Sounds Like A Cult Amanda Montell & Isa Medina

Pinkies up and wallets out for this week's quaffable "cult": the elitist, jargon-packed, ritual-soaked world of fine wine. Amanda and Isa were always highly intrigued but knew very little about this top-shelf "cult" until chatting with special guest Cristie Norman, certified sommelier, Wine Enthusiast's "educator of the year," and creator of The Online Wine Course. The fine wine world is certainly mysterious and exclusive, but how "dangerously culty" is it? Drunk on Cristie's insights, we're ready to find out...

To support Sounds Like A Cult on Patreon, keep up with our live show dates, see Isa's live comedy, buy a copy of Amanda's book Cultish, or visit our website, click here!

Thank you to our sponsors!

Visit article.com/CULT for $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more.

Visit AURA.com/CULT for a 14 day free trial.

Get 10% off your first order sitewide with code CULT at OSEAMalibu.com.

Stocks? The economy?? Don't get us started! Look, any industry that allowed the biggest Ponzi scheme in history, aka Bernie Madoff, to literally *thrive* is an automatic sounds like a cult to us. Members willing to "sell their soul" to Wall Street in exchange for the American Dream enter a world ripe for corruption, deception, and exclusivity, and this week, ex-trader turned "finfluencer" Vivian Tu (aka, Your Rich BFF) joins Isa and Amanda to spill all the *insider trading* on what makes Wall Street such a cult. Be sure to check out Vivian's new podcast, Networth and Chill, dropping March 22nd!

To support Sounds Like A Cult on Patreon, keep up with our live show dates, see Isa's live comedy, buy a copy of Amanda's book Cultish, or visit our website, click here!

Thank you to our sponsors!

Get 20% off your first order of $40 or more at NextEvo.com/podcast and use promo code cult.

Dipsea is offering an extended 30 day free trial when you go to DipseaStories.com/CULT.

Get 50% off your first DoorDash order up to a twenty-dollar value when you use code CULT at checkout.

Kayaking, friendship bracelet making, and oh yeah, threats of eternal damnation! What better way for a kid to spend the summer than at church camp? These pricy summer experiences for God-fearing kiddos might look all wholesome from the outside (a little *too* wholesome, in fact), but there have been enough allegedlys over the years to make Amanda and Isa think church camps might be serving up their 'smores with a side of cultiness. But are Christian summer camps a Live Your Life, a Watch Your Back, or a Get the Fuck Out-level cult? Actor, writer, and former church camper Joel Kim Booster joins this week's episode to help us figure it out!

To support Sounds Like A Cult on Patreon, keep up with our live show dates, see Isa's live comedy, buy a copy of Amanda's book Cultish, or visit our website, click here!

Thank you to our sponsors!

Go to Zocdoc.com/CULT and download the Zocdoc app for FREE.

Visit ritual.com/CULT to start Ritual or add Synbiotic+ to your subscription today.

Download SmartNews for free today in the app store!

Sounds Like A Cult listeners get 20% off your first Liquid Death apparel purchase available exclusively at LiquidDeath.com/CULT. 

As Keenan Thompson said in a recent SNL parody of the Miss Universe pageant, "Welcome back to Miss Universe, one of several shows still on the air where we rank women. But it's not what you think—we do it based off of looks." Welp when you put it that way :/ In our humble little opinion, it's hard to believe that the conformist, objectifying, and sometimes downright exploitative "beauty contest" business—perpetuated by the likes of Donald Trump and P.T. Barnum (yep, the circus guy)—is still a thing. Beauty pageants can be prettyyyyyyy cringe, but are they dangerously cultish? This week, Amanda and Isa aim to figure that out!

To support Sounds Like A Cult on Patreon, keep up with our live show dates, see Isa's live comedy, buy a copy of Amanda's book Cultish, or visit our website, click here!

Did the first episode of HBO Max's Sex And The City reboot turn you off of Peloton? That makes one of us. This week, Amanda and Isa unpack the fanatical riders, worshipped instructors, and dystopian nature of the highly fetishized fitness brand that has been described as “SoulCycle via Zoom.” Peloton is definitely hardcore, but does that make it dangerous? With the help of insightful listener call-ins, your hosts explore just that.

To support Sounds Like A Cult on Patreon, keep up with our live show dates, see Isa's live comedy, buy a copy of Amanda's book Cultish, or visit our website, click here!

Thank you so much to our sponsors!

To receive 50% or more off your first month of therapy, go to modernfertility.com/CULT. 

Dipsea is offering an extended 30 day free trial when you go to DipseaStories.com/CULT.

Selena Gomez, Drew Barrymore, and Daniel Radcliffe are all survivors of today's "cult," and so is our guest, Mara Wilson, star of 1990s cinematic classics like Matilda and Mrs. Doubtfire. Mara was only five years old when she started appearing in major commercials, and the next ten years of her life were a dream come true—full of glamour and accolades... and intense pressures, isolation, creepy stalkers, and other shocking experiences that make the world of child stars seem VERY culty. This week, with Mara's help, Amanda and Isa attempt to figure out if this secretive wing of the entertainment industry—responsible for what former child star Alyson Stoner once called the "toddler to trainwreck pipeline"—is as cult-like as it seems.

To support Sounds Like A Cult on Patreon, keep up with our live show dates, see Isa's live comedy, buy a copy of Amanda's book Cultish, donate to Isa’s fundraiser or visit our website, click here! 

Thank you so much to our sponsors!

Download SmartNews for free today in the app store!

To receive 50% or more off your first month of therapy, go to cerebral.com/cult.