Jennings meets Teal at her retreat center in Costa Rica. He spends a week there, observing her therapy methods and getting to know some of the people who leave their lives behind to live with Teal and run her spiritual startup. It all starts with a death meditation, and it only gets stranger from there. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a>

Jennings meets Teal at her retreat center in Costa Rica. He spends a week there, observing her therapy methods and getting to know some of the people who leave their lives behind to live with Teal and run her spiritual startup. It all starts with a death meditation, and it only gets stranger from there. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jennings meets Teal at her retreat center in Costa Rica. He spends a week there, observing her therapy methods and getting to know some of the people who leave their lives behind to live with Teal and run her spiritual startup. It all starts with a death meditation, and it only gets stranger from there. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices" rel="noopener noreferrer">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a>

Part 3: Philia

The Gateway is a six-part series about Teal Swan, a new brand of spiritual guru, who draws in followers with her hypnotic self-help YouTube videos aimed at people who are struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts. Some followers move to Teal’s healing center, a spiritual startup where they produce content and manage social media accounts. Teal insists her therapy saves lives, but her critics say Teal’s death-focused dogma is dangerous. Gizmodo reporter Jennings Brown traveled to rural Utah and to the forests of Costa Rica, with extensive access to Teal and her inner circle, to understand Teal's teachings and investigate the deaths of some of her followers.

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Part 3: Philia

Part 3: Philia

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