Ep. 342: The Cult That Sold Orgasms

What is orgasmic meditation? Where is the line between cutting-edge wellness & cult behavior? Is the word “cult” too divisive to be helpful? Ellen Huet is an award-winning investigative journalist who writes for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Businessweek. Gher investigative piece on OneTaste lead to the FBI investigation & eventually arrest of Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz. She also wrote EMPIRE OF ORGASM, chronicling how the sex self-help group twisted sexual abuse into personal growth.  In this episode we explore the new image of modern-day cults, the timeline of OneTaste & its leader & who is most vulnerable to cult recruitment. If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 305: ARE POLITICAL PARTIES JUST CULTS?! Guest:https://a.co/d/06drvW9D https://www.ellenhuet.com/ https://www.ellenhuet.com/about https://x.com/ellenhuet https://www.instagram.com/ehuet/  Sponsors: https://www.jordanharbinger.com/starterpacks/ https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/  00:00 — Sex, Cults & Startups01:16 — Wrong Beat, Right Story01:55 — The 15-Minute Practice03:51 — Wellness Has a Price Tag06:18 — Quit Your Job, Move In08:00 — Consent Gets Complicated13:01 — Bodies on the Line15:48 — Victimhood Is Forbidden17:51 — Free Meetup, Expensive Trap21:22 — Searching for Something Deeper23:09 — Gwyneth Approved It26:00 — Break the Debt Seal28:06 — Modern Cults Look Normal31:03 — Chatbots and Spiral Thinking33:32 — Red Flags to Watch36:18 — Nicole's Complicated Childhood41:54 — She Took the Practice43:26 — San Francisco Let It Slide45:29 — The Warehouse Experiment47:44 — WiFi Password: NotACult50:11 — The Woman Behind Nicole51:45 — Selling Her Own Vision53:33 — The Story Nobody Had Told56:49 — Guilty, Then Sentenced57:58 — Bored, Lonely, Missing It01:02:07 — Seeking a Presidential Pardon01:02:53 — Why People Believe ThingsRequest to join my private Facebook Group, MFR Curious Insiders: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BAt3bpwJC/Follow me in all the places:https://www.meredithforreal.com/  https://www.instagram.com/the_curiousintrovert/ [email protected]://www.youtube.com/meredithforreal https://www.facebook.com/curiousintrovert