The Cult of BookTok

Sounds Like A Cult

Studio71

Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality, Education

3.9 • 4.4K Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2025

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Although we do famously love/write/worship books over here at team SLAC, our adventure into this week’s MUCH-REQUESTED topic—a literary commune packed with fantastical, extremely online, culty drama—gave us MAJOR culture shock. Whether you’re a lifelong reader or your Hoovers are still in the mail, it’s safe to assume you’ve brushed paths with this week’s cult even without realizing it. Since its timely mid-pandemic inception, BookTok has taken the publishing industry by storm and has undoubtedly transformed the way young people buy, read, and obsess over books. Whether they’re creating a whole new subgenre (dark romantasy, anyone?), lining up in droves for the latest Rebecca Yarros release, or casting an entire movie adaption of their fav read, we have come to learn that the BookTok girlies are a force to be reckoned with. Here to help Amanda and Reese navigate the new literary landscape and determine exactly how culty that force can be are bonafide booktokkers Morgann Book and Ayman’s Books! Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube! Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles. Thank you to our sponsors! Liquid I.V. when you go to https://LIQUIDIV.COM and use code CULT at checkout. Find exactly what you’re booking for on https://Booking.com, Booking.YEAH! Please consider donating to those affected by the Los Angeles Fires. Some organizations that Team SLAC are donating to are: https://mutualaidla.org/ https://give.pasadenahumane.org/give/654134/#!/donation/checkout https://shorturl.at/SGW9w Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The views expressed on this episode, as with all episodes of Sounds Like a Cult, are solely host opinions and quoted allegations.
0:06.5	The content here should not be taken as indisputable fact.
0:09.4	This podcast is for entertainment purposes only.
0:12.4	When you guys had referenced Booktog as a call, I was like, not a call.
0:15.2	And then I sat back and thought about it.
0:17.1	And I was like, oh, my God.
0:18.5	When I first joined Book Talk, I was dog earing the pages,
0:21.6	and apparently this big no-no on Book Talk. But they're your books. This is why it's a cult,
0:26.3	guys. It's literally like The Hunger Games, but for like all these book people. I mean,
0:30.2	I guess it's good for the publishing industry, the author, you know, making some good money,
0:34.0	but at what cost, you know? This is Sounds Like a Cult, a show about the modern day cults we all follow.
0:41.5	I'm your host Amanda Montel, author of the book's cultish and The Age of Magical
0:45.5	Overthinking.
0:46.3	And I'm Reese Oliver, Sounds Like a Colts coordinator, and today's co-host.
0:51.3	Every week on this show, we discuss a different zeitgeisty group that puts
0:55.5	the cult in culture, from Harry Potterheads to VanLifers to try and answer the big question.
1:02.3	This group sounds like a cult, but is it really?
1:15.6	And if so, which of our three cold categories does it fall into? A live your life, a watch your back, or a get the fuck out.
1:19.6	The point of this podcast is to scrutinize and hook a wee bit of fun at how fanaticism and belonging show up in everyday life, even in unexpected places,
1:30.3	including one of the most seemingly innocent and wholesome pockets of all of our social media feeds,
1:35.9	Book Talk. Yes, the side of the TikTok algorithm that is dedicated to discussing books.
1:42.4	The future of the overall church of TikTok hangs in the balance every single day.
	...

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