Sari Crawford - Synanon: Rehab Program Turned Cult

Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation

Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

True Crime, Talk Radio, Comedy, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 5 October 2022

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sari Crawford, host of podcast The Sunshine Place, details her father's involvement with Synanon, the notorious drug rehabilitation program turned cult. Sari shares what led Charles Dederich to found the group in the 1950s, Synanon's early success helping addicts recover, and practices like "the game" and "the trip." She also discusses how the group's attitudes towards violence changed as Dederich became more controlling, how her father became a leader within the group and why he eventually left, and how growing up around former Synanon members has impacted her own life. Got your own story about cults, extreme belief, or abuse of power? Leave a voicemail or text us at 347-86-TRUST (347-868-7878) OR shoot us an email at Trust Me Pod @gmail.com INSTAGRAM: @TrustMePodcast @oohlalola @meaganelizabeth11 TWITTER: @TrustMeCultPod @ohlalola @baberahamhicks TIKTOK: @TrustMeCultPodcast

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	If you have your own story of being in a cult or a high control group or if you've had
0:04.1	experience with manipulation or abuse the power that you'd like to share, leave us a message
0:08.4	on our hotline number at 347-86 trust. That's 347-868-7878. Or shoot us an e-mail at TrustMePod
0:18.2	at gmail.com. If you think that one person has all the answers, don't! Welcome to TrustMePodcast
0:34.3	about cult extreme belief and manipulation from two rays of sunshine who've actually
0:39.1	experienced it. I am Lola Blanc, ray of sunshine. And I am Megan Elizabeth, ray of sunshine,
0:44.0	I guess. Let's go with that. I mean, you are to me. No one has called me a ray of sunshine in the
0:49.1	past. Yeah, I don't think. But that's okay. Listen, you sometimes rain also, but why a ray of sunshine
0:59.0	doesn't rain? You don't say I'm not just science. Oh, so true. Today our guest is Sarah Crawford. She's
1:04.6	the host of the podcast, The Sunshine Place, which covers Sinanon, a notorious drug rehabilitation
1:10.4	program turned cult that was acted from the 50s through the 70s, which we also covered in our
1:15.1	episode with Michele Jolay from the Airborne Toxic event. You can go ahead and listen to that
1:19.1	episode if you want to hear his story. But for now, Sarah is going to tell us about how her own
1:23.3	father was a musician who was an early member of Sinanon and held a leadership position. She'll
1:28.5	walk us through the history of the group, how it was started by a man named Charles Dietrich or Chuck
1:32.9	and originally actually did a lot of good until it didn't. And we'll talk about what some of the
1:37.5	practices were, including something called the game, which involved disclosing one's personal
1:41.3	traumas in front of the group. Well, also discussed something called the trip, the rules about
1:46.4	violence and how they changed and how the practices became much darker after Chuck's wife died.
1:51.4	Plus, how Sarah's father finally left and how Sinan has impacted her and her own life.
1:56.3	That's right. That's what we're talking about. And before we talk about it, I'm why am I covering
2:01.6	my mouth? Before we talk about it, Megan, what is your cultiest thing in this week? Okay, you know,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.