For 50 years, Enthusiastic Sobriety programs have offered to help teenagers kick drugs and alcohol. But former followers say ES doesn’t save lives—it destroys them.
cults
Posted inCuration, Highlight, Nonfiction, profile
Dear Mom & Dad: We Need to Talk about QAnon
Children Of QAnon believers are desperately trying to deradicalize their parents.
Posted inEditor's Pick
My Childhood in a Cult
Actor, writer and screenwriter Guinevere Turner recalls growing up in a cult called “The Lyman Family,” and reveals its lingering effects on her, many years after her departure from it.
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction, Story
To Heil, or Not To Heil, When Traveling in the Third Reich
One of the first decisions any tourist had to make when crossing the German border in the mid-1930s was whether or not to “Heil Hitler.”
Posted inBusiness, Food, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
Pair These Wines With Armageddon and Veal
A California cult had more success producing award-winning wine than sustaining their religion, so why are thousands of bottles gathering dust in a storeroom?
Posted inArts & Culture, Books, Essays & Criticism, Fiction, Quotes, Unapologetic Women
When ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Isn’t Fiction
Growing up in the fundamentalist Christian “Quiverfull” movement, Hännah Ettinger saw her own story in Atwood’s vision.
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
Reading List: Religion Gone Extreme
Emily Perper is a word-writing human working at a small publishing company. She blogs about her favorite longreads at Diet Coker. Each of these stories this week is about a facet of religion gone extreme, and each is an example of why these pieces of longform journalism are important. There is detailed, professional storytelling, gripping […]
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
Reading List: Religion Gone Extreme
Emily Perper is a word-writing human working at a small publishing company. She blogs about her favorite longreads at Diet Coker. Each of these stories this week is about a facet of religion gone extreme, and each is an example of why these pieces of longform journalism are important. There is detailed, professional storytelling, gripping […]
Posted inNonfiction, Story
Caught Up in the Cult Wars: Confessions of a New Religious Movement Researcher
Susan J. Palmer | University of Toronto Press | 2001 | 38 minutes (9,328 words) The below article comes recommended by Longreads contributing editor Julia Wick, and we’d like to thank the author, Susan J. Palmer, for allowing us to share it with the Longreads community.