I was hiking a few days ago, and the podcast that I was listening to ended. I usually try to have extras downloaded, but I didn't, so it segued into whatever was "next" on some list that one of my selected episodes came from. I had been listening to a variety of podcasters about personality disorders and also how they effect people/families/etc. "Crime" is a popular topic for podcasters, so there are a lot of these types of podcasts that relate to serial killers, FBI profilers, etc, etc.
Anyway, to my surprise, that "next" podcast was a Dr. Phil episode about religious cults, and it caught my attention right away because in the "grab your attention" opener he made the point that the difference between a normal con man and a cult leader is the length of the con: that a "normal" con man victimizes people and flees with whatever he can get, but a cult leader is a con man who victimizes the same people repeatedly over a long period of time.
Well, right away I'm thinking Joseph's Myth, and ironically the first example he went to, and spent quite a bit of time on, was the FLDS.
Another interesting related podcast is Dear Franklin Jones. It is about another charismatic guy who had a cult form around him. He spoke a bunch of gibberish but some of it sort of made sense. It wasn't conventionally religious, but it gives a lot of insight about how people start to follow someone and not see how cultish it is.
I just finished the NetFlix four-part series "Keep Sweet" about Warren Jeffs and the FLDS. I thought I knew the details of the Yearning for Zion Ranch, etc. - but the fourth episode was eye-opening (and sickening) to me.
Who has ever heard of re-assigning young children from one mother to another, miles away? He groomed those young girls, from birth, to become his "wives" in what was nothing more than child-rape. His followers could not see they were in a cult.
I had the same experience: watched the show, initially thought it rather boring, and was horrified by what ultimately happened--the reassignment of women and children, the atrocity caught on that audio tape.
I had a similar experience with the series. Initially it seemed like a lot of re-hashed material--well-known but with a better quality of production--but the final episodes were eye-opening! I was aware of the wife "reassignments," but was not aware that children had been taken from their mothers (children taken to the ranch in Texas while their mothers were left in Short Creek).
Warren Jeffs is definitely a sick S.O.B. Those who enable him and/or go along are as well. What kind of man "marries" a 12 year old? What kind of father allows his 12 year old daughter to "marry" a middle aged man?
But for the fact that it happened, it would be unbelievable.
I listened to a few of these, but didn't really like it.. only because I found the podcast hosts commnets in between the recorded monologue of the guests super unfunny and cringe. I'm way more into interviews and interaction between the guests and hosts.
I listen to a podcast called Trust Me: Cults, Extrememe Belief and the Abuse of power. One of the girls is a former mormon who switched to a mormon offshoot cult. The other girl is a former member of the "two by twos". Some reviews have said they are annoying, but they are much more my speed. They have interviewed a lot of cool people, including Steve Hassan.