult was created by Amanda Montel and edited by Jordan Moore of the podcast. cabin. This episode was hosted by Amanda Montel, Reese Oliver, and Chelsea Charles. Our managing producer

is Katie Epperson. Our theme music is by Casey Cole. If you enjoyed the show, we'd really appreciate it. If you could leave it five stars on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, it really helps the show a lot. And if you like this podcast, feel free to check out my book, Cultish, the Language of Fanaticism, which inspired the show. You might also enjoy my other books, The Age of Magical O overthinking, notes on Modern Irrationality, and Wordslet, A Feminist Guide to Taking Back. English language. Thanks as well to our network studio 71. And be sure to follow the Sounds Like a Cult cult cult on Instagram for all the discourse at Sounds like a cult pod or support us on Patreon to listen to the show ad-free at patreon.com slash sounds like a cult.