Paul and Patricia Bragg: The Mother of All Wellness Scams | 158
Scamfluencers
Wondery
4.1 • 7K Ratings
🗓️ 12 May 2025
⏱️ 59 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Paul Bragg used showmanship and outrageous claims to grow his health food company into a wellness empire. But after he died in his 90s and passed the company to his daughter, Patricia, people started asking questions. And soon it’s revealed that Paul and Patricia’s empire was built on a foundation of lies… about their products, and about themselves.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, scam influencers fans, Sachi here. |
| 0:02.2 | If you live for the outrageous stories and unbelievable cons that we cover, you need Wendry Plus. |
| 0:07.2 | It's like sitting in the room with us as we unravel every twist. |
| 0:10.5 | Add free a week ahead of everyone else and packed with exclusive content you won't hear anywhere else. |
| 0:16.1 | Start your free trial in the Wendry app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify now. |
| 0:34.2 | Sarah, is there any, let's say, woo-woo, hippie health thing that you believe in, but is maybe a little dubious? |
| 0:35.2 | You know what? |
| 0:36.6 | I'm just not that kind of person. |
| 0:38.9 | At all? I like medicine. I want hard drugs to cure me. You know what? I'm just not that kind of person at all. I like medicine. |
| 0:44.9 | I want hard drugs to cure me. You know what I mean? Yeah. I mean, I believe in doctors and Advil and medicine, but I also feel like tumor can probably fix it. Like whatever's wrong with you, |
| 0:50.3 | just take some tumor. See what happens. I don't think that's really woo-woo, though. It's a little woo-woo. |
| 0:55.3 | I consider woo-woo to be like, leave it outside so it absorbs a moon's energy. |
| 1:02.3 | Right. |
| 1:02.9 | You know, this is a healthy thing that I'll have some of, and if it works, it works. |
| 1:06.9 | Okay, okay, good balance. |
| 1:09.1 | Well, I'm asking because today we're going to tackle a mainstay of alternative wellness culture, apple cider vinegar, and the outrageous family that made it a household staple. |
| 1:23.3 | It's October 1997 in Santa Barbara, California, and a girl is celebrating her 13th birthday. |
| 1:30.2 | Her name is Catherine Elizabeth Hudson, but when she grows up, she'll be known as Katie Perry. |
| 1:36.5 | And this is a big day for young Katie. |
| 1:39.3 | She's receiving her very first guitar. |
| 1:42.7 | Big presents are not the norm in Katie's home. Her parents are |
| 1:46.4 | Pentecostal pastors struggling to make ends meet, but they recently made a very generous family |
... |
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