Gabriel of Urantia: The So-Called Prophet from Pittsburgh

In this bonus episode of The Inner Empire, I read my recent article, “The Uses of Manson,” originally published in ⁠Failed State Update⁠.

Charles Manson has been used to explain everything from the collapse of the 1960s counterculture to the supposed workings of a CIA mind-control program. But the stories people tell about Manson often reveal more about the storytellers than their subject. In that sense, his story gets at one of the central concerns of The Inner Empire: how beliefs are manufactured, circulated, and eventually mistaken for reality.

Be sure to subscribe to Failed State Update at: ⁠https://lennyflatley.substack.com/⁠

And be sure to listen to The Inner Empire wherever you get your podcasts.

From Joseph L. Flatley, author of New Age Grifter and creator of The So-Called Prophet from Pittsburgh

THE INNER EMPIRE is a podcast that pulls together a lot of what I’ve spent years reporting on and thinking about: cults, the occult, conspiracy culture, and the platforms that have inserted themselves directly into our daily life.

Here’s the simplest way I can put it: for five hundred years, people have known how to install a belief in someone’s mind: magicians did it with ritual and symbol, cults did it with repetition and isolation, ad men did it with images. What’s changed is that the same basic mechanism now runs automatically, every time you open an app, with nobody at the controls. This show is about tracing that mechanism across history and figuring out how it ended up running our lives without anyone deciding it should.

Enjoy this introduction. Be sure to subscribe so you can hear new episodes when are released.

Available wherever you get your podcasts.

And be sure to sign up for my newsletter, Failed State Update: ⁠⁠https://lennyflatley.substack.com/⁠

Joshua Lilly is a former follower of Gabriel of Urantia, the subject of this podcast as well as my latest book, New Age Grifter. He’s also something of a “fan favorite,” so — due to popular demand — I am giving him an (almost 2 hours long!) episode of my FAILED STATE UPDATE podcast to tell us about his life and times in (and out of) a religious cult.

This is a preview of an episode for FAILED STATE UPDATE newsletter subscribers. To subscribe for free, go to: https://lennyflatley.substack.com/

My book on the group, titled New Age Grifter: The True Story of Gabriel of Urantia and his Cosmic Family is available now on Amazon.

In a bit of a departure for THE SO-CALLED PROPHET FROM PITTSBURGH, I'm crossposting an episode of my other podcast, FAILED STATE UPDATE about a cult leader you may have heard of named Donald Trump.

Mark Laxer is an author and former follower of the cult leader Frederick Philip Lenz. He broke away from Lenz some time ago, only to realize recently that Trump's base is going through the same process that he went through as a member of a destructive cult. Mark has written about this in two books: Take Me for a Ride: Coming of Age in a Destructive Cult (1993) and his latest, Rama Trauma Trump: I Left the Cult and Now Look What Happened.

Mark Laxer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/marklaxer

Read Rama Trauma Trump for free: https://www.ramatraumatrump.com/

Joseph L. Flatley website: https://www.lennyflatley.net

Joseph L. Flatley Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennyflatley

Failed State Update Newsletter: https://lennyflatley.substack.com

MUSIC: "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" and "Right Wing Pigeons" by the Dead Milkmen

My new book about Gabriel of Urantia is available for preorder on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/New-Age-Grifter-Gabriel-Urantia/dp/1627311106

Joshua Lilly (spiritual name: VanMon) was brought into the Global Community Communications Alliance as a kid, kicked out, and joined again as an adult. Practically his entire family is still in the group. In this in-depth conversation, Josh relates the path that brought him to Gabriel of Urantia twice. We also discuss cult members' motivations, cult "mind control" techniques, how the group gets its money, and the spiritual elitism in our culture. At the beginning of the episode, I share a little bit about how the GCCA is handling the COVID-19 crisis.

My new book about Gabriel of Urantia is available for preorder on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/New-Age-Grifter-Gabriel-Urantia/dp/1627311106

Read the new story "The Cult of CosmoPop" here: https://pleasekillme.com/cosmopop/

Ed Opperman is like a character in a movie: private investigator, native New Yorker, conspiracy researcher, and former Yippie. It was a pleasure to talk to him on his radio show about THE SO-CALLED PROPHET FROM PITTSBURGH (including some new wrinkles in the story, available here for the first time). We also spoke about my new FAILED STATE UPDATE podcast and newsletter.

The Opperman Report website: http://www.oppermanreport.com

Ed Opperman on Twitter: https://twitter.com/oppermanreport

Failed State Update podcast: https://anchor.fm/failedstateupdate

Failed State Update newsletter: https://lennyflatley.substack.com

My new book about Gabriel of Urantia is available for preorder on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/New-Age-Grifter-Gabriel-Urantia/dp/1627311106

In our first podcast episode of the post-COVID-19 world, we speak with So-Called Prophet executive producer K. Gerard about the two major media exposes of the GCCA—the 1998 episode of Dateline NBC titled "True Believers," and the 2011 documentary Kumaré. You'll also hear more from my interview with Shiloh, an ex-member who witnessed the filming of Kumaré firsthand.

My new book about Gabriel of Urantia is available for preorder on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/New-Age-Grifter-Gabriel-Urantia/dp/1627311106

Bryce (cosmic name: Asalen) is a 23-year man who was dragged into the GCCA by his mother when he was ten years old. When he heard the podcast, Bryce contacted me to tell his story.In this conversation, Bryce talks about his time in the GCCA, children being utilized for manual labor, and how he came to believe he was on the first "psychic circle" with Gabriel himself. Bryce currently lives in a group home and is being treated for bipolar disorder.

My new book about Gabriel of Urantia is available for preorder on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/New-Age-Grifter-Gabriel-Urantia/dp/1627311106

In this extended conversation with Gabriel's daughter, we'll learn what Sanskrita has been up to since I finished production on the first season. We'll also learn about the lives of the kids in the GCCA and hear about the good and the bad sides of life in Avalon Gardens.

My new book about Gabriel of Urantia is available for preorder on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/New-Age-Grifter-Gabriel-Urantia/dp/1627311106

This is the final episode of the series (for now) and probably the best one yet. It's definitely the most upsetting. Topics covered include incidents of sexual abuse and the mistreatment of children in the GCCA. I also take a trip to the guru's childhood home and recount the story of his former son-in-law (and how he wound up in prison).Thanks for listening. And don't unsubscribe, as I'll be uploading plenty of bonus content into the near future.Warning: this episode includes discussion of sexual abuse.