{"podcast":{"title":"Sounds Like A Cult","slug":"sounds-like-a-cult-3798336","podcast_index_feed_id":3798336,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/soundslikeacult","website_url":"https://www.soundslikeacult.com/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/03799cba-bf30-11ef-bf8e-e3714d41411a/image/baca8fec6e9ed51eda6138497bbffee0.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Studio71","episode_count":227,"summary":"Putting the “cult” in culture… Do you think SoulCycle is a cult? What about the Royal Family? What about Disney Adults? Or spiritual influencers? Is Instagram itself a cult? We’re Sounds Like A Cult, an iHeart Radio Award-winning podcast that analyzes a different fanatical group every week to try and answer the big question: This ~sounds~ like a cult, but is it really? Created and hosted by New York Times-bestselling author Amanda Montell, co-hosted and produced by Chelsea Charles, Reese Oliver, and Iman Hariri Kia. For advertising opportunities please email PodcastPartnerships@Studio71us.com We want to make the podcast even better, help us learn how we can: https://bit.ly/2EcYbu4 Privacy Policy: https://www.studio71.com/terms-and-conditions-use/#Privacy%20Policy ","last_synced_at":"2026-07-21T16:17:22.805307+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sounds-like-a-cult-3798336"},"episode":{"title":"The Cult of Gooning","slug":"the-cult-of-gooning","published_at":"2026-06-30T07:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sounds-like-a-cult-3798336/the-cult-of-gooning","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sounds-like-a-cult-3798336","url":"https://pdst.fm/e/mgln.ai/e/135/verifi.podscribe.com/rss/p/tracking.swap.fm/track/i7NUCPwi3tJP053nG6mP/traffic.megaphone.fm/STU6580040806.mp3?updated=1734745095","audio_url":"https://pdst.fm/e/mgln.ai/e/135/verifi.podscribe.com/rss/p/tracking.swap.fm/track/i7NUCPwi3tJP053nG6mP/traffic.megaphone.fm/STU6580040806.mp3?updated=1734745095","summary":"Today's episode is brought to you by Incognito Mode. This week, Amanda, Reese, and Iman descend into one of the internet's strangest corners: The Cult of Gooning. Joined by journalist Daniel Kolitz (@daniel.kolitz), author of Harper's viral feature The Goon Squad, the gang explores the bizarre online world where pornography has evolved into a full blown fandom complete with its own language, rituals, Discord servers, and the pursuit of the mythical \"goon state.\" From goon babble to goon caves, we're unpacking how irony, loneliness, porn culture, and the algorithm collided to create one of the internet's strangest subcultures. Is this just an extremely niche fetish or proof that men will invent literally anything except therapy? Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles, @imanharirikia. Pre-order Iman's new book, Once in a Timeline, here! Your pre-order helps make more books possible! Thank you to our sponsors! Join the loyalty program for renters at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://joinbilt.com/cult Go to https://MINTMOBILE.com/cult Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices","meta_description":"Today's episode is brought to you by Incognito Mode. This week, Amanda, Reese, and Iman descend into one of the internet's strangest corners: The Cult of…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3401,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/sounds-like-a-cult-3798336/episodes/the-cult-of-gooning/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sounds-like-a-cult-3798336/the-cult-of-gooning.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}