Halloween Special! Let's talk about demonologists!
It's our 2nd annual Halloween special episode!!! And that's doubly funny because Mike hates Halloween. For this year's special we take on TWO documentaries (and kind of a third one too) about Ed and Lorraine Warren, 20th century demon and ghost hunters extraordinaire. We discuss The Devil on Trial (Netflix 2023) and Devil’s Road: The True Story of Ed and Lorraine Warren (HBO Max, 2020). There's also a special cameo by the 2023 Canadian documentary about the Satanic Panic, Satan Wants You. But we also talk about Ghostbusters, why Mike doesn't do horror and why Merinda does, why we need horror stories and tales about demons, and Mike lore about genre-hopping Christian musician Carman. It's a spooky episode of Cult Favorite that goes great with candy corn!
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1:19:52
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1:19:52
Marcial Maciel: The Wolf of God (HBO Max, 2025)
This week’s documentary tracks a religious leader who separated followers from their families, made them take vows not to critique authority, engaged in shady financial misdeeds, strictly controlled access to information, launched attacks on defectors, and suggested that a critique of him was an attack on the church itself. But there is no “cult” talk! How come? We give our media kaleidoscope a turn and look into Marcial Maciel: The Wolf of God (HBO Max, 2025), noticing what a lack of “cult” rhetoric refracts and obscures when presented with the image of the Catholic church. Maciel formed the Legion of Christ congregation in the early 1940s. Over the next 50+ years, he would become an ally in Pope John Paull II’s fight against communism, he would bring in hundreds of millions of dollars to the church, and he would sexually abuse more than 60 children. When do we find the term “cult” to be a reasonable label, when do we not, and why? It’s the ol’ tree-falling-in-a-forest-with-no-one-around-to-hear-it question...sorta: If a group is exploited and no one’s around to call them a cult, what kind of documentary do we get? Come hang, and let’s find out! #cultdocumentary #cultfavorite #studyreligion Follow us on the socials at @cultfavoritepod.Production assistance from the Department of ReligiousStudies at the University of Alabama. Theme music produced with Udio.
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1:15:34
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1:15:34
The Synanon Fix: Is the Cure a Cult? (HBO Max, 2024)
This week we’re talking about The Synanon Fix: Did the Cure Become a Cult? (HBO, 2024),
yet another documentary that reminds us why we must always take care with a subtitle.
It’s the story of Synanon, a drug addiction treatment community founded in the late 1950s
by Chuck Dederich. The group offered solidarity and stability to people on society’s
margins, they were unapologetically integrated, and they threw great parties. The
centerpiece of their program was “the game,” which involved a lot of yelling and, ideally,
self-reflection and catharsis. Celebrities like Lucille Ball and Leonard Nemoy came to
hang, and there was even a movie made about them starring Eartha Kitt! Dederich became
increasingly invested in the wealthy, self-aggrandizing allies who made hefty donations
and less present for the people who helped build the group from the ground up. In the
process, the man who invented the literal game began breaking his own rules. We talk
about the ever-appealing rhetoric of individualism that got deployed even as assistance
turned into assimilation. We also talk about how the trope of “cult leader” helps the
documentary bury a lead regarding mental illness and psychosis. When and why do we
distinguish a group from its leader, and when/why do we choose not to? Learn about this,
as well as Mike’s new dog Otis. Follow us on the TikTok and Instagram at @cultfavoritepod.Production assistance from the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama. Theme music produced with Udio.
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Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser (Netflix, 2025)
Follow us on the socials at @cultfavoritepod.Production assistance from the Department of ReligiousStudies at the University of Alabama. Theme music produced with Udio.
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1:07:20
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Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel (Netflix, 2025)
Just how well do signifiers float, you ask? Well, we’re back with a corporate case study whose labels could serve as lifesavers. Examples include but are not limited to: “charisma” (=yelling + boss energy + money), “revolution” (=paying a fair wage), and, of course, “cult” (=a group of people trying hard for someone who’s a jerk). Pull on a comfy v-neck and go window shopping with us at American Apparel, which recently received Trainwreck treatment from Netflix. CEO Dov Charney first made waves by not subjecting workers to sweatshop conditions (revolutionary!) and then made waves by creating an abusive work environment of his very own (just another day at the office!) and then...went on to launch a new brand and keep making money elsewhere (you saw it coming!). As “cult” shows up with increasing frequency in public discourse about harm, the element of “religion” becomes more and more nebulous. We talk about this and then some, leaving you with our cult favs in the way of some TV recs for your consideration. Follow us on the socials at @cultfavoritepod. Production assistance from the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama. Theme music produced with Udio.
A podcast about all of those cult documentaries you love to binge watch. We are two religious studies professors that are curious about our current cult documentary streaming era. What stories do these shows tell and what do they tell us about ourselves?
Hosted by Merinda Simmons and Mike Altman
Colombia