Cults

Spotify Studios

4.5 (1.2K)
TRUE CRIME
UPDATED WEEKLY

Doomsday predictions. Religious doctrines. Extraterrestrial orders. What really goes on inside a cult? Step into the minds of those who led and joined the most controversial organizations in history. Cults is a Spotify Original from Parcast.

2022-11-15

Waco Siege & Branch Davidians Pt. 2

Nearly two decades after the Waco Siege, people are still wondering what transpired at the Branch Davidian compound. Though the government officially investigated and exonerated the FBI, some have found evidence of a massive cover-up. Did the government actually fire the first shot that led to 81 deaths? This episode is a crossover with Conspiracy Theories and originally aired October 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

35 min
2022-11-08

Waco Siege & Branch Davidians Pt. 1

On February 28th, 1993, ATF agents raided a compound in Waco, Texas, belonging to a religious group known as the Branch Davidians. A 51-day standoff ensued, ending in a violent siege. Eighty-one people lost their lives, many of them children — but to this day, no one knows which side fired first. This episode is a crossover with Conspiracy Theories and originally aired October 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

34 min
2022-11-01

Jonestown Pt. 2

With more than 900 people dead, the Jonestown Massacre has sparked many theories over the past 40 years. Did the government have a hand in these deaths? Could the cult have been connected to the mysterious MK-Ultra program? And was Jim Jones murdered, or did he fake his own death? This episode originally aired on Conspiracy Theories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

59 min
2022-10-25

Jonestown Pt. 1

At the command of Jim Jones, more than 900 followers of The Peoples Temple drank a beverage laced with cyanide in an act that Jones labeled “revolutionary suicide.” But was this truly a mass suicide, or was it a mass murder? And why do some people think Jim Jones faked his own death? This episode originally aired on Conspiracy Theories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1h 2m
2022-10-18

The Chicago Tylenol Murders Pt. 3

This is the finale of our Serial Killers and Conspiracy Theories crossover: By 2011, the FBI was ready to reexamine the evidence. A theory emerged: What if the Mad Poisoner was actually the Unabomber? Ted Kaczynski had proven he was a revenge-seeking terrorist, and he had connections to Chicago. Perhaps he traded homemade bombs for poisoned pills. Or maybe the deadly concoctions came straight from the Johnson & Johnson facility itself. In the absence of clear answers, only theories remain… and rumors that someone is still out there, replacing Halloween treats with fatal tricks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

43 min
2022-10-11

The Chicago Tylenol Murders Pt. 2

If you enjoyed part 1 last week, we’re back with part 2: If Roger Arnold wasn’t behind the murders, who was? Police turn their focus to a new suspect: a disgruntled accountant named James Lewis. But the more police dig into Lewis’s life, the more questions they have. The road ahead is paved with extortion, false identities, and revenge. This is a crossover special between Serial Killers and Conspiracy Theories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

40 min
2022-10-04

The Chicago Tylenol Murders Pt. 1

Listeners, we’re popping back into your feed this week to share a special crossover episode from Serial Killers and Conspiracy Theories. Forty years ago, cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules led to the deaths of seven people all around the Chicago area. America was gripped by paranoia and fear. Why was this happening? Who would be next? Police grasped for suspects who might be the so-called “Mad Poisoner.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

41 min
2022-09-27

The Moonies Pt. 4: Next Generation

When Sun Myung Moon decides to step down as the public face of the Unification Church, the ensuing succession drama embroils his family in multiple scandals. Frozen out by his mother, Sean Moon decides to start a new organization — Rod of Iron Ministries. The mass wedding ceremonies continue, but new rituals have cropped up, too. This time centered on guns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

44 min

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TRAILER

Welcome Trailer!

Mystery. Manipulation. Murder. Cults are associated with all of these. But what really goes on inside a cult? More specifically, what goes on inside the minds of people who join cults and leaders who start them. Every Tuesday we take a psychological approach to analyzing a cult and its founder. Cults premieres Tuesday September 26th. Here is a sneak peak. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

2017-09-16

•

1 min

4.5

out of 5

1,156 Ratings

I’m hooked

2021-06-09

BrittySkitty

I love this kind of thing, and have tried and tried to find a good podcast that doesn’t bore the crap out of me. The way the hosts tell the stories of these cults is so enthralling and gripping that I can listen all day and not be bored. I started at the very beginning of the series and have been listening non stop.
Sources!

2024-07-01

Marie2183

The hosts just spoke “facts and statistics” with no sources and twist things into a narrative that suits them
Informative

2023-09-26

KelseySomerville

Informative but not very entertaining. I can only listen to so many episodes before I zone out. Zero cadence in their voices, very stiff and scripted.
?

2021-07-16

grace2006

This would be way better as a one-narrator podcast (without Vanessa and her “research”)

Doomsday predictions. Religious doctrines. Extraterrestrial orders. What really goes on inside a cult? Step into the minds of those who led and joined the most controversial organizations in history. Cults is a Spotify Original from Parcast.