How to Become a Cult Leader

Season 1

2023 • 6 Episodes

Episodes

Build Your Foundation - How to Become a Cult Leader

1. Build Your Foundation

July 28, 2023

Embrace your calling and reinvent yourself by studying the life of petty criminal and folk rock troubadour-turned-murderous legend Charles Manson.

Grow Your Flock - How to Become a Cult Leader

2. Grow Your Flock

July 28, 2023

Build a fervent following by retracing the steps of Jim Jones, whose messiah complex turned a small healing grift into a dangerously loyal congregation.

Reform Their Minds - How to Become a Cult Leader

3. Reform Their Minds

July 28, 2023

Return to Buddhafield and unlock the mastery of manipulation with Jaimie Gomez, a failed actor who built an army of servants by promising enlightenment.

Promise Eternity - How to Become a Cult Leader

4. Promise Eternity

July 28, 2023

Apocalypse, anyone? Create credible danger and consolidate power by studying the spiritual, sci-fi narrative of Heaven's Gate leader Marshall Applewhite.

Control Your Image - How to Become a Cult Leader

5. Control Your Image

July 28, 2023

Leverage media coverage to cultivate a pious image like Shoko Asahara, who built the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo on positive PR and deadly methods.

Become Immortal - How to Become a Cult Leader

6. Become Immortal

July 28, 2023

Avoid unhappy endings and cement your legacy by studying Sun Myung Moon, who transformed the Unification Church into a still-thriving economic machine.