Cults on Vice

A Cult Is Trying to Recruit Bob Dylan Fans

Did you know that “Blowin' in the Wind” was about Dylan recognizing “that if hope for a better life in a better world dies in the human heart, evil will reign forever over the human race”? Or that "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" lets us know that "a day of reckoning is coming for all the injustice and cruelty and selfishness that fills humanity"? Me either. Full story

The 40-Year-Old Town at the End of the World

We traveled to Nueva Jerusalén, a town run by apocalyptic priests who say they receive orders from the Virgin Mary, to see why people there were so angry they destroyed a public school with sledgehammers. Full story

Happy Science Is the Laziest Cult Ever

Last Saturday I had an appointment with the Parisian branch of Happy Science, a syncretic Japanese sect that appears to be made up of the most contradictory, gross, bizarre ideas the world has ever mustered up. Full story

Visions of L. Ron

Based on the covers of six L. Ron Hubbard story compilations. Full story

The Five Best Gravity Records Tracks

Nathan Aguilar of Cults and Census found the Gravity records scene as a teenage punk and talks about five Gravity songs that define the label, the San Diego scene, and his childhood. Full story

The Grinberg Method

Sandra sat me on a massage table, naked feet forward, and proceeded to ask me the standard opening questions of psychotherapy. Instead of meticulously taking notes, she responded to my answers by squeezing my toes and kneading my feet. This was weird, but not entirely unpleasant… Full story

Fringes

Cult Kids: Westboro

We followed the story of the Westboro Baptist Church. They welcomed us into their homes and gave us access to 17 years of home video footage. In return, we produced an unbiased look into the lives of one of America's most despised organizations. Full story

Cargo Cults Have Been Eating People

I was pretty shocked to learn that a nonsensical belief in a made up deity could lead the "cargo cults" that live on the Pacific Island of Tanna to perform acts of violence, so I decided to call Inspector Jacob Bando of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary. Full story

The Pacific Island Where a Dead US Soldier and Prince Philip Are Gods

Tanna's Cargo Cults want a dead black soldier from WWII and the Queen's hubby to appear in the sky and bring about the apocalypse. Full story

Scientology's "Celebrity" Magazine Will Make Me Famous

All this time I’d been relying on my incredible talent, my very white teeth, banging the right people, and just a little bit of luck, and now I know the real reason why I’m not yet mega-famous. Full story