~A cosmic new episode of Sounds Like a Cult lies in your near future, Virgo~ No? Capricorn? Pisces, maybe? Whatever your sign is, today’s episode is sure to deliver all of the celestial wisdom you’ve been seeking straight from the comfort of your mobile device, much like today’s cult of discush, astrology apps! The astrologically inclined have fully infiltrated Silicon Valley (thanks, Elon), leaving in their data-farming path a vast plethora of galactic apps to suit whatever flavor of push notification strikes your fancy. Truly a product of the 21st century, astrology apps provide a dystopian look into the spiritual sects of our future, (which, spoiler alert, might not even have human leaders?!), giving us reason to question what “cults” might be lying right beyond our grubby screen protectors. Here to help Amanda and Reese navigate the digital cosmos is astrologer and astrology app co-founder Aliza Kelly, host of the Horoscope Weekly Podcast. Calibrate your sundials, clear up some iCloud storage, and suit up for a light-speed cruise through this astral listen!

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Brew yourself a giant pot of Luke's coffee because we’re diving deep into the fast-talking world of Stars Hollow. That’s right, the cult Gilmore Girls. We know what you're thinking! It's just a TV show! It'a not a cult! Relax! But hear us out: From the intense rituals (hello, annual re-watch), patron saints (looking at you, Luke Danes), and fan behaviors that border on worship, your favorite mother-daughter duo has evolved from a quaint fictional series into a full-fledged lifestyle and pseudo-religion. To help us take a closer look at how Lorelai and Rory have become the unofficial God and Jesus of fall, Tara & Haley of the Gilmore To Say Podcast join the pod. Whether you're Team Jess, Team Logan, Team Dean (really?), or don't even care because you think Rory is actually just the worst, we hope you enjoy this cozy episode. Oy with the poodles already!!

Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod @amanda_montell @reesaronii @chelseaxcharles

Watch the new season of Sounds Like A Cult on YouTube!

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Munch on some ice chips and PUSHHHHH (sorry) play on this week's episode, in which we dare to apply our culty analysis to the ever-polarizing "free birther" community. Free birthing is a controversial catch-all term in and of itself, generally describing a style of medically unassisted birth that has turned into not just a movement but possibly a cult—why? Because this is America, and if something has the potential to turn culty, then it probably will! Doula (and loyal listener of the pod) Hehe Stewart joins for a discussion of power dynamics, misinformation, and why so-called free birthers have been pitted against the traditional medical establishment in a way that puts everyoneeee in danger. Trying our best to bring both cheekiness and empathy to this very casual and low-stakes discussion (joke). Love you culties!!!

Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod @amanda_montell @reesaronii @chelseaxcharles

Watch the new season of Sounds Like A Cult on YouTube!

To subscribe to Amanda's new Magical Overthinkers podcast, click here :)

Further reading:

• Listen to the Whispers before They Become Screams: Addressing Black Maternal Morbidity and Mortality in the United States
• Racism During Pregnancy and Birthing: Experiences from Asian and Pacific Islander, Black, Latina, and Middle Eastern Women
• When Giving Birth, Opting to Go It Alone
• Insights into the U.S. Maternal Mortality Crisis: An International Comparison
• Born Free: Unassisted Childbirth in North America
• Just ‘birth’: the phenomenon of birth without a healthcare professional
• She Wanted a ‘Freebirth’ at Home. When the Baby Died, the Attacks Began

Thank you to our sponsors!

• Head to Squarespace.com for a free trial, and when you’re ready to launch, go to https://www.squarespace.com/CULT to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
• Go to the App Store or Google Play store and download the FREE Ibotta app to start earning cash back and use code CULT.
• Earn points by paying rent right now when you go to joinbilt.com/CULT.
• Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/cult.

BOO! ‘tis the spookiest time of the year, dear culties, and this year we’ve whipped out our cauldrons to cook you an up episode on one of the scariest topics we could think of… complex emotions?! That is only half a joke, because this week Reese is equally embarrassed and excited to bring Amanda into the weird and wacky world of reborn dolls with the help of Corrine Vien and Sabrina Deana-Roga from Two Girls One Ghost. The "Reborners" community serves a wide range of acolytes, from grieving parents seeking therapeutic tools to fantasy lovers looking to adopt the most finely crafted infant abominable snowmen money can buy (no judgement!). This week, we’re sitting down to investigate exactly why people make, buy, and most cultily, wholeheartedly OBSESS over these fantastical silicone babies. No matter if you’ve been a loyal Britton Rose follower for years, or have never heard the words "reborn doll" in your life, this mystical Halloween-flavored episode of Sounds Like A Cult is full of tricks and treats just for you ;)

Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod @reesaronii @chelseaxcharles @amanda_montell

Subscribe to the new season of Sounds Like A Cult on YouTube!

To order Amanda's new book, The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, click here. To subscribe to Amanda's new Magical Overthinkers podcast, click here :)

Thank you to our sponsors!

• Head to Squarespace.com for a free trial, and when you’re ready to launch, go to https://www.squarespace.com/CULT to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
• Earn points by paying rent right now when you go to joinbilt.com/CULT.
• Go to stopscooping.com/SLAC and enter promocode SLAC to save an EXTRA $50 on any Litter-Robot bundle.
• Get 20% off your first order of Liquid I.V. when you go to LiquidIV.com and use code CULT at checkout

Further reading:

Effect of Doll Therapy in Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia: A Systematic Review

Inside the hyper-realistic world of baby doll collecting

Grab your trusty #2 and find the desk with your name tag on it, because class is in session this week at Sounds Like a Cult! Our /pedagogically inclined/ episodes are always RIPE with juicy insight, and today’s topic is no different. Be it Hogwarts or Pacific Coast Academy, boarding schools have long shrouded themselves in an air of mystery and exclusivity that has most recently led to a culture-wide obsession with the Dark Academia genre. But is this intrigue secretly supporting a sinister institution? What culty rituals and traditions lie behind the plaid and ivy? Let’s find out! Amanda and Chelsea are thrilled to be joined by the wonderful Ceara O’Sullivan from the Petty Crimes podcast to discover what lurks within boarding schools' hallowed (culty) halls.

Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod @amanda_montell @chelseaxcharles @reesaronii

Watch the new season of Sounds Like A Cult on YouTube!

To order Amanda's new book, The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, click here. To subscribe to Amanda's new Magical Overthinkers podcast, click here :)

Thank you to our sponsors!

• Dipsea is offering an extended 30-day free trial when you go to DipseaStories.com/cult.
• Go to the App Store or Google Play store and download the FREE Ibotta app to start earning cash back and use code CULT.
• Visit BetterHelp.com/CULT today to get 10% off your first month.
• Shop the SKIMS bras at skims.com/cult. After you place your order, select "Sounds Like A Cult" in the survey and select our show in the dropdown menu that follows.

Further reading:

• Psychopathology and Dissociation among Boarding School Students in Eastern Turkey
• National Museum of the American Indian: Boarding Schools
• Time for America to Get Over Our Ivy League Obsession
• A Brief History of Boarding-School Scandals

NOT going to lie, this episode was a wee bit nerve racking to record!!! Despite the, ahem, LARGE number of requests we received for this topic (which would make you think it was ubiquitously reviled), the acolytes in this group ride HARD for their leader! Money and religion are the twin engines that make the world go ‘round, dear culties, and as such, they are the perfect mediums for sinister influence. This week’s subject has been ~blessing~ the airwaves and teaching your parents how to be debt free AND godly since the 1990s…the OG finance bro…the one and only… Dave Ramsey. This week, Amanda and Reese take a trepidatious foray into the chaotic, testosterone-filled, rapidly aging world of Ramsey Solutions with the help of seasoned Dave Ramsey experts (though, tbh, *survivors* is probably a more apt word) Jen Smith and Jill Sirianni from the Frugal Friends Podcast.

Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod @amanda_montell @chelseaxcharles @reesaronii

Watch the new season of Sounds Like A Cult on YouTube!

To order Amanda's new book, The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, click here. To subscribe to Amanda's new Magical Overthinkers podcast, click here :)

Thank you to our sponsors!

• Head to Squarespace.com for a free trial, and when you’re ready to launch, go to https://www.squarespace.com/CULT to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
• Earn points by paying rent right now when you go to joinbilt.com/CULT.
• Shop the SKIMS bras at SKIMS.com. After you place your order, select "Sounds Like A Cult" in the survey and select our show in the dropdown menu that follows.

Who’s your #mommy culties: Taylor or Whitney? That’s right, fresh(ish?) off the release of Hulu’s Secret Lives of Mormon Wives reality series (for which Amanda and Reese attended a blissfully tinsel-adorned premiere party #notsponsored lol), this week we are covering the cult of Mormon MomTok. This coalition of young Mormon mothers turned TikTok stars raises a truly baffling number of questions: Are these girls really Mormon? Does that matter? Where are their garments? Are they even friends? And most importantly, will MomTok survive the "swinging scandal" that overtook headlines a few years back, earning these gals their own TV show?!?!?!??!?! Grab your heaviest Stanley, fill it with Fruity Pebbles ;) and settle in to have all of your most sacred prayers answered. Potentially cultier than the sum of its cults (and trust us there are plenty), Reese and Amanda are determined to get to the bottom of the drama-filled, diet Dr. Pepper flavored mom-strosisty that is #MomTok.

Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod @reesaronii @amanda_montell @chelseaxcharles

Watch the new season of Sounds Like A Cult on YouTube!

Thank you to our sponsors!

• Head to Squarespace.com for a free trial, and when you’re ready to launch, go to https://www.squarespace.com/CULT to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
• Visit BetterHelp.com/CULT today to get 10% off your first month.
• Dipsea is offering an extended 30-day free trial when you go to DipseaStories.com/cult.
• Go to stopscooping.com/SLAC and enter promocode SLAC to save an EXTRA $50 on any Litter-Robot bundle.

To order Amanda's new book, The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, click here. To subscribe to Amanda's new Magical Overthinkers podcast, click here :)

Settle in with a Kirkland brand sparkling water and a rotisserie chicken because this week, Amanda and Chelsea are going IN on the us/them dynamics, strange rituals, manipulation tactics, over-the-top passion, and lore of your favorite membership-only cathedral of affordable excess, Costco. Based on this episode’s fervent listener call-ins alone, it’s clear Costco is more than just a place to buy 500-packs of plastic cups, gold bars, and even your future casket (???) ⚰️ Costco is some people’s entire personality. But has it crossed over into full-blown cult? Tune into our lol-filled analysis to find out.

Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod @amanda_montell @chelseaxcharles @reesaronii

Watch the new season of Sounds Like A Cult on YouTube!

To order Amanda's new book, The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, click here. To subscribe to Amanda's new Magical Overthinkers podcast, click here :)

Thank you to our sponsors!

• Head to Squarespace.com for a free trial, and when you’re ready to launch, go to https://www.squarespace.com/CULT to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
• Go to the App Store or Google Play store and download the FREE Ibotta app to start earning cash back and use code CULT.
• Shop the SKIMS bras at SKIMS.com. After you place your order, select "Sounds Like A Cult" in the survey and select our show in the dropdown menu that follows.
• Get 20% off your first order of Liquid I.V. when you go to LiquidIV.com and use code CULT at checkout