{"podcast":{"title":"Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes","slug":"conspiracy-theories-cults-crimes-7424027","podcast_index_feed_id":7424027,"rss_url":"https://rss.amperwave.net/v2/feed/audacynetwork/conspiracy-theories-cults-crimes","website_url":"https://www.pavestudios.com/crimehouse","image_url":"https://images.castfire.com/image/661/0/0/0/0-8476765.jpg","author":"Crime House","episode_count":119,"summary":"Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes explores true stories of belief taken too far: murderous cults, criminal cover-ups, mass manipulation, and the conspiracies that still won't die. Hosted by Vanessa Richardson, three weekly episodes dig into cases like Jonestown, Heaven's Gate, CIA mind control experiments, and presidential assassinations. This is true crime at the intersection of faith, fear and manipulation. Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes is a Crime House Original, powered by PAVE Studios. Follow us on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe to @crimehousestudios on YouTube and follow us @crimehouse on Instagram.","last_synced_at":"2026-09-04T16:17:45.456626+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/conspiracy-theories-cults-crimes-7424027"},"episode":{"title":"CULT: Knights of the Golden Circle","slug":"cult-knights-of-the-golden-circle","published_at":"2026-07-29T07:01:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/conspiracy-theories-cults-crimes-7424027/cult-knights-of-the-golden-circle","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/conspiracy-theories-cults-crimes-7424027","url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/serve.castfire.com/audio/8240477/8240477_2026-04-14-024217.256.mp3?rssID=5994","audio_url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/serve.castfire.com/audio/8240477/8240477_2026-04-14-024217.256.mp3?rssID=5994","summary":"In 1854, an adventurer named George Bickley founded a secret society with a singular goal: build a slave empire stretching from the American South through Mexico, Cuba, and the Caribbean. He called it the Knights of the Golden Circle. Within a few years, it had grown into a powerful underground network that pushed secession, seized federal arsenals, and intimidated unionists across the South. Some historians have linked it to early plots against Abraham Lincoln, four years before John Wilkes Booth finished the job. When the war ended, the Knights didn't disband. They went underground, reportedly burying millions in gold across the South to finance a second Civil War that never came. Treasure hunters are still digging. In this episode of Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes, Vanessa Richardson examines the secret society that helped start the Confederacy, may have helped kill a president, and left behind a trail of buried gold that no one has fully accounted for. Head over to our YouTube channel to WATCH our video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@crimehousestudios   If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes to never miss a case! To hear episodes ad-free and released a day early, subscribe to Crime House+. Join at crimehouseplus.com or if you’re listening on Apple Podcasts, tap “Try Free” at the top of this show’s page. Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios. 🎧 Need More to Binge?  Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of…, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Crime House 24/7, Murder True Crime Stories and more wherever you get your podcasts! Follow me on Social Instagram: @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios X: @crime…","meta_description":"In 1854, an adventurer named George Bickley founded a secret society with a singular goal: build a slave empire stretching from the American South through…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2453,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/conspiracy-theories-cults-crimes-7424027/episodes/cult-knights-of-the-golden-circle/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/conspiracy-theories-cults-crimes-7424027/cult-knights-of-the-golden-circle.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}