Sounds Like A Cult

What does it mean for a color to be official? This week, Amanda is joined by lexicographer and writer Kory Stamper (@harmless_drudge) to dive into the oddly powerful world of Pantone, the company that turned color into a global authority system complete with sacred swatches, cryptic numbers, and an annual prophecy known as Color of the Year. They unpack how Pantone became the high priest of hue, shaping everything from fashion runways to corporate branding. Why does the word cognac feel more chic than brown? And how did a company convince the world that a very specific white or millennial pink can define an entire cultural moment? Is Pantone simply helping us speak the same visual language… or are we all just obedient followers of the color industrial complex? Either way, pass the swatch book. Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles, @imanharirikia. Come see Sounds Like A Cult LIVE at The Bell House in New York on April 21st! Tickets at amandamontell.com/events Thank you to our sponsors! For free shipping and 365-day returns, go to https://Quince.com/slac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Amanda and Chelsea dive into the cult of OneTaste, the controversial wellness company that built an empire around “orgasmic meditation.” To help break this one down, they’re joined by journalist Ellen Huet (@ehuet), whose reporting pulled back the curtain on the organization’s rise from buzzy Silicon Valley sex startup to full blown scandal that involved allegations of coercion, manipulation, and high control group dynamics. They unpack how OneTaste marketed intimacy as enlightenment and why so many got pulled into its orgasmic orbit. Is this a groundbreaking sexual wellness movement… or a textbook case of culty self help? Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles, @imanharirikia. Come see Sounds Like A Cult LIVE at The Bell House in New York on April 21st! Tickets at amandamontell.com/events Thank you to our sponsors! To Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain, Head to https://www.squarespace.com/CULT Head to https://acorns.com/CULT or download the Acorns app to get started. Head to https://factormeals.com/cult50off and use code cult50off to get 50% off and free breakfast for a year! Learn more and join Function using my link. Visit www.functionhealth.com/CULT or use gift code CULT25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Long before publishing executives "discovered" the internet, a very dedicated group of fans had already built their own literary universe complete with sacred terminology, power hierarchies, and enough drama to make the actual source material blush. This week, Reese and Iman sit down with the iconic Christina Lauren duo, Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings (@christinalauren), to dissect fanfiction's glow-up from AO3 comment sections to genuine big business. We're getting into the culty dialect (slash, ship AU, canon, OTP), the plagiarism scandals, the parasocial power trips, and the Fifty Shades pipeline that proved E.L. James wasn't the only one who could monetize her Twilight feelings. Press play, culties, your kudos await. Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles, @imanharirikia. Come see Sounds Like A Cult LIVE at The Bell House in New York on April 21st! Tickets at amandamontell.com/events Thank you to our sponsors! Join the loyalty program for renters at https://joinbilt.com/cult Take 20% off your first purchase with code CULT at https://LIQUIDIV.COM Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have you been an unlucky ear victim of the phrase, “male loneliness epidemic”? Have you had the misfortune of interacting with a black-pilled, looksmaxxing sigma at the peak grindset mentality? Does all of this sound like terrible, confusing babble, that reels your attention in the way a car crash makes you rubberneck? Put your hazmat suits on, culties. It’s about to get scary. This week, Amanda and Reese are daring to visit one of the slimiest, murkiest, cultiest cults we’ve covered to date. The festering societal wound that is the Manosphere is a cult that has heretofore creeped us out enough to keep us at bay, but where and when cultish duty calls, we simply must answer and get the 411 for ourselves. Luckily, we aren’t alone; joining Amanda and Reese in this treacherous trek are the sensational congressional candidate for IL-9, Kat Abughazaleh (@kabughazaleh), and the effervescent author of “For the Love of Men” and host of Boy Problems, Liz Plank (@feministabulous). Come along as we try to figure out wtf and why tf the manosphere is, who’s at the helm of it, and what we stand to lose by engaging with this rapidly growing force of cultish nature. Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles, @imanharirikia. Come see Sounds Like A Cult LIVE at The Bell House in New York on April 21st! Tickets at amandamontell.com/events Thank you to our sponsors! To save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain Head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.squarespace.com/CULT⁠⁠⁠ Shop plans at https://MINTMOBILE.com/cult To learn more about how to support Minnesota’s immigrant communities, check out this MSP Mag article, which shares several ways to offer help or find support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, we’re revisiting one of our most illuminating conversations: The Cult of Conservative Youth Activism, featuring journalist and author Tina Nguyen, whose book The MAGA Diaries takes us deep inside the movement that shaped a generation of young conservatives. From TPUSA to Tucker Carlson to the campus outreach, we unpack how MAGA youth culture became more than politics, it became identity, community, and in some cases, full-blown devotion. This is a rerun of that timely conversation and a primer for next week, when we dive into another corner of the internet where masculinity, grievance, and algorithmic influence collide. Buckle up. Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles, @imanharirikia. Come see Sounds Like A Cult LIVE at The Bell House in New York on April 21st! Tickets at amandamontell.com/events Thank you to our sponsors! For free shipping and 365-day returns go to https://Quince.com/slac To learn more about how to support Minnesota’s immigrant communities, check out this MSP Mag article, which shares several ways to offer help or find support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Clear your schedule and roll out your mat… because this week Chelsea & Amanda and special guest Dr. Adam McAtee (@adammcateepilates) are diving into the meticulously controlled universe of Pilates. Originally developed by Joseph Pilates as a method to restore strength and vitality, the practice has since expanded into a worldwide fitness powerhouse known for its unmistakable studio culture. Why does Pilates inspire such fierce loyalty? And at what point does commitment start to resemble belief? Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles, @imanharirikia. Come see Sounds Like A Cult LIVE at The Bell House in New York on April 21st! Tickets at amandamontell.com/events Thank you to our sponsors! To save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain Head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.squarespace.com/CULT⁠⁠⁠ Join the loyalty program for renters at ⁠https://joinbilt.com/cult Head to https://factormeals.com/cult50off and use code cult50off to get 50 percent off and free breakfast for a year. To learn more about how to support Minnesota’s immigrant communities, check out this MSP Mag article, which shares several ways to offer help or find support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Amanda, Reese, and Chelsea are joined by writer and comedian Akilah Hughes (@akilahh) to unpack The Cult of Joe Rogan, the podcast empire that’s convinced millions it’s the last bastion of free thought while quietly shaping how they see science, politics, masculinity, and truth itself. From “I’m just asking questions” rhetoric to the anti-establishment cosplay, we dig into how Rogan became less of a host and more of a cult leader. Is this curiosity culture… or a pipeline dressed up as open mindedness? Grab your protein powder and your critical thinking skills. We’re talking about influence, vibes, and why this very chill podcast sounds a lot like a cult. Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles, @imanharirikia. Come see Sounds Like A Cult LIVE at The Bell House in New York on April 21st! Tickets at amandamontell.com/events Thank you to our sponsors! Get 20% off your first order with code CULT at https://LIQUIDIV.COM Visit https://functionhealth.com/CULT and use gift code CULT25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. Head to https://acorns.com/CULT or download the Acorns app to get started. To learn more about how to support Minnesota’s immigrant communities, check out this MSP Mag article, which shares several ways to offer help or find support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Clutch your pearls and cancel your plans, because this week Sounds Like A Cult is getting spicy. We’re welcoming our brand new co-host Iman Hariri-Kia (@imanharirikia), romance author, cultural critic, and certified defender of the genre, to break down The Cult of Romance Novels. We're joined by romance author Alexa Martin (@alexambooks) to talk about romance novels as sex education for women, the intense sense of community among readers, and why the genre is so often dismissed despite being wildly popular. Plus, we get into beloved tropes, Heated Rivalry, and how Alexa might have accidentally predicted the Travis Kelce/Taylor Swift era. Is romance harmless hopecore, or a full-blown belief system? Plus, what that snake tongue do? Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles, @imanharirikia. Thank you to our sponsors! To save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain Head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.squarespace.com/CULT⁠⁠ Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to ⁠⁠https://Quince.com/slac⁠⁠ Get unlimited premium wireless for just $15 per month at ⁠https://MINTMOBILE.com/cult Come see Sounds Like A Cult LIVE at The Bell House in New York on April 21st! Tickets at amandamontell.com/events To learn more about how to support Minnesota’s immigrant communities, check out this MSP Mag article, which shares several ways to offer help or find support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Chelsea is joined by culture critic and internet oracle Tefi Pessoa (@hellotefi) to take on The Cult of Bad Bunny… a global superstar whose fandom blurs the line between pop icon, political symbol, and cultural lightning rod. We’re unpacking why Bad Bunny inspires a level of devotion that feels almost religious, how his gender expression and fluid masculinity have become a flashpoint in our current hyper-conservative moment, and why his very existence seems to short-circuit traditional ideas of power, patriotism, and Latinidad. From parasocial fan entitlement to moral panics disguised as “concern,” we explore how fandom, identity, and backlash collide. Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles, @imanharirikia. Thank you to our sponsors! Join the loyalty program for renters at https://joinbilt.com/cult To learn more about how to support Minnesota’s immigrant communities, check out this MSP Mag article, which shares several ways to offer help or find support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We know them. We giggle at them, occasionally. These days, more and more of us admire their simple, tech-free lives. The Amish are often held up as the ultimate model of intentional community, living by principles that seem radically disconnected from our chaotic modern world. But behind the horse-drawn buggies and picturesque farmlands lies a tightly controlled society with its own strict bishops, its own rules for shunning, and its own definition of what it means to be “in the world, but not of it.” This week, Amanda and Reese are joined by Amish-turned-stripper Naomi Swartzentruber (@amishinspiration) to ask the uncomfortable question: when does a religious community become a cultural fortress? Get your butter churners prepped, we’re breaking down the barn doors to ask: is the cult of the Amish a faith, a lifestyle, or a cult? 🧈 Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles, @imanharirikia. Thank you to our sponsors! To save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain Head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.squarespace.com/CULT Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to https://Quince.com/slac Content warning: This episode includes discussion of sexual assault. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Amanda, Reese, and Chelsea are back from hiatus and joined by tech journalist Amanda Silberling (@amandasilberling) to take on The Cult of ChatGPT, the fast growing congregation of users who’ve turned an AI tool into a trusted authority, therapist, oracle, and romantic partner. We’re diving into why ChatGPT feels so intimate, how people are outsourcing thinking and decision making to a machine, and when convenience starts to look a little culty. We also break down the growing legal scrutiny around AI, including high profile lawsuits, accountability gaps, and what happens when automated advice collides with real world harm. Delete your em-dashes, because if you’ve ever named your chat bot (looking at you Chelsea), it might be time to ask who’s really in charge. 🤖🧠⚖️ Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles, @imanharirikia. Thank you to our sponsors! This January, quit overspending on wireless with 50% off Unlimited premium wireless at https://MintMobile.com/cult Download the Acorns app to get started or head to https://acorns.com/CULT Content warning: This episode includes discussion of suicide and mental health crises. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sounds Like A Cult is still taking a wee break, but we’re leaving you with a little Easter egg 🐍 In this special episode, we’re sharing an exclusive audiobook excerpt from Amanda’s New York Times bestselling book The Age of Magical Overthinking (now out in paperback!) from her chapter on the psychology of Swiftie culture, analyzing the fine line separating admiration and identity from obsession and even culty criminality. Consider this a sermon, a confession, and a gentle side eye at celebrity worship in the modern age. Long live! Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles. Thank you to our sponsors! Join the loyalty program for renters at ⁠https://joinbilt.com/CULT To save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain Head to ⁠⁠https://www.squarespace.com/CULT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You asked. We panicked. Then we hit record. This week, Sounds Like A Cult turns the microscope inward for The Cult of Podcast Hosts, a very unserious, extremely revealing Q&A episode where your cultie hosties, Amanda, Reese, and Chelsea, answer listener questions about everything from conspiracy theories they lowkey believe to cult verdicts they absolutely regret handing out. We’re talking parasocial projection, hot takes we wish we could un-say, behind-the-scenes mess, and what it’s actually like to be perceived by strangers with headphones and opinions. Pause your shower and grab your Labubu because if anyone sounds like a cult, it might be us. Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles. Thank you to our sponsors! To save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain Head to ⁠⁠https://www.squarespace.com/CULT Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at https://www.rula.com/cult #rulapod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What happens when a church treats teenage hormones like a moral emergency… and then appoints its own therapists to fix it? This week, Amanda and Reese are joined by John Dehlin (@johndehlin) of the Mormon Stories podcast (@mormstories) to unpack the deeply culty world of Mormon Therapy, where normal human behavior gets pathologized and sexual shame is framed as “treatment.” Join us as we unpack how Mormon teachings around sex, purity, and control have led to widespread sexual dysfunction, guilt, and fear and how “therapists” trained to protect doctrine (not patients) can do real psychological harm. From compulsory confessions to the pipeline that produces figures like Jodi Hildebrandt, this episode traces how moral panic masquerades as mental health care. Also, fair warning: if you take a shot every time John says the word masturbate, you will absolutely need to lie down afterward. Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube! Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles. Thank you to our sponsors! Join the loyalty program for renters at https://joinbilt.com/CULT= Order online or download the free 1-800 Contacts app today at ⁠Https://1800contacts.com To save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain Head to ⁠https://www.squarespace.com/CULT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices