Cult Country
Is this a new age of cultism—or a new cult panic?
Cults
Arizona's GOP Has Become a Trump Cult
The organization has devolved from skepticism toward government to veneration of politicians.
Reviews: Love and Monsters and J.R. 'Bob' Dobbs and the Church of the SubGenius
A good teens-and-creatures movie, and a deep dive into a glorious fake cult
Paul Krassner: The Lost Interview
A previously unpublished conversation with “investigative satirist” Paul Krassner, who just died at age 87.
Multiple Sex-Trafficking Charges Against Allison Mack to be Dropped As Actress Pleads to Extortion
Plus: "content moderation laws are...not about punishing tech companies" and union fees have taken an astonishing hit.
How Scientology Recruits Inside Florida Prisons
Criminon says it's a secular program to rehabilitate inmates, but critics say it's a recruiting pitch for Scientology.
The Wild Rise of Lyndon LaRouche
What a conspiracy theorist, a Vietnam War deserter, and a Trump adviser have in common
The Sex Trafficking Charges Against Smallville Actress Allison Mack Are Totally Bogus
The federal charges against Mack highlight how human trafficking hysteria harms vulnerable women.
Police Investigate a Cult Killing; It Turns Out to Be a Rock Video
Friday A/V Club: Hard Copy meets Nine Inch Nails.
The Man Who Turned Beauty into an Actual Cult
Documentary takes viewers inside the place called Buddhafield.
Friday A/V Club: Jonestown's In-House R&B Band Performs 'The Greatest Love of All'
Recorded seven months before the massacre
The Cola Cult
A short note on the end of Mad Men, by a guy who has never actually watched Mad Men
What We Mean When We Say 'Conspiracy Theory'
The assumptions baked into a familiar phrase
Suspicious Minds in the 1970s
Rick Perlstein's new book shows the strange '70s interplay of skepticism and nostalgia.
Leader of "Black Jesus" Cult Hacked to Death in Papua New Guinea
The convicted rapists and suspected cannibal as well as one of his followers were killed while attacking a woman
Fear of a Skeleton Saint
A form of worship crosses the Mexican border-and so does a moral panic.
Obama Has Taken the Cult of the Presidency to a Whole New Level
And it doesn't seem he's losing any sleep over what his successors may do with those new powers.
Billy Graham's Group Removes Mormonism from List of Cults
Change happens after meeting with Mitt Romney
Surprise: Stories of Underground Russian Cult May Have Been Grossly Exaggerated
We've seen this story before
Russian Underground (Literally) Muslim Sect Charged with Child Abuse
83-year-old leader had declared himself a prophet, kept children in subterranean network.