American Rehab Chapter 2: Miracle on the Beach

Reveal

The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX

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4.7 • 8K Ratings

🗓️ 4 July 2020

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Cenikor’s bizarre form of rehab has its roots in Synanon: a revolutionary rehab that started in the 1950s on a California beach. Its charismatic leader, Charles Dederich, mesmerized the nation by claiming to have developed a cure for drug addiction. The program became a phenomenon and quickly spread across the country. But soon, Dederich wanted to profit off its success, and this “miracle” began to change.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	From the Center for Investigative Reporting in PRX, this is Rev.
0:06.6	I'm Alex.
0:08.9	This is chapter 2 of American Rehab Miracle on the Beach.
0:12.9	If you haven't heard of chapter 1, stop right now.
0:16.3	Go back and listen.
0:17.3	I'll wait for you.
0:19.4	Okay, you good?
0:22.0	Let's go.
0:25.5	For years, Rev. Shoshana Walter has been investigating drug rehabs that send people to work
0:31.0	for free and keep all their pay.
0:34.1	And the deeper she dug, the more questions that came up.
0:37.7	One of my biggest questions, where does this work-based rehab come from?
0:42.6	And as I've learned from talking to hundreds and hundreds of people who've gone through
0:46.3	these types of programs, I kept hearing it wasn't just about work.
0:50.9	It also relies on a host of strange rules, punishments, and quote unquote therapies.
0:57.0	There's 17 different types of punishments you can get.
1:00.3	I've had all 17 of them.
1:01.9	I've been to all three synagogues.
1:03.9	Some of the punishments seemed like they were designed to be humiliating.
1:08.0	The first thing they did was they shaved my head.
1:11.8	They stripped you down, kind of like, take away everything that you think defines you.
1:16.1	In some cases, when people break a rule, they have to yell at themselves in the mirror.
	...

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