44 episodes
The Dream Pushkin
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- Society & Culture
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5.0 • 8 Ratings
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From Little Everywhere and Pushkin Industries, and hosted by Jane Marie, comes the third season of The Dream. Past seasons of this award-winning investigative podcast looked at pyramid schemes and the world of wellness. This season we're getting to know the gurus and life coaches who claim they know the secret to living our best lives. Is it all in our mindset? Or our privilege? Or are we all under a spell? Find out this September.
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S3 E1: Becoming a #Boss
What's it like to hand your life over to someone who claims they’ll make it better? Jessie Lee Ward, the self-proclaimed “#1 network marketer in the world,” charges her coaching clients thousands of dollars for a trip to Colombia that's described like a work retreat. The reality is more like a brutal 15 hour hike, with late night hypothermia. Is this what it takes to be successful in life and business?
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S3 E2: What Ever Happened to Happy Jane?
Despite regular therapy, Jane is in a funk. She and Dann discuss what's happened to them, and what she hopes (and fears) life coaching might do for her — or teach her to do for herself. Jane embarks on a hunt for a professional life coach of her own.
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S3 E3: The MLM-to-coaching pipeline
Jennifer Rajala got sucked into the MLM-to-coaching pipeline. A social worker from northern Michigan, Jennifer rose quickly through the Arbonne ranks. She earned the right to lease an Arbonne branded Mercedes. But she still wasn’t making any real money. Then Jenn discovered Rankmakers, the life coaching program that promised to truly maximize her potential.
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S3 E4: Think and Grow Duped
Napoleon Hill, ever heard of him? He wrote "Think and Grow Rich," one of the favorite self-help handbooks of all time. His fans include Tony Robbins and life coaches of all stripes. But Napoleon Hill was not a genius of self-help. He was a scam artist who never practiced what he preached. Journalist Matt Novak tells Jane what he’s found (and what he hasn’t) about one of the biggest architects of modern coaching.
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S3 E5: I Never Said Hate
Now a life coach herself, Jennifer Rajala is lauded at Rankmakers; she’s a hustler who can inspire others to buy coaching packages better than just about anyone else. That is, until she realizes she’s selling empty promises.
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S3 E6: The MVP of NLP
Neuro-linguistic programming, or NLP, is the communication technique used by coaches and cult leaders alike. John James Santangelo—a fan of Napoleon Hill— is an NLP expert who gives Jane a crash course. Jane is mesmerized, and according to Santangelo, might've even been hypnotized.
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Customer Reviews
Marvellous podcast
Admittedly, I didn’t go into The Dream with high expectations, especially since MLM bashing is pretty low hanging fruit. However, this podcast goes in depth into the history and psychology of direct-selling companies and approaches its subjects with an empathetic eye.
It’s a great listen for anyone who wants to learn how MLMs grew to become the organisations they are today and for those wondering why these organisations aren’t already universally disliked.
Highly recommended!