# From Waco to Tulsi Gabbard: How the news media struggle to cover cults

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/unspun-6601575/from-waco-to-tulsi-gabbard-how-the-news-media-struggle-to-cover-cults
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/unspun-6601575/from-waco-to-tulsi-gabbard-how-the-news-media-struggle-to-cover-cults.md
Podcast: [Unspun](https://stenobird.com/podcast/unspun-6601575)
Published: 2026-06-30T11:00:13+00:00
Episode link: https://mswmedia.com/show/unspun/
Audio file: https://pdst.fm/e/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/audio3.redcircle.com/episodes/9b0b2e0f-3594-4a0e-91f9-71ebfbfcfe87/stream.mp3
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Duration seconds: 1576

## Resource

What happens when secretive religious movements intersect with politics? In this episode of Unseen, Dr. Sturg begins with the present: recent reporting on Tulsi Gabbard and the Science of Identity Foundation before tracing the fascinating history of journalists covering new religious movements from the 1930s to today and on multiple continents. She has aliens, telepathy and a wild story about how a news guy actually tipped off the Branch Davidians. Links Here's the Washington Post piece on Gabbard (gift link) Check out the Heaven's Gate website - still maintained by some followers left behind just to keep it up. Hear the Hu sound from Eckankar for yourself. Follow @drsturg on Bluesky DrSturg's book, Detecting Deception: Tools to Fight Fake News teaches you how to identify this kind of shady language yourself, using real examples from the news. Check it out and be smarter! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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## Transcript

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