On Sounds Like a Cult, hosts Amanda Montell and Isa Medina analyze everyday cults like Disney adults to multi-level marketing schemes.
worship. They’re phenomena that many of us who probably swear we could never be corralled into a commune, heads shaven and wearing nothing but unbleached linen, still manage to be sucked into.
“I want to generate some amount of empathy for people who have fallen into groups that we subjectively think are extreme or crazy, people that we think are brainwashed, because it’s the type of influence that can affect all of us. The type of group that will resonate with each individual is different,” Montell said, “But the techniques of influence are more or less the same.”When considering possible topics, Montell and her co-host Medina, who’s a comedian, deploy a “cheeky taxonomy system.
“The idea is to ask the question, ‘This group sounds like a cult, but is it really?’ And if so, is it a ‘Live Your Life,’ a ‘Watch Your Back’ or a ‘Get the Fuck Out’ level cult?” Montell said.QAnon and incels, decidedly “Get the Fuck Out”-level groups actively devoted to spreading hate speech and misinformation, and which have been linked to, would be topics both too obvious and dark for the podcast’s lightly conversational approach.
At the end of each episode, Montell and Medina evaluate where the topics at hand rank on their cult scale. “It’s okay to affiliate with cult-like groups as long as you have that awareness, and as long as it’s not a ‘Get the Fuck Out,’” Montell said. In fact, avoiding them altogether is probably impossible, as the podcasters, charismatic hosts with a loyal online following, seem well aware. “To join our cult,” they joke in most episodes, “follow us on Instagram.
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