Esoterica

Damien Echols loses bid for DNA testing of evidence from West Memphis murder investigation. He’ll appeal.

Circuit Judge Tonya Alexander ruled today in West Memphis that Damien Echols could not obtain evidence from the West Memphis Three murder case for enhanced DNA testing.

A release from a spokesman for Echols:

After two years of lies and unnecessary delays by the state of Arkansas that prevented the West Memphis 3’s Damien Echols from conducting state-of-the- art DNA testing on the evidence in the murder of three children in 1993, a court today ruled that Echols did not have the right to test forensic evidence.

The prosecution had argued, and the judge agreed that only those who were still incarcerated could test for DNA. This conclusion is based on the flawed assumption that the only consequence that matters from a conviction is its sentence. Hundreds of wrongfully convicted have sought relief after they were paroled and were “free.”

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A Little Bit Culty

Tangled Up in Teal: Jon Kasbe & Bits Sola on Making ‘The Deep End’

Dear Teal Swan: You continue to be a mystery wrapped in a riddle wrapped in wrap-around Oakleys. Are you okay? For reals, we’re getting some super hinky vibes from all seven layers of your auric field. Dear Everyone Else: In case you haven’t watched all four installments of The Deep End, you might want to catch up before you listen to this ALBC conversation with the filmmaking duo behind the series. In this episode, director/cinematographer Jon Kasbe and producer/writer Bits Sola join Sarah and Nippy to share what it was like inside Teal Swan’s campy, creepy world. But don’t get your plastic Mala beads in a twist, Teal Tribe: ‘campy’ and ‘creepy’ are our words, not theirs…and those two words are about the nicest things we could think of to say. Also? Sorry, not sorry, Teal…but you just can’t deep fake this shit.

Episode available since June 20, 2022

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A Little Bit Culty

Trust Fall: Dr. Natalie Feinblatt on Trauma, Addiction & Cult-Informed Therapy

Finding a therapist can be mission critical when you’re recovering from a culty situation, but the process of finding a clinician with basic cult awareness can be a total cluster. In this episode, Sarah and Nippy chat with Dr. Natalie Feinblatt about why more therapists need to get cult-informed and the Venn diagram overlap between trauma and addiction. She also chats with Sarah and Nippy about tangible techniques for getting unstuck when fight/flight/freeze mode takes over.

Episode available since June 13, 2022

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Holy Hell: Will Allen on Unmasking Buddhafield (Part 1)

Sarah and Nippy watched Holy Hell closely when they were exiting NXIVM back in 2016. It hit close to home: The documentary is an intimate look at the implosion of Buddhafield, a mysterious self-help cult formed by a charismatic character with an iffy backstory. In this episode, Sarah and Nippy welcome the film’s director Will Allen to talk about what it was like to shine a light on Jaime Gomez, the so-called spiritual guru at the twisted heart of the group. Will didn’t just film it all: he lived it. After joining Buddhafield as a freshly-minted film school grad, it consumed his world for twenty odd years with life-altering consequences. He was looking for a sense of community and purpose, but after the love bombing phase it was far from the blissed-out communal dream it was cracked up to be.

Five years after the film’s release, Will chats with Sarah and Nippy about how he’s doing now; his journey from unofficial in-house cult documentarian to whistleblower; and what it takes to disrupt patterns of abuse and coercive control in new agey circles. And be warned, dear listener, that this conversation delves into the same potentially triggering content that gave rise to Holy Hell’s apt title. As told in the film via multiple victims’ accounts, Gomez used weekly hypnotherapy sessions to sexually abuse and exploit young male devotees, Will among them. Please listen safely, and seek help if you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted.

Episode available since June 6, 2022

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A Little Bit Culty

Bigger Than the Pope: Jennings Brown on Teal Swan & The Fellowship of Friends (Part 2)

And…we’re back for an extra helping of conversation with investigative journalist Jennings Brown. If Part One’s exploration of creepy AF Youtube spiritual guru Teal Swan didn’t freak you out enough, there’s more Teal talk for you in this episode. Be sure to watch The Deep End docuseries and binge The Gateway podcast to learn more about how each new layer of the Teal Tribe onion seems to be stankier than the last.. We recommend not listening or watching before bed, unless you really dig nightmares.

Despite what Teal may think: She isn’t the center of the universe. She’s not even the center of the cultiverse. So we also use part 2 of our chat with Jennings to ramble from the dark corners of Utah’s Swan country to sunny Yuba County, California where the organization at the center of his Revelations podcast appears to be hard at work making fine wine and disturbing cult headlines. The Fellowship of Friends has some serious issues, and we’re still unpacking it all. Doomsday and rosé anyone?

Episode available since May 30, 2022

Off the Deep End with Teal Swan — UPDATED — Ep. 4

The Deep End | Official Trailer | Freeform

The Deep End S1E1 "The Lost Toys"
True Believers S1E4 "Teal Swan and the Wellness Tribe"
The Deep End S1E2 “The Safe Space”
The Deep End S1E3 “The Carousel”
The Deep End S1E4 “The Adversary” NEW

One of the first things I learned about Teal Bosworth Scott Swan — or teal, as I now refer to her — was that she was very, very famous. So famous that I wondered how it could be that I'd never heard of her. She reveled in her "fame" in a way that I'd never seen any "spiritual teacher" do. That was way back in 2013. In the years since, she's parlayed her social media popularity into some book deals and a smattering of regional interviews, but her path to mainstream success has not been a smooth one. As discussed here, it's been a bit rocky for the self-described "celebrity" who wanted to reach people on "every single continent," and was designed pretty and white by an Arcturian panel for that very reason.

She was, in her own words, "completely duped" by Gizmodo and Jennings Brown, who created "The Gateway" podcast. An interview with OZY magazine had been "antagonistic," by daring to ask her standard journalistic questions about the criticism of her. Her foray into mainstream media was starting to look more like a collision.

And then it got worse. She was interviewed by Lebo Diseko of the BBC, whose reportage lead to some of her videos being pulled from her YouTube channel and the abrupt removal of Teal Tribe from Facebook.

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Bigger Than the Pope: Jennings Brown on Teal Swan & The Fellowship of Friends (Part 1)

[Content Warning: This episode contains references to suicide, mental illness, and sexual assault. Listener discretion advised.] Youtube spiritual guru Teal Swan says she saves lives. Others say she’s dangerously death-obsessed. We say she’s serving strong “9 Perfect Strangers” villain vibes with a side order of night terrors. But that’s just us. We wanted an expert’s perspective, so we called on investigative journalist for this episode to help us understand more about Teal’s world. As a senior reporter at Gizmodo, Jennings traveled to rural Utah, the forests of Costa Rica, and smack dab into the middle of Teal’s inner circle to understand her teachings and investigate the deaths of some of her followers.

His unprecedented access to her group is at the heart of a six part podcast called - which we highly recommend as critical listening for anyone wanting to learn more about Teal’s whole vibe from a safe distance. He joins us today to talk about the sharp edges woven into her carefully-curated, hypnotic image, and how spiritual hucksters are gaming the algorithm and manipulating people’s most vulnerable moments. We also talk to him about his newest Spotify Original podcast series: which follows a California cult that combines doomsday prophecies and fine wine. And TBH, we get so carried away that we go into extra innings. Enjoy this first episode with Jennings - and we’ll be back next week with part two.

Episode available since May 23, 2022

Esoterica

NASA recorded a black hole’s song, and you can listen to it

If a black hole devours a planet and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound? Physicists and astronomers have been trying to map astronomical data through sound for decades—and now we can finally listen to a black hole scream into the void.

Earlier this month, NASA released the first recordings, or sonifications, of what two black holes sound like—and it’s just the kind of noise astronomers and science fiction buffs were expecting: eerie, ethereal, and aurally extraordinary.

The universe is rife with the hum of celestial melodies—but it’s only relatively recently that humans have developed the technology to be able to hear them. A team of scientists at NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory were able to extract and make audible previously identified sound waves from a nearly 20-year-old image of the Perseus galaxy cluster—a collection so full of galaxies, it’s assumed to be one of the most massive objects in the universe. It’s one of the closest clusters to Earth, around 240 light-years away.

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Circle Sanctuary Network Podcasts

Circle Sanctuary's Circle Talk - Alise Marie

Join us on Circle Talk as Alise Marie teaches us how to explore the power of nature by crafting plant-powered elixirs, oils and creams to achieve ageless beauty and self-confidence that is our birthright. Her book, The Beauty Witch’s Secrets is our guide to uncovering these timeless secrets.

Tue, May 17, 2022 08:00 pm [Eastern]

Nature Spirituality with Selena Fox - Fire Rituals

Sacred work with the Element Fire through invocations, incantations, meditations, imagery, folkways, and other forms of ceremonial practices.

Wed, May 18, 2022 08:00 pm [Eastern]

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Circle Sanctuary Network Podcasts

Nature Spirituality with Selena Fox - Air Rituals

Sacred work with the Element Air through invocations, incantations, meditations, imagery, folkways, and other forms of ceremonial practices.

Wed, May 11, 2022 08:00 pm [Eastern]

Nature Mystic with Selena Fox - Full Moon Magic

Ritual ways to attune to and work with the powers of Full Moon time for healing, wellness, and spiritual wisdom.

Encore of Nature Magic from March 3, 2015

Sun, May 15, 2022 07:00 pm [Eastern]

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/csnp

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Circle Sanctuary's Circle Talk - Carmen Turner-Schott

Curious about Astrology and would like to know more about your sun sign, including self-care affirmations to optimal strategies for healing and transformation. Join us on Circle Talk as we chat with author Carmen Turner-Schott about her book, Sun Signs, Houses & Healing.

Tue, May 3, 2022 08:00 pm [Eastern]

Nature Spirituality with Selena Fox - Earth Rituals

Sacred work with the Element Earth through invocations, incantations, meditations, imagery, folkways, and other forms of ceremonial practices.

Wed, May 4, 2022 08:00 pm [Eastern]