A multimedia interview with the creator of WFMU’s Music of Mind Control, a weekly radio show that plays the music of cults. Throughout the chat Micah Moses picks favorite jams from coercive groups ranging from the unheard of to notorious cults like Heaven’s Gate, The Peoples Temple and QAnon. You’ll find the soundtrack embedded in the article so you can listen while learning about this spectacularly bizarre program broadcasting from New Jersey.

The Source Family was a destructive cult that went on to form a psychedelic rock band. In this article, writer Jim Haller explores the world of Father Yod and the unlikely group of hippies that followed him. It’s a story that could have only arrived in the era that birthed the counter culture.

In this interview, we talk to the creator of an online account we’re obsessed with- Sonic Fights MLM’s, which is exactly what it sounds like. There are many anti-cult accounts on the internet, but this is the most original one we’ve ever seen. Find out the story behind this incredible mash-up here.

Writer Varity Lopez tells the story of her six years inside Sukyo Mahikari, a religious group from Japan with all kinds of red flags. This feature is about finding belief in strange places and how something as small as a headache can lead to indoctrination. This is a stunning first person account of going inside and finding your way out something that comes to control your life.

25 years after Heaven’s Gate ended with the deaths of 39 devotees their website is still online. Though it hasn’t been updated since the mass suicide, someone is still keeping the lights on. Who is responsible? It’s time for a look at the role the internet played in one of the most notorious cults of the 20th century.

Esther Waceke tells a personal story about her experience with The Akorino in her native Kenya. The community appears to be a safe space for members of quirky new religion that celebrates its tribal roots, but there are layers of control. Most of the rules are benign, like covering hair and walking barefoot. One tradition has our author terrified however.

Ervil LeBaron was an LDS cult leader responsible for the deaths of at least 30 people who he perceived as his enemies. It’s a story of murder and lust for power, but what was behind Ervil’s spree of terror? Raised by a cult leader in his own right and fed toxic theology from youth, there’s room to cast blame in places beyond the deadly mastermind.

A guide to identifying cultic groups including Rick Ross’s three characteristics all cults share, Alexandra Stein’s 19 warning signs and Steven Hassan’s BITE model.