Weekly Cult Roundup
What I heard, made, & read this week.
Heard
Tuesday’s “cults in the wild” post inspired me to get a little more information on NXIVM. Of course, I was interested in the seemingly racially homogeneous group. A little research quickly revealed that NXIVM was not entirely made up of wealthy white women. Michele Hatchette (a former member and Black woman) still supports Raniere and believes in the NXIVM mission. In an interview with Forbidden Fruits, Hachette talks about how valuable her time in the organization was and what things were like for her as one of the very few Black members.* Of course, she also talked about the infamous branding ceremonies.
*Is it really weird or really on brand that Julia Fox is doing the hard-hitting investigative journalism we all need right now?
Made
I made a video series on the Unarius Academy of Science, with a special focus on its co-founder Ruth Norman. You can watch the series here: Episode 1, Episode 2, & Episode 3. I was initially going to feature a more violent group, but with the state of the world, I felt better researching a group that is primarily interested in extraterrestrial lessons on peace. Also, just looking through all of the incredible costumes the group created was a really fun way to spend my time.
Read
This article about Daddy’s Girls (TikTok’s first BBW/BDSM cult) was mind boggling. The article, “It Started With Thirst Traps on TikTok. Now, She’s Accused of Running a BDSM Cult” was published last Fall, but it is still relevant. Sometime after the article came out the group seemingly disbanded, but new members have joined recently. Those who follow the group on TikTok will also note that Angela’s behavior is even more irrational than ever before.
P.S.
Paid subscribers got my article about the difference between cults and religions. It was much harder to dig through those differences than I initially thought. Become a paid subscriber so you never miss any posts.
In my video series on Unarius Academy of Science, I encouraged viewers to donate to Feed Buffalo and/or the Uvalde, Texas Elementary School Shooting Relief funds if they can.
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