Guru: The Dark Side of Enlightenment

By Wondery

Society & Culture

What's Guru: The Dark Side of Enlightenment about?

When we face challenges in life, we seek answers from people we believe can help us. When tragedy strikes an exclusive retreat with a self-help superstar, many people are left to wonder: how far is too far? James Arthur Ray was an Oprah-endorsed self-help teacher who achieved fame, fortune, and influence. But friends and family members of his followers questioned his unorthodox methods, and tried to stop him. From Wondery, the makers of “Dirty John,” “Dr. Death,” and “The Shrink Next Door,” comes a story about the dark side of enlightenment. Hosted by journalist Matt Stroud. Available exclusively on Wondery+ or on Amazon Music with a Prime membership or Amazon Music Unlimited subscription.

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LAST EPISODE

Listen Now – Over My Dead B...

08.21.2023

When Mike Williams vanishes on a hunting trip, the authorities suspect he was eaten by alligators but the true predators who took Mike may lurk much closer to home. The mystery of Mike’s disappearance might have faded from memory, if ...

Guru: The Dark Side of Enlightenment episodes:

08.21.2023 Listen Now – Over My Dead Body: Gone Hunting When Mike Williams vanishes on a hunting trip, the authorities suspect he was eaten by alligators but the true predators who took Mike may lurk much closer to home. The mystery of Mike’s disappearance might have faded from memory, if ...
07.31.2023 Listen Now - Think Twice: Michael Jackson More than a decade since Michael Jackson’s death, his legacy remains complicated and unresolved. Think Twice: Michael Jackson is an exploration of the King of Pop’s life and impact – and an investigation into why his global influence continues to ...
07.17.2023 Listen Now: Suspect "Five Shots in the Dark" Suspect is an investigative series about mislaid justice and the kinds of weighty decisions that detectives, lawyers, and jurors make every day - decisions that, once made, are almost impossible to reverse. Season 3: Five Shots in the Dark follows ...
06.19.2023 Wondery Presents: Diss and Tell Savage subtweets. Scathing diss tracks. Tell-all memoirs. These are the weapons that celebrities use to wage modern social warfare against each other. Feuds between celebrities captivate us like nothing else. Why are there so many fights that play out for ...
06.05.2023 Listen Now: Spellcaster: The Fall of Sam Bankman-Fried From Wondery and Bloomberg, the makers of The Shrink Next Door, comes a new story of incredible wealth, betrayal, and what happens when “doing good” goes really, really bad. When nerdy gamer Sam Bankman-Fried rocketed to fame as the world’s ...
05.01.2023 Wondery Presents - Flipping The Bird: Elon vs Twitter When Elon Musk posted a video of himself arriving at Twitter HQ carrying a white sink along with the message “let that sink in!” It marked the end of a dramatic takeover. Musk had gone from Twitter critic to “Chief ...
04.17.2023 Wondery Presents Generation Why: Kalief Browder The Generation Why Podcast released its first episode in 2012 and pioneered the true crime genre in the podcasting world. Now, in a special, 4-part series, The Generation Why podcast unravels the story of Kalief Browder. A young boy who ...
01.23.2023 Wondery Presents: Frozen Head Hosted by Ash Kelley and Alaina Urquhart from the hit show Morbid. When 90-year-old Laurence Pilgeram drops dead on the sidewalk outside his condo, you might think that’s the end of his story. But, really, it’s just the beginning. Because ...
12.15.2022 Wondery Presents American History Tellers: Presidential Assassinations On April 26th, 1865, Union soldiers closed in on the barn where Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirator David Herold were hiding. When Booth refused to give himself up, soldiers lit the barn on fire to drive him ...
06.15.2020 Introducing: Guru A search for spiritual guidance leads a group of strangers to seek help from a self-help guru. He’s part of a growing number of entrepreneurs giving workshops and seminars all over the US in the 2000s. His unorthodox methods and ...