-
Cults
- Inside the World's Most Notorious Groups and Understanding the People Who Joined Them
- Narrated by: Pete Simonelli, Raquel Beattie, Erin Ruth Walker, Danny Campbell, Daniel Henning, Aven Shore, Matt Godfrey, Chanté McCormick, Jaime Lincoln Smith
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
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Cults
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Publisher's summary
Mystery. Manipulation. Murder. Cults are associated with all of these. But what really goes on inside them? More specifically, what goes on inside the minds of cult leaders and the people who join them? Based on the hit podcast Cults, this is essential for any true crime fan.
Cults prey on the very attributes that make us human: our desire to belong, to find a deeper meaning in life, to live everyday with divine purpose. Their existence creates a sense that any one of us, at any time, could step off the cliff’s edge and fall into that daunting abyss of manipulation and unhinged dedication to a misplaced cause. Perhaps it’s this mindset that keeps us so utterly obsessed and desperate to learn more, or it’s that the stories are so bizarre and unsettling that we are simply in awe of the mechanics that make these infamous groups tick.
The premier storytelling podcast studio Parcast has been focusing on unearthing these mechanics—the cult leaders and followers, and the world and culture that gave birth to both. Parcast’s work in analyzing dozens of case studies has revealed patterns: distinct ways that cult leaders from different generations resemble one another. What links the ten notorious figures profiled in Cults are as disturbing as they are stunning—from Manson to Applewhite, Koresh to Raël, the stories woven here are both spellbinding and disturbing.
Cults is more than just a compilation of grisly biographies, however. In these pages, Parcast’s founder Max Cutler and national bestselling author Kevin Conley look closely at the lives of some of the most disreputable cult figures and tell the stories of their rise to power and fall from grace, sanity, and decency. Beyond that, it is a study of humanity, an unflinching look at what happens when the most vulnerable recesses of the mind are manipulated and how the things we hold most sacred can be twisted into the lowest form of malevolence.
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In the 1950s, a young Indianapolis minister named Jim Jones preached a curious blend of the gospel and Marxism. His congregation was racially mixed, and he was a leader in the early civil rights movement. Eventually, Jones moved his church, Peoples Temple, to northern California, where he got involved in electoral politics and became a prominent Bay Area leader. But underneath the surface lurked a terrible darkness.
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Why would anyone join a cult? Maybe they're unhappy with their current religion, or they want to change the world, or they're disappointed with their lives and want to find something bigger or holier that makes sense of this confusing, chaotic and dangerous world. Or maybe they just want to give themselves the best possible chance of having sex with aliens. Whatever the reason, once people are in, it's usually very difficult for them to leave.
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Good I'm formation.
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My cup of tea.
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-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,126
In the 1950s, a young Indianapolis minister named Jim Jones preached a curious blend of the gospel and Marxism. His congregation was racially mixed, and he was a leader in the early civil rights movement. Eventually, Jones moved his church, Peoples Temple, to northern California, where he got involved in electoral politics and became a prominent Bay Area leader. But underneath the surface lurked a terrible darkness.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An Important Accurate Historical Report
- By Julia on 08-24-17
By: Jeff Guinn
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Zealot
- A Book About Cults
- By: Jo Thornely
- Narrated by: Jo Thornely
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 197
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 175
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 174
Why would anyone join a cult? Maybe they're unhappy with their current religion, or they want to change the world, or they're disappointed with their lives and want to find something bigger or holier that makes sense of this confusing, chaotic and dangerous world. Or maybe they just want to give themselves the best possible chance of having sex with aliens. Whatever the reason, once people are in, it's usually very difficult for them to leave.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good I'm formation.
- By sarah crandall on 03-12-19
By: Jo Thornely
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Inside Scientology
- The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion
- By: Janet Reitman
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,165
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,848
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,865
Scientology, created in 1954 by a prolific sci-fi writer named L. Ron Hubbard, claims to be the world's fastest-growing religion, with millions of members around the world and huge financial holdings. Its celebrity believers keep its profile high, and its teams of "volunteer ministers" offer aid at disaster sites such as Haiti and the World Trade Center. But Scientology is also a notably closed faith, harassing journalists and others through litigation and intimidation, even infiltrating the highest levels of government to further its goals.
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5 out of 5 stars
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My cup of tea.
- By MWMcCabe on 08-09-11
By: Janet Reitman
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Raven
- The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People
- By: Tim Reiterman
- Narrated by: Mitch Horowitz
- Length: 29 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 591
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 530
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 526
Tim Reiterman's Raven provides the seminal history of the Rev. Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and the murderous ordeal at Jonestown in 1978. This PEN Award-winning work explores the ideals gone wrong, the intrigue, and the grim realities behind the Peoples Temple and its implosion in the jungle of South America.
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5 out of 5 stars
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What a very thoroughly written book!
- By Traci P. on 04-22-17
By: Tim Reiterman
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The Colony
- Faith and Blood in a Promised Land
- By: Sally Denton
- Narrated by: Ann Richardson
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 120
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 114
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Story4 out of 5 stars 115
On the morning of November 4, 2019, a caravan of women and children was ambushed by masked gunmen on a desolate stretch of road in northern Mexico controlled by the Sinaloa drug cartel. Firing semi-automatic weapons, the attackers killed nine people and gravely injured five more. The victims were members of the LeBaron and La Mora communities-fundamentalist Mormons whose forebears broke from the LDS Church and settled in Mexico when their religion outlawed polygamy in the late nineteenth century.
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3 out of 5 stars
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More surface level than I would have expected
- By Jessica Baier on 07-06-22
By: Sally Denton
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The Good Mothers
- The True Story of the Women Who Took on The World's Most Powerful Mafia
- By: Alex Perry
- Narrated by: Eva Alexander
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 47
We live in their buildings, work in their companies, shop in their stores, eat in their restaurants and elect politicians they fund. Founded more than 150 years ago by shepherding families in the toe of Italy, the 'Ndrangheta is today the world's most powerful mafia, with a crushing presence in Southern Italy, a market-moving size in global finance and a reach that extends to 50 countries around the world. And yet, remarkably, few of us have ever heard of it.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Superb narration of a stunningly well written book
- By Anne Grant on 10-15-19
By: Alex Perry
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Malcolm X
- A Life of Reinvention
- By: Manning Marable
- Narrated by: G. Valmont Thomas
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,411
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,187
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,187
Of the great figure in 20th-century American history perhaps none is more complex and controversial than Malcolm X. Constantly rewriting his own story, he became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and an icon, all before being felled by assassins' bullets at age 39. Through his tireless work and countless speeches he empowered hundreds of thousands of black Americans to create better lives and stronger communities while establishing the template for the self-actualized, independent African American man.
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5 out of 5 stars
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invites further reading on Malcolm X
- By connie on 05-14-11
By: Manning Marable
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Revolution’s End
- The Patty Hearst Kidnapping, Mind Control, and the Secret History of Donald DeFreeze and the SLA
- By: Brad Schreiber
- Narrated by: Brad Schreiber
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 62
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
Revolution's End fully explains the most famous kidnapping in US history, detailing Patty Hearst's relationship with Donald DeFreeze, known as Cinque, the head of the Symbionese Liberation Army. Not only did the heiress have a sexual relationship with DeFreeze while he was imprisoned, she didn't know he was an informant and a victim of prison behavior modification.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Interesting spin
- By jay rollins on 08-29-20
By: Brad Schreiber
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Costly Grace
- An Evangelical Minister's Rediscovery of Faith, Hope, and Love
- By: Rob Schenck
- Narrated by: Rob Schenck
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 116
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 95
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Story5 out of 5 stars 94
Rob Schenck’s extraordinary life has been at the center of the intersection between evangelical Christianity and modern politics. Attacked by partisans on both sides of the aisle, he has been called a "right-wing hate monger", the "ultimate D.C. power-broker", a "traitor", and "turncoat." Now, this influential spiritual adviser to America’s political class chronicles his controversial, sometimes troubling career in this revelatory and often shocking memoir. He reflects on his path to God, his unconscious abandonment of his principles, and his return to the convictions that guide him.
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5 out of 5 stars
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One of the most moving testimonials ever heard!
- By E. Wright on 07-10-18
By: Rob Schenck
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Whoever Fights Monsters
- My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI
- By: Robert K. Ressler, Tom Shachtman
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,950
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,553
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,540
Face-to-face with some of America's most terrifying killers, FBI veteran and ex-Army CID colonel Robert Ressler learned from them how to identify the unknown monsters who walk among us - and put them behind bars. Now the man who coined the phrase "serial killer" and advised Thomas Harris on The Silence of the Lambs shows how he has tracked down some of the nation's most brutal murderers. Join Ressler as he takes you on the hunt for America's most dangerous psychopaths. It is a terrifying journey you will not forget.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Murderino checking in
- By Sarah R Bongiovanni on 06-16-17
By: Robert K. Ressler, and others
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We Don't Know Ourselves
- A Personal History of Modern Ireland
- By: Fintan O'Toole
- Narrated by: Aidan Kelly
- Length: 22 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 471
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 396
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Story5 out of 5 stars 392
In We Don't Know Ourselves, Fintan O'Toole weaves his own experiences into Irish social, cultural, and economic change, showing how Ireland, in just one lifetime, has gone from a reactionary "backwater" to an almost totally open society - perhaps the most astonishing national transformation in modern history. O'Toole narrates the once unthinkable collapse of the all-powerful Catholic Church, brought down by scandal and by the activism of ordinary Irish. He relates the horrific violence of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, which led most Irish to reject violent nationalism.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Relentlessly Negative
- By John on 06-02-22
By: Fintan O'Toole
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Radical
- My Journey out of Islamist Extremism
- By: Maajid Nawaz
- Narrated by: David Linski
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 797
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 727
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 723
Maajid Nawaz spent his teenage years listening to American hip-hop and learning about the radical Islamist movement spreading throughout Europe and Asia in the 1980s and '90s. At 16, he was already a ranking member in Hizb ut-Tahrir, a London-based Islamist group. He quickly rose through the ranks to become a top recruiter, a charismatic spokesman for the cause of uniting Islam's political power across the world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Insightful and Enlightening. Blown Away by Radical
- By oneofmanymonkeys on 04-29-16
By: Maajid Nawaz
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Inside the Kingdom
- Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia
- By: Robert Lacey
- Narrated by: Robert Lacey
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 136
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 100
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 102
Best-selling author Robert Lacey tells us what happened in the Middle East's oil-rich powerhouse---while we weren't looking.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Inside the Kingdom
- By Ibrahim on 03-19-10
By: Robert Lacey
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The Invitation-Only Zone
- The True Story of North Korea's Abduction Project
- By: Robert S. Boynton
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 56
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 50
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Story4 out of 5 stars 50
Throughout the late 1970s and early '80s, dozens of Japanese citizens were abducted from coastal Japanese towns by North Korean commandos. In what proved to be part of a global project, North Korea attempted to reeducate the abductees and train them to spy on the state's behalf. When the project faltered, the abductees were hidden in a series of guarded communities known as "Invitation-Only Zones" - the fiction being that these were exclusive enclaves, not prisons.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Over enthusiastic reader!
- By AJW on 02-14-16
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A Man of Honor
- The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno
- By: Joseph Bonanno
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 493
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 431
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 429
Born in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, Joseph Bonanno found his future amid the whiskey-running, riotous streets of Prohibition America in 1924, when he illegally entered the United States to pursue his dreams. By the age of only 26, Bonanno became a don. He eventually took over the New York underworld, igniting the "Castellammarese War", one of the bloodiest Family battles ever to hit New York City.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A must read
- By E. Orlando on 05-03-17
By: Joseph Bonanno
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Hitler's Children
- Sons and Daughters of Third Reich Leaders
- By: Gerald Posner
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 157
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 139
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 139
Göring. Hess. Mengele. Dönitz. Names that conjure up dark memories of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. They were the architects of the Third Reich. And they were fathers. Gerald Posner convinced 11 sons and daughters of Hitler's inner circle to break their silence. This second generation of perpetrators in Hitler's Children struggle with their Third Reich inheritance. In grappling with memories of good and loving fathers who were later charged with war crimes, these heirs to the Nazi legacy add a fresh and important perspective.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Couldn’t put it down!
- By Art Guzman on 02-11-18
By: Gerald Posner
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The Harvard Psychedelic Club
- How Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for America
- By: Don Lattin
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 280
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 251
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 248
It is impossible to overstate the cultural significance of the four men described in Don Lattin's The Harvard Psychedelic Club. Huston Smith, tirelessly working to promote cross-cultural religious and spiritual tolerance. Richard Alpert, aka Ram Dass, inspiring generations with his mantra "be here now". Andrew Weil, undisputed leader of the holistic medicine revolution. And, of course, Timothy Leary, the charismatic, rebellious counterculture icon and LSD guru.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Fascinating, Engaging Story, Expertly Told
- By Gillian Culff on 12-12-19
By: Don Lattin
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Cults Inside Out: How People Get In and Can Get Out
- By: Rick Alan Ross
- Narrated by: Daniel Adam Day
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 63
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50
You’ve seen them in movies and on TV, but cults are more prevalent than you think - and they’re armed with strategies that can brainwash and persuade even the most unlikely of candidates. But how do individuals get involved with cults in the first place, and what steps can be taken to “deprogram” and heal those who have been drawn into these damaging groups? These questions and more are addressed in Cults Inside Out, written by leading cult expert Rick Alan Ross.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Informative and interesting read!
- By Amazon Customer on 07-15-21
By: Rick Alan Ross