Have you or anyone you know been sucked into the cult of SoulCycle at the height of its popularity?

I definitely was a SoulCycle enthusiast, and I have many friends who also dabbled in the dark arts of SoulCycle,

and I'm here to recommend a podcast that I think is right up your alley.

My friend Jess created a seven-episode documentary podcast series that explores how

Soul Cycle captured the zeitgeist through ritual, candlelight, and the cold of personality.

The series is called Cult of Body and Soul and features interviews with instructors, front desk staff,

and corporate employees to uncover how they seduced writers into a full-blown obsession

with the brand. Here's the episode, which follows how SoulCycle exploded from being one

single shitty studio to a complete and utter phenomenon, with Lady Gaga and Michelle Obama,

counting themselves as super fans. For the first few months, Ruth was literally the only instructor.

There was nobody else teaching there. After that, like the core six, like the original six

instructors, the ones who are still there today, they all came from West Hollywood.

You had Lori Cole, who was an actress, big diva energy.

Then you had Sue, who was a fitness instructor, but she was also a full-time United Airlines flight

attendant.

I'm not kidding.

And she would fly cross-country working the flight, and then she would get to New York

and teach a spin class and then fly back

and work that flight and fly back to Los Angeles and teach that class.

And then you had Stacey Griffith, who was like the big one, who, you know, she's open about this.

She overcame drug addiction, meth, cocaine, and all of a sudden she's like Ellen DeGeneres

on a spin bike.

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