What to Read, Listen To, and Watch, if You Can’t Get Enough Culty Content

Guest post written by author Amanda Pellegrino
Amanda Pellegrino is a TV writer and novelist living in New York City. Her writing has appeared in Betches, Refinery29, Bustle, Elite Daily and others. Her sophomore novel The Social Climber is a psychological thriller that will be published by HarperCollins/ParkRowBooks in January 2023. It explores one woman’s relationship with her megachurch past as she prepares for her lavish NYC wedding.

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Everything’s culty these days. Soul Cycle is culty. Crossfit is culty. MLMs. LuLaRue. Megachurch Evangelicals. WeWork. Startups. GOOP. With rising interest in things like NXIVM, FLDS, and Heaven’s gate, cults have become the newest true crime trend to hit tv, film, podcasts, and books.

If you’re like me and can’t get enough culty content, here are a few things to read, listen to, and watch.

WHAT TO READ

Cultish by Amanda Montell (nonfiction)

Cultish explores how traditional and modern cults use language to attract, indoctrinate, and keep followers. A brilliant linguistic analysis of cults and their leaders, Cultish is broken into sections that each focus on a different type of cult—from Scientology to Soul Cycle—and examines the use of everything from thought-terminating cliches to claiming a makeup brand has a “cult following.” Cultish is a great read for anyone looking to become more knowledgeable about the intrinsic connection between cults and language.

The Girls by Emma Cline (fiction)

Set in the 1960s and based on the Manson murders, The Girls follows Evie Boyd as she becomes mesmerized by a group of charismatic girls and their larger than life leader. The book explores friendship, loss of innocence, and how cults often prey on those desperately seeking community.

WHAT TO WATCH

The Way Down, HBO Max (nonfiction)

The Way Down is a compelling documentary following the life and death of Gwen Shamblin Lara, the founder of the Christian church group Remnant Fellowship, and connected diet program Weigh Down Workshop. The Weigh Down Workshop (which is still followed today) was created to “teach people how to stop bowing down to the refrigerator and how to bow back down to Him” and preached “slenderness as next to godliness.” The Way Down shows how controversial Shamblin Lara was both in her life and in her death.

Under The Banner of Heaven, HULU (based on a nonfiction book of the same name)

In this true crime mini-series, Andrew Garfield stars as a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) police detective in Utah investigating the murder of a woman and her baby that seems to be connected to brothers who broke from the LDS community and joined a Fundamentalist LDS community. The series explores the opposing origin and ideologies of the LDS Church and the FLDS Church and how it broke one family apart.

WHAT TO LISTEN TO

Sounds Like A Cult (podcast, Exactly Right Network)

Hosted by Amanda Montell and Isa Medina, Sounds Like A Cult analyzes “the modern-day ‘cults’ we all follow.” From Evangelical Hell Houses to Starbucks to the Kardashians to Taylor Swift fans, each episode of Sounds Like A Cult explores the ways in which culty language and fanaticism has made its way into our everyday lives.

The Orgasm Cult (podcast, BBC Radio 4)

This investigative podcast, presented by Nastaran Tavakoli-Far delves deep into One Taste, a business dedicated to teaching orgasmic meditation, touted as the next self-care tactic to add to your daily routine. Founded by Nicole Daedone, One Taste is now being investigated by the FBI for sex trafficking, prostitution, and violations of labor laws. Something mentioned in the summary of every episode: this podcast is “now the subject of a legal complaint by OM IP Co and the Institute of OM LLC” which OneTaste rebranded as after the FBI investigation and. Honestly, is just adds to the cultyness of it all.

If you liked any of these books, tv shows, or podcasts, then you should check out my forthcoming novel, The Social Climber. The Social Climber follows Eliza Bennet the week of her lavish wedding to old money New Yorker, Graham Walker. As the big day approaches, secrets from her past attendance at an Evangelical college come to light and throw her true motives into question. Who exactly is Eliza Bennet and what does she really want?