Episode
A Cult by Any Other Name with Joseph Laycock
- Podcast
- American Hysteria
- Published
- Feb 2, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4090
- Processing state
not_requested
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/american-hysteria-830600/episodes/a-cult-by-any-other-name-with-joseph-laycock/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/american-hysteria-830600/a-cult-by-any-other-name-with-joseph-laycock.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
Joseph Laycock is the author ofThe Penguin Book of Cults, and for this episode we discuss how our culture thinks of and reacts to what we oftentimes incorrectly identify as cults. His book delves into many lesser known examples of new religious movements from the 18th century into the early 20th century, groups made up of vampires, hollow earthers, and dangerous yogis, all of which we will be discussing today. Joe will help us better understand what a cult is and what a cult isn’t, and whether this label is helpful in a modern political context. Get a copy of Joe's book Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content Or subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts Get some of our new merch at americanhysteria.com, all profits go to The Sameer Project, a Palestinian-led mutual aid group who are on the ground in Gaza delivering food and supplies to displaced families. Leave us a message on the Urban Legends Hotline Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith Additional editing by Kaylee Jasperson Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices