Try free for 30 days
-
Cultish
- The Language of Fanaticism
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $26.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also picked
-
Scarred
- The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult That Bound My Life
- By: Sarah Edmondson, Kristine Gasbarre
- Narrated by: Sarah Edmondson
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The shocking and subversive memoir of a 12-year-NXIVM-member-turned-whistleblower, and her inspiring true story of abuse, escape, and redemption. "Master, would you brand me? It would be an honor." Scarred follows actress Sarah Edmondson's account of her recruitment into the NXIVM cult, founded by Keith Raniere. It narrates in detail the 12 years she spent within the organization, during which she enrolled over 2,000 members, chronicling her breaking point and her harrowing fight to get out, help others, and heal.
-
-
Informative and Personal Story
- By Anonymous User on 11-01-2024
-
Hey, Hun
- Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing
- By: Emily Lynn Paulson
- Narrated by: Emily Lynn Paulson
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
She signed up for the sisterhood, free cars, and the promise of a successful business of her own. Instead, she ended up with an addiction, broken friendships, and the rubble of a toppled pyramid . . . scheme. Hey, Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing is the eye-opening, funny, and dangerous personal story of author Emily Lynn Paulson rising to the top of the pyramid in the multilevel marketing (MLM) world, only to recognize that its culture and business practices went beyond a trendy marketing scheme and into the heart of white supremacy in America.
-
-
A must read for any Anti-MLM enthusiast
- By Dededexter on 08-10-2023
-
Do As I Say
- How Cults Control, Why We Join Them, and What They Teach Us About Bullying, Abuse and Coercion
- By: Sarah Steel
- Narrated by: Sarah Steel
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the heart of being human is the desire to belong. It can make us unspeakably vulnerable to the manipulations of others. Cult leaders prey on this desire, but so do many unscrupulous operators hiding in plain sight. Sarah Steel, the creator of the popular 'Let's Talk About Sects' podcast, has researched the cults you've heard of—and dozens you haven't. What strikes her most are not the differences between bizarre cult behaviour and 'normal' behaviour but the depressing similarities. Her work reveals that we are all susceptible to the power of cult dynamics.
-
-
Brilliant, Healing and Informative. Must read for ex cult members
- By Jennie on 14-03-2023
-
QAnon and On
- A Short and Shocking History of Internet Conspiracy Cults
- By: Van Badham
- Narrated by: Van Badham
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In QAnon and On, Guardian columnist Van Badham delves headfirst into the QAnon conspiracy theory, unpicking the why, how and who behind this century’s most dangerous and far-fetched internet cult. From Gamergate to Pizzagate and beyond to QAnon, internet manipulation and disinformation campaigns have grown to a geopolitical scale and spilled into real life with devastating consequences, entangling everyone from politicians to Hollywood celebrities.
-
-
Is she for real?
- By Amanda Rochford on 26-09-2022
-
I'm Glad My Mom Died
- By: Jennette McCurdy
- Narrated by: Jennette McCurdy
- Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.
-
-
Couldn’t stop listening!
- By Anonymous User on 12-08-2022
-
Conspirituality
- How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat
- By: Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, Julian Walker
- Narrated by: Matthew Remski
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, a disturbing social media trend emerged: a large number of yoga instructors and alt-health influencers were posting stories about a secretive global cabal bent on controlling the world’s population with a genocidal vaccine. Instagram feeds that had been serving up green smoothie recipes and Mary Oliver poems became firehoses of Fox News links, memes from 4chan, and prophecies of global transformation.
-
-
A fever dream antidote
- By Anonymous User on 29-01-2024
-
Scarred
- The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult That Bound My Life
- By: Sarah Edmondson, Kristine Gasbarre
- Narrated by: Sarah Edmondson
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The shocking and subversive memoir of a 12-year-NXIVM-member-turned-whistleblower, and her inspiring true story of abuse, escape, and redemption. "Master, would you brand me? It would be an honor." Scarred follows actress Sarah Edmondson's account of her recruitment into the NXIVM cult, founded by Keith Raniere. It narrates in detail the 12 years she spent within the organization, during which she enrolled over 2,000 members, chronicling her breaking point and her harrowing fight to get out, help others, and heal.
-
-
Informative and Personal Story
- By Anonymous User on 11-01-2024
-
Hey, Hun
- Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing
- By: Emily Lynn Paulson
- Narrated by: Emily Lynn Paulson
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
She signed up for the sisterhood, free cars, and the promise of a successful business of her own. Instead, she ended up with an addiction, broken friendships, and the rubble of a toppled pyramid . . . scheme. Hey, Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing is the eye-opening, funny, and dangerous personal story of author Emily Lynn Paulson rising to the top of the pyramid in the multilevel marketing (MLM) world, only to recognize that its culture and business practices went beyond a trendy marketing scheme and into the heart of white supremacy in America.
-
-
A must read for any Anti-MLM enthusiast
- By Dededexter on 08-10-2023
-
Do As I Say
- How Cults Control, Why We Join Them, and What They Teach Us About Bullying, Abuse and Coercion
- By: Sarah Steel
- Narrated by: Sarah Steel
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the heart of being human is the desire to belong. It can make us unspeakably vulnerable to the manipulations of others. Cult leaders prey on this desire, but so do many unscrupulous operators hiding in plain sight. Sarah Steel, the creator of the popular 'Let's Talk About Sects' podcast, has researched the cults you've heard of—and dozens you haven't. What strikes her most are not the differences between bizarre cult behaviour and 'normal' behaviour but the depressing similarities. Her work reveals that we are all susceptible to the power of cult dynamics.
-
-
Brilliant, Healing and Informative. Must read for ex cult members
- By Jennie on 14-03-2023
-
QAnon and On
- A Short and Shocking History of Internet Conspiracy Cults
- By: Van Badham
- Narrated by: Van Badham
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In QAnon and On, Guardian columnist Van Badham delves headfirst into the QAnon conspiracy theory, unpicking the why, how and who behind this century’s most dangerous and far-fetched internet cult. From Gamergate to Pizzagate and beyond to QAnon, internet manipulation and disinformation campaigns have grown to a geopolitical scale and spilled into real life with devastating consequences, entangling everyone from politicians to Hollywood celebrities.
-
-
Is she for real?
- By Amanda Rochford on 26-09-2022
-
I'm Glad My Mom Died
- By: Jennette McCurdy
- Narrated by: Jennette McCurdy
- Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.
-
-
Couldn’t stop listening!
- By Anonymous User on 12-08-2022
-
Conspirituality
- How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat
- By: Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, Julian Walker
- Narrated by: Matthew Remski
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, a disturbing social media trend emerged: a large number of yoga instructors and alt-health influencers were posting stories about a secretive global cabal bent on controlling the world’s population with a genocidal vaccine. Instagram feeds that had been serving up green smoothie recipes and Mary Oliver poems became firehoses of Fox News links, memes from 4chan, and prophecies of global transformation.
-
-
A fever dream antidote
- By Anonymous User on 29-01-2024
-
When the World Didn't End
- A Memoir
- By: Guinevere Turner
- Narrated by: Guinevere Turner
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this immersive, spell-binding memoir, an acclaimed screenwriter tells the story of her childhood growing up with the infamous Lyman Family cult—and the complicated and unexpected pain of leaving the only home she’d ever known.
-
“Prisons Make Us Safer”
- And 20 Other Myths About Mass Incarceration
- By: Victoria Law
- Narrated by: Melissa Moran
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States incarcerates more of its residents than any other nation. Though home to five percent of the global population, the United States has nearly 25 percent of the world’s prisoners - a total of over two million people. This number continues to steadily rise. Over the past 40 years, the number of people behind bars in the United States has increased by 500 percent.
-
Combating Cult Mind Control
- The #1 Best-Selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults
- By: Steven Hassan
- Narrated by: Daniel Greenberg
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This essential guide explores the methods by which groups and individuals can manipulate people's minds and behaviors in a subtle and covert manner. Hassan combines his personal narrative with extensive psychological research to provide strategies for protection, intervention, and healing for those affected by destructive cults.
-
-
Essential reading
- By Naomi Brewster on 21-12-2018
-
What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat
- By: Aubrey Gordon
- Narrated by: Samara Naeymi
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anti-fatness is everywhere. In What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat, Aubrey Gordon unearths the cultural attitudes and social systems that have led to people being denied basic needs because they are fat and calls for social justice movements to be inclusive of plus-sized people’s experiences.
-
-
Everyone should read/listen to this book.
- By Clare Seddon on 10-12-2020
-
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
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
You can make it even better
- By Kindle Customer on 04-07-2022
-
The Cult of Trump
- A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control
- By: Steven Hassan
- Narrated by: Steven Hassan
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Cult of Trump is an accessible and in-depth analysis of the president, showing that under the right circumstances, even sane, rational, well-adjusted people can be persuaded to believe the most outrageous ideas. Hassan’s audiobook is essential listening for anyone wanting to understand the Trump phenomenon and looking for a way forward.
-
-
Fascinating read
- By Paul on 05-11-2023
-
Selling the Dream
- The Billion-Dollar Industry Bankrupting Americans
- By: Jane Marie
- Narrated by: Jane Marie
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When factories close, stalwart industries shutter, and blue-collar opportunities evaporate, MLMs are there, ready to pounce on the crumbling American Dream. MLMs thrive in rural areas and on military bases, targeting women with promises of being their own boss and millions of dollars in easy income—even at the risk of their entire life savings. But the vast majority—99.7%—of those who join an MLM make no money or lose money, and wind up stuck with inventory they can’t sell to recoup their losses.
-
-
Excellent Exposé
- By Kathryn on 27-03-2024
-
Boy Parts
- By: Eliza Clark
- Narrated by: Eliza Clark
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Irina obsessively takes explicit photographs of the average-looking men she persuades to model for her, scouted from the streets of Newcastle. Placed on sabbatical from her dead-end bar job, she is offered an exhibition at a fashionable London gallery, promising to revive her career in the art world and offering an escape from her rut of drugs, alcohol and extreme cinema. The news triggers a self-destructive tailspin, centred around Irina's relationship with her obsessive best friend and a shy young man from her local supermarket who has attracted her attention....
-
-
Really find this tedious
- By Jeanette NORMAN on 18-09-2023
-
Uncultured
- A Memoir
- By: Daniella Mestyanek Young
- Narrated by: Daniella Mestyanek Young
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Behind the tall, foreboding gates of a commune in Brazil, Daniella Mestyanek Young was raised in the religious cult The Children of God, also known as The Family, as the daughter of high-ranking members. Her great-grandmother donated land for one of The Family’s first communes in Texas. Her mother, at thirteen, was forced to marry the leader and served as his secretary for many years. Beholden to The Family’s strict rules, Daniella suffers physical, emotional, and sexual abuse—masked as godly discipline and divine love—and is forbidden from getting a traditional education.
-
-
CHILLS!!!
- By Anonymous User on 10-01-2024
-
Stiff
- The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Shelly Frasier
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For two thousand years, cadavers have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way.
-
-
A down to earth, thought provoking discussion
- By Michael on 09-06-2016
-
The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner
- A Memoir
- By: Grace Tame
- Narrated by: Grace Tame
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From a young age, her life was defined by uncertainty—by trauma and strength, sadness and hope, terrible lows and wondrous highs. As a teenager she found the courage to speak up after experiencing awful and ongoing child sexual abuse. This fight to find her voice would not be her last. The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner is Grace's story, in Grace's words, on Grace's terms. Like Grace, it is sharply intelligent, deeply felt and often blisteringly funny. And, as with all her work, it offers a constructive and optimistic vision for a better future for all of us.
-
-
I believe this book needs to be read,not listened.
- By Anonymous User on 19-12-2022
-
The Cthulhu Casebooks: Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Shadows
- The Cthulhu Casebooks, Book 1
- By: James Lovegrove
- Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is the autumn of 1880, and Dr. John Watson has just returned from Afghanistan. Badly injured and desperate to forget a nightmarish expedition that left him doubting his sanity, Watson is close to destitution when he meets the extraordinary Sherlock Holmes, who is investigating a series of deaths in the Shadwell district of London. Several bodies have been found, the victims appearing to have starved to death over the course of several weeks, and yet they were reported alive and well mere days before.
-
-
Very well written!
- By Christopher on 13-09-2021
Publisher's Summary
The author of the widely praised Wordslut analyzes the social science of cult influence: how cultish groups from Jonestown and Scientology to SoulCycle and social media gurus use language as the ultimate form of power.
What makes “cults” so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join - and more importantly, stay in - extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell’s argument is that, on some level, it already has....
Our culture tends to provide pretty flimsy answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague talk of “brainwashing”. But the true answer has nothing to do with freaky mind-control wizardry or Kool-Aid. In Cultish, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community, and us/them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear - and are influenced by - every single day.
Through juicy storytelling and cutting original research, Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities “cultish”, revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven’s Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups, Peloton leaderboards, and Instagram feeds. Incisive and darkly funny, this enrapturing take on the curious social science of power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of “cultish” everywhere.
More from the same
What listeners say about Cultish
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Madeline Bradley
- 14-07-2021
Such a good listen
This kept me interested & fascinated the entire way through. It’s written in such an accessible way and everything was thoroughly explained.
I’l definitely be viewing people who have gotten caught up in Cults with a lot more compassion than I would have before hearing this book and also be a lot more cautious around fanaticism language in future. This book was actually fascinating, thank you Amanda Montell.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Aisling
- 21-07-2022
Fantastic
This is really informative and eye opening. The many different sources, stories and types of ‘cult’ that are looked at gives a really wide view of the language that draws us in. I love the narration style too. The slight change in tone and pattern of speech makes it feel more alive. It helps distinguish the interviews and study’s that are being quoted from the rest of the book and makes it really enjoyable.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Solomon Wilks
- 10-10-2022
A must read! (Or, listen)
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Sharp & insightful & likely to change the way you perceive language, society and yourself (or at least offer a perspective you may not have previously considered)
This book should be recommended reading for pretty much everyone, 5/5.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- TG
- 10-02-2022
Fascinating!
This book has been written so well. It is fascinating and captivating, the author has researched the topic excellently.
Especially I found listening to the Jonestown and Heaven's Gate murder/suicides the most interesting.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 18-09-2023
Inspiring
This book has inspired me to study cults and cult language as my career.
Cultish is an eye-opening look at the language we use and how we normalise cult language every day.
Amanda has also written Wordslut. if you haven't checked it out, I highly recommend it!
I can't wait for her next book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
- Melanie Nicholls
- 18-02-2023
accessible and insightful
If you're interested in cults, sociology or still reeling from the last five years of cultish groups and personalities, this is a really entertaining way to absorb that
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 07-02-2022
Fascinating Book
I had a great time listening to this book, the narration was great and the discussion regarding cultish language was both informative yet engrossing.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 20-05-2022
amazing... I'm going to listen again and again
loved it! I am going to listen again and again... funny.... fascinating and feminist. excellent use of science and anectodes.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- angus mcpherson
- 10-01-2023
engaging overview
I had listened to podcasts covering almost all of the subjects discussed in this book, but this book offers an interesting new lense.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- david
- 31-01-2024
Not too difficult to know which way author votes
Apparently Trump is a cult leader. Society has also been conditioned to regard middle aged white men as having the voice of god or some other such gibberish. Yeah, at some point you have to stop listening lest you drink the cool-aid and get sucked into woke.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!