Thank You & New Directions

Hello all,

I spent about a year writing and making visual content about cults, race, & pop culture.

I really enjoyed studying sharing what I learned, getting to know all of your perspectives, and creating this newsletter.

However, I have decided to pause my cult research and pivot to Black women and beauty. 

I have always been interested in Black women's beauty trends and practices, but a couple of weeks ago I decided that I would use my free time to learn what I can.

Thank you for your supporting my research, videos, and of course this newsletter. I am eternally grateful to you all for being part of this community.

All cult content will remain up on here and and TikTok. I will also still answer some questions about cult stuff.

I hope you'll join me on my next journey on Instagram and TikTok (for now).

Xo,

Dr. Ash

And the award goes to…

A roundup of my top pieces of culty media

Thank you for subscribing to the Cult Community newsletter. Paid subscribers make it possible for this newsletter to share interesting and culty content each week. For only $5/month you can support independent writing that challenges the way we think about cults, race, pop culture, and history. Get full access to the CC archives today.

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In today’s post:

The Big Post Cult Media Awards (This is exactly what it sounds like)

I reviewed every single item that was featured and recommended in a Weekly Cult Roundup this year. Just as a reminder, the awards categories are:

• Heard

• Made

• Read

• Watched

Also, I will be traveling over the holiday season, so this will be the final newsletter post until the new year.

Happy holidays & safe travels fellow cult fanatics :)

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Heard

Forbidden Fruits interview with Michele Hatchette, a NXIVM loyalist

Honorable mentions:

1. “Infiltrating UFO Culture” by With Friends Like These

2. Black Hebrew Israelites: “Cursed and Chosen”

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Read

“Heaven Was a Place in Harlem: The radical tableside evangelism of Father Divine — equal parts holy man, charlatan, civil rights leader, and wildly successful restaurateur” by Vince Dixon

Honorable Mentions:

1. “It Started With Thirst Traps on TikTok. Now, She’s Accused of Running a BDSM Cult”

2. “YouTuber Michelle Phan Taught a Man In A Wheelchair To Walk”

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Watched

The Deep End directed by Jon Kasbe

Honorable Mentions:

The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin Dir. Marina Zenovich

Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey Dir. Rachel Dretzin

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Made

Image Source

Addressing The Lizard In The Room: Christian Reptilian Conspiracy Theorists

Honorable Mentions:

Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey Series Review

Do The Right Thing(s): Dark Tourism and the Ethics of Visiting Communes

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Weekly Cult Roundup

Here's what I heard and read this week.

Thank you for subscribing to the Cult Community newsletter. Paid subscribers make it possible for this newsletter to share interesting and culty content each week. For only $5/month you can support independent writing that challenges the way we think about cults, race, pop culture, and history. Get full access to the CC archives today.

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Heard

“...and now his obscene wealth is going to cushion him from a lot of the consequences…”

Episode 132 of the Conspirituality podcast, “Ye, Balenciaga, & Twilight Zone Propaganda (w/Francesca Tripodi)” is a lot. I mean that in terms of length (the episode is over an hour and a half long) and in terms of and content (they cover a lot of topics). The podcasters do a great job of drawing links between the power of right wing “shockvertising,” including Ye’s pro-Hitler stance and Balenciaga’s viral BDSM inspired shoot. What I love most is that they do an excellent job of responding to many of the inaccuracies that fuel both types of shocking and hateful ideology.

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Read

The program was described as HOTO, or "Helping Others To Overcome."

In this article, Pratyush Dayal exposes a shifty pastor who stole over $12,000 from his parishioners. Pastor Jonnahs Amissih convinced his followers to invest in their “community” through money circles that would provide a quadruple return on their investments. He lied. After an investigation and subsequent lawsuit, followers realized they had been involved in a pyramid scheme. Amissih and his attorneys argued that the payments were “voluntary community contributions” which meant he was not individually responsible if contributors did not make any money back. 

He also told them they weren’t “bringing in enough new 'members' to supplement the seed money required for the scheme to operate.” Review this Weekly Cult Roundup issue about MLMs and financial schemes. 

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P.S.

This week I’m releasing a video on Samuel Bateman, a polygamist cult leader facing trafficking charges. The story is still developing, but here’s what you should know:

• He is a former member of FLDS

• He left and now has 50-99 followers of his own

• He has taken about 20 “wives” from as young as nine years old

Weekly Cult Roundup

Here's what I heard and read this week.

This is a weekly roundup of all the culty media I consumed this week. Subscribe so you never miss it.

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Heard

“What’s your why?” - Roberta

I really enjoyed this episode of “Was I in a cult?” about the LulaRoe documentary. In the episode, Roberta talks about how she got sucked into the culty LulaRoe MLM legging scheme. Although I did watch the LulaRich docuseries a while ago, I’m still fully obsessed. This episode inspired me to finally read about the connection between MLM’s and cult leaders.

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Read

“MLMs are pyramid schemes that focus on recruiting people to recruit others, presumably giving a cut of the income up the chain.” - Steven A Hassan, PhD

Reading this article on what MLM’s and cults have in common right after listening to the LulaRoe episode of “Was I In A Cult?” has my mental alarms blaring. In the article Dr. Hassan highlights the manipulative nature of MLM recruiters and their sneaky tactics.

P.S.

My interest in MLMs and cults might just influence next Tuesday’s big post. I think it’s especially important to think through these connections now, as the state of the economy doesn’t seem…great. We’ve talked about the cult leaders that take advantage of difficult economic periods here in the newsletter and on TikTok.