The Cult of Neil Gaiman

Sounds Like A Cult

Studio71

Comedy, Education, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture

4 • 3.8K Ratings

🗓️ 28 January 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Very rarely does a culty news topic compel us to the mic as urgently as this week’s subject, a nerdy literature fandom turned…collective traumatic experience? In the wake of a bombshell Vulture exposé that straight-up reads like a Sounds Like A Cult script, Reese and Amanda are unpacking the nightmarish tale of multi-bestselling-author-turned-sex-abuser-slash-cult-leader, Neil Gaiman. You know this guy’s work, even if you don’t recognize his name, and the cult he created has so many entry points, if you are a lover of Coraline, American Gods, The Dresden Dolls, or a variety of viral Tumblr DM reply screenshots from @neil-gaiman, there’s a chance you’ve skirted the edge of a few of them. We, along with the rest of the online book-nerd world, were flabbergasted by the release of Lila Shapiro’s article “There is No Safe Word” revealing that underneath Gaiman’s seemingly wholesome dynamic with his doting fans was a campaign of lovebombing, sexual assault, and bizarre rituals, involving the author’s ex-wife Amanda Palmer and a history with the freaking church of Scientology. It’s truly a heartbreaking, stranger-than-fiction story. Join Amanda and Reese, as they analyze it chapter by chapter. P.S. While we for the most part try to keep things fairly lighthearted here at SLAC, this week’s episode is obviously covering a genuinely dangerous individual, and therefore some very sensitive topics. This is a content warning to maybe skip this week’s episode if the following are especially uncomfortable territory for you: sexual assault, emotional and verbal abuse, suicidal ideation, emotional abuse, abuse against LGBTQ+ individuals Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube! Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles. Thank you to our sponsors! Head to https://www.squarespace.com/CULT to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code CULT. Stop putting off those doctors’ appointments and go to https://www.Zocdoc.com/CULT to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today. 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.
0:06.0	The content here should not be taken as indisputable fact. This podcast is for entertainment purposes only.
0:12.7	I don't even remember the last time I felt so activated and invigorated by a breaking news story to like instantly hop on the mic and record
0:23.1	a sounds like a cold episode nothing so culty has happened so quickly disgraced hollywood predator
0:30.2	freak and then we got to the scientiology bit science still delivered this is sounds Like a Cult, a show about the modern day cults we all follow.
0:42.6	I'm your host of Amanda Montel, author of the books cultish and The Age of Magical Overthinking.
0:46.9	And I'm Reese Oliver, Sounds Like a Colts Coordinator, and today's co-host.
0:51.9	Every week on the show, we discuss a different fanatical fringe group from the cultural
0:56.1	zeitgeist from Sephora to Sinanon to try and answer the big question.
1:00.6	This group sounds like a cult, but is it really?
1:10.1	And if so, which of our three cult categories doesn't fall into?
1:13.6	A live your life, a watcher back, or a get the fuck out.
1:17.6	Our show's whole entire thesis is that in today's day and age,
1:21.6	cults aren't just sort of 70-style cohorts of baroque groupies dabbling and hallucinogens, sometimes the
1:29.4	most nefarious cult leaders can be found hiding in plain sight, right in between the lines
1:36.0	of your favorite childhood fantasy novel even. This is a special hot off the press sounds like a
1:41.8	cult episode. In light of a very recent exposé published by
1:47.2	Vulture, we are recording this on Wednesday, January 15th. The expose came out yesterday, January 14th.
1:53.7	Today we are covering the cult of fantasy writer and as it turns out, Scientologist baby turn
2:00.7	culty predator Neil Gaiman.
2:03.4	You know this guy's work even if you don't recognize his name, because he has written
2:08.0	dozens and dozens of novels and comics, nine of which I think have been turned into
	...

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