Why Would You Ask That?

In our first non cult-based episode this Black History Month, we talk about heroes who fought for their, and others, freedom against huge odds and touched lives  through history. Since you've been listening to a lot of cult content lately and had several small episodes lately, here's a longer episode with three stories of amazing people who steer themselves head first into danger for freedom, who use intelligence and stealth to turn the tides of a war, and who singlehandedly held the line against a troop of enemy soldiers.  CW: Slavery, War, Guns/Gunshot Wounds, General Violence, Poverty Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

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It's Black History Month, and as we are wrapping up our cult talk for a while to focus on talking about the cool Black folks who deserve talking about (for more than this month, but we're focusing especially hard right now too). To end our cult talk, we're looking at a man who straddled a lot of lines: cult leader and civil rights activist, man and god, about 5 different religions, and influencing our society in good and horrible ways.  CW: Death, Control (bodily, financial), Murder (a single sentence) Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

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Sometimes God reaches out and shakes a person, telling them, "How about we knock off being evil for a while?" Granted, God lives in the back of their mind, but hey! It happens! And sometimes, in weird ways. And sometimes, you get extremely popular cabinets and brooms out of it. This is part two in conversation about the Shakers where we talk about how exactly the Shakers were told by God to knock off being evil and the ways their economic impact in their own lives still affect us now. CW: Racism, Slavery Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-would-you-ask-that--5784165/support.

Sometimes God reaches out and shakes a person, telling them, "How about we knock off being evil for a while?" Granted, God lives in the back of their mind, but hey! It happens! And sometimes, in weird ways. And sometimes, you get extremely popular cabinets and brooms out of it. In this episode, we talk about the Shakers and how they got their start here in the United States. We experienced some technical issues when uploading this episode that resulted in losing a portion of it, so this week you get a short one with a part two this weekend. We're sorry it was late being posted. That was a result of the technical issues as well.  CW: Miscarriage, Abandonment  Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

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Basically since the moment the pilgrims landed in the U.S. there have been cults here. From the beginning until now, the U.S. has had its fair share of self-professed messiahs. The week before last we posted an episode about our own personal experiences with cults, and this week, we're starting a tour of American Messiahs from the first to the contemporary. In this one, we're talking history, the pilgrims, the surprising ideology early cults were working with, why early America was such a fertile place to cults, and who The Public Universal Friend is.  CW: religious talk, cult talk, persecution, police  Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

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M and Karen are finishing up their move, and then we'll be back to our regularly scheduled program, but until then, we wanted you to have something to enjoy. So this week, M is bringing you a mini episode about the Champawat Tiger. The events of this tigers life and the ones discussed in the episode have been the subject of books, movies, and TV shows for a century. On this episode, M will tell you the harrowing story of the Champawat tiger, the Maneater of Kumaon, and Jim Corbett, her hunter. CW: Animal Violence both toward the animal and to the animal, death Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

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As we mentioned in the last episode, M and Karen are moving! You might have heard us mention that M and Karen used to have another podcast before this one, so while we're on a brief break as they move, we've ported over an episode from there. The audio is a little scratchy in places, and I'm sorry I couldn't clean it all up. So for this week, enjoy an extra long episode where the three of us talk about cults. We're going to look at the history of cults in the U.S., our own personal experiences in cults or almost being in cults, and some cults that are still active near us.  CW: Religious talk, All sorts of abuse (more detailed list is talked through in the intro to the episode) Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

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It's rolling over to the new year, and we're talking hypothetical new year resolutions. Let's aim as high as we can so when we all do that thing where we don't actually follow through with our plans we're starting from way up and can still end on a high note. That's the theory anyway. And how much more aspirational can you get than taking over the world? So hang out while bullshit out way through some hypothetical take overs (and remember, we're all writers so this is all fiction) with some detours into our favorite cartoons and games.  CW: We're talking world domination so War, Violence, Cults, Politics Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

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Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. You might not know, but the symbols you associate with Christmas - whether you're coming from a secular or religious background - have their roots in very different practices than how they're being used now. In this episode, we'll look at the history of how people have celebrated Christmas (or been told they can't), how recently some of our Christmas traditions were established, and what all the symbols of this holiday originally meant.  CW: rioting, blood Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

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Winter festivities are not confined to the big jolly round man. And as such: we talk about em. Us three are all over the place trying to bring old and new to the table— eat up! This week, we've got a lot of talk about various Yule type observances, Kwanzaa, everyone's favorite Christmas devil Krampus, and the skeleton horse Mari Lwyd. Also, if you celebrate any of these things, I hope you have a good time doing it, and feel free to email us and correct us or tell us about your celebrations!  *A correction for this episode: We cited a professor of Old Norse who specializes in the language, literature, and mythology of that culture. We mis-quoted his name as Dr. Jackson Campbell, but he name is Jackson Crawford.  CW: Single line mentions of fascism and sexual assault, police brutality, hitting children with sticks (it's literally Krampus' whole job), animal sacrifice Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-would-you-ask-that--5784165/support.