“The Workers' Institute” - Aravindan Balakrishnan

In 1925 Willa had been dead for months, and yet she wasn't laid to rest. May Blackburn laid her in a tub of ice, mummified her, and buried her beneath her floorboards in Venice, California. The end of...

23 Apr 201949min

Many actors wait tables while they're waiting for their big break; May and Ruth Blackburn started a cult. In 1920s Los Angeles, this mother-daughter duo swindled a fortune from their followers while p...

16 Apr 201953min

After the cult was dogged with rumors of violent conversion tactics, the Church of the Almighty God blamed the Chinese government for the negative press. A more extreme example occurred in 2014, as th...

9 Apr 201944min

The Church of the Almighty God preached that Jesus Christ had been reborn and walked the Earth. She was here to save their souls before the world ended. In 1991, followers scrambled to prove how devot...

2 Apr 201946min

When the cult moved to Hawaii, James Baker never expected his penniless followers to find him. But once it became clear that they were willing to follow to the bitter end, he began planning a dramatic...

26 Mar 201956min

When James Baker started his health food restaurant on the Sunset Strip in the 1970s, he had no intention of creating a spiritual commune. But opportunity knocked, and soon, he was the leader of a yog...

19 Mar 201953min

For roughly 15 years, this guru was a beloved spiritual leader with hopes of opening a worship oriented theme park. In 1985, everything changed when a vicious attack resulted in a head injury, coma, a...

12 Mar 201948min

For 26 years, he was the guru and leader of the New Vrindaban cult in West Virginia. Kirtanananda Swami would turn this vacant land into a 1200-acre sanctuary for all faiths complete with an enormous ...

5 Mar 201951min