Amy Carlson claimed to be the reincarnation of Robin Williams, Joan of Arc, Marilyn Monroe, Jesus Christ and the Hawaiian goddess Pele—along with being Elvis Presley’s mother and Donald Trump’s daughter in other lifetimes. In 2023, the HBO documentary Love Has Won: The Mother God Cult traced Carlson’s journey from a McDonald’s manager in Dallas to cult leader, promoting beliefs that the COVID pandemic was planned, 9/11 was staged, Sandy Hook was a hoax and drinking silver particles was a path to spiritual and physical healing.

Blending QAnon, New Age mysticism, authoritarian religion, pseudoscientific wellness influencers and science denial, Love Has Won thrived until Carlson’s mysterious death in 2021, when followers drove her mummified body from Oregon to Colorado, awaiting her reincarnation. Today, as conspiracy theories move further into the mainstream, I’m joined by her former lover, Andrew-Ryan Profaci, to talk about community, belonging, loss, power, and the cults that hide not just in buildings—but in ideas.

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