How to Cult
From Heaven’s Gate to the Peoples Temple, cults have captivated the public consciousness for decades. Perhaps it’s because we lack a consensus on how they function: Cult members often don’t realize that they’re in a cult, and the rest of us want to think it could never happen to us. But could it? In this series, Kathleen Toohill peels back the layers of cult psychology, history, and logistics to bring clarity to this contentious, and occasionally dangerous, grey area.
Kathleen Toohill
Words in @tnyshouts, @TheAtlantic, @mcsweeneys, @CatapultStory, @ElectricLit, @yelp. Defender of puns. Former sunflower seed butter apologist.
Audio available
Making a Cult: The Peoples Temple and the Jonestown Massacre
Jim Jones was always a con man, Laura Johnston Kohl told me recently over the phone. But when she first met Jones at a Peoples Temple…
Audio available
By the Decade: Notorious 20th Century American Cults
In this installment, we’ll take a look at the American cults that defined their decade. It’s no coincidence that the cults below share some…
