69 episodes
Sounds Like A Cult Amanda Montell & Isa Medina
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- Comedy
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3.9 • 2K Ratings
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A podcast about the modern-day “cults” we all follow. Hosts Isa Medina and Amanda Montell ask the culty questions we’re all wondering… Do you think SoulCycle is a cult? What about Elon Musk stans? Or the Royal Family? What about spiritual influencers? Is Instagram itself a cult? We’re Sounds Like A Cult, a podcast that analyzes a different zeitgeisty group every week to try and answer the big question: This group sounds like a cult, but is it really? And if so, how bad is it?
Follow Us:
Show Instagram - @soundslikeacultpod
Isa Medina - @isaamedinaa
Amanda Montell - @amanda_montell
Subscribe to our YouTube: Podcast Video
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The Cult of Wall Street
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. -
The Cult of Church Camp
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. -
The Cult of Beauty Pageants
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! -
The Cult of Peloton
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. -
The Cult of Child Stars
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. -
The Cult of Self-Help
In 2005, this week's guest Sarah Edmondson joined what she thought was a personal development program devoted to helping her overcome her "limiting beliefs." Little did she know it'd turn out to be one of the most notorious and scrutinized groups of all time, NXIVM. "Self-Help" is a distinctly optimistic American pursuit and a majorly profitable industry. Sooo many culty groups start out with the innocent promise of helping their members become their best self. This gray area between positive self-improvement program and dangerous sect is exactly what hosts Isa and Amanda discuss on this week's can't-miss episode with Sarah, host of the podcast A Little Bit Culty and star of The Vow on HBO (Season 2 streaming now!).
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 10% off your first OSEA order sitewide with code CULT at OSEAMalibu.com
Visit ritual.com/CULT to start Ritual or add Synbiotic+ to your subscription today.
Sounds like a Cult is sponsored by BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/CULT today to get 10% off your first month.
Customer Reviews
Lots of Generalizations and Snubbing
Amanda specifically laughs and judges A LOT of things she hasn’t experienced first hand in a way that is borderline mean. I like Issa’s vibe and hate to compare them but it’s just hard to listen to Amanda bash or put down things she ~seemingly~ hasn’t even researched that much. I really enjoyed the episodes about the Kardashian’s, Plastic Surgery, Goop etc. and I appreciate the guests they have on… but even with the guests! Amanda laughs at their experiences and pretends to relate when she obviously doesn’t? It’s weird and reads mean girl/snobby/upperclass detachment (lol I realize this is me judging Amanda for judging other people). Anyways - hope she can open her mind a little more and stop being so know-it-all. She’s obviously super intelligent and her attitude on the pod does a disservice to that! And this podcast is a cool concept and could be really good.
It’s gone downhill
This show used to be much better, but in the last year or so the episodes aren’t that great anymore… I wish they interviewed more experts, professors, journalists, people who have actual knowledge with the topics they cover. But instead it feels like they do very surface level research, often get simple facts wrong in the episode intro, and then talk to one person about their experience with the cult. It’s just disappointing because the idea of the show is great, but it definitely falls short.
Gets worse every week
I get that this is supposed to be a lighthearted pod about cultish things, but it gets more and more irritatingly half-baked and repetitive every week. Half-way through this week’s Apple podcast they both go off and on chargers changing and products not coming with charger blocks as some grand scheme to convert people to Apple. It’s not that deep, chargers have changed to perform faster. USB ports and disc drives have been removed to make devices smaller. Not including charging blocks with each device is an effort to reduce electronic waste. Genius Bar is a cheeky name. Again, *i get* that this pod is for entertainment, but it gets lazier and lazier every week.