By the 1970s, Comrade Bala's small collective had gone completely underground. His followers lived in constant fear of advanced Chinese technology capable of reading their thoughts, and killing them at any moment. Amidst the chaos, Comrade Bala fathered a child who would spend the first 20 years of her life in his strange home, a slave to the Maoist Collective. But when she finally escaped, she would be his downfall.
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“The Workers' Institute” Pt. 2 - Aravindan Balakrishnan

Doomsday predictions. Religious doctrines. Extraterrestrial orders. What really goes on inside a cult? Step into the minds of those who led and joined the most controversial organizations in history. Cults is a Spotify Original from Parcast.

Society & Culture

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History

Philosophy

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True crime

Nearly two decades after the Waco Siege, people are still wondering what transpired at the Branch Davidian compound. Though the government officially investigated and exonerated the FBI, some have found evidence of a massive cover-up. Did the government actually fire the first shot that led to 81 deaths? This episode is a crossover with Conspiracy Theories and originally aired October 2021.
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Waco Siege & Branch Davidians Pt. 2

On February 28th, 1993, ATF agents raided a compound in Waco, Texas, belonging to a religious group known as the Branch Davidians. A 51-day standoff ensued, ending in a violent siege. Eighty-one people lost their lives, many of them children — but to this day, no one knows which side fired first. This episode is a crossover with Conspiracy Theories and originally aired October 2021.
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Waco Siege & Branch Davidians Pt. 1

With more than 900 people dead, the Jonestown Massacre has sparked many theories over the past 40 years. Did the government have a hand in these deaths? Could the cult have been connected to the mysterious MK-Ultra program? And was Jim Jones murdered, or did he fake his own death? This episode originally aired on Conspiracy Theories.
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Jonestown Pt. 2

At the command of Jim Jones, more than 900 followers of The Peoples Temple drank a beverage laced with cyanide in an act that Jones labeled “revolutionary suicide.” But was this truly a mass suicide, or was it a mass murder? And why do some people think Jim Jones faked his own death? This episode originally aired on Conspiracy Theories. 
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Jonestown Pt. 1

This is the finale of our Serial Killers and Conspiracy Theories crossover: By 2011, the FBI was ready to reexamine the evidence. A theory emerged: What if the Mad Poisoner was actually the Unabomber? Ted Kaczynski had proven he was a revenge-seeking terrorist, and he had connections to Chicago. Perhaps he traded homemade bombs for poisoned pills. Or maybe the deadly concoctions came straight from the Johnson & Johnson facility itself. In the absence of clear answers, only theories remain… and rumors that someone is still out there, replacing Halloween treats with fatal tricks.
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“The Workers' Institute” Pt. 2 - Aravindan Balakrishnan

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