Part 1: Catalyst

After months of reporting, Jennings goes to Utah for one final interview with Teal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 

A look back at a strange chapter of American history known as the Satanic Panic—and how it connects to Teal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 

[Content Warning: This episode contains references to suicide, mental illness, and sexual assault. Listener discretion advised.] Youtube spiritual guru Teal Swan says she saves lives. Others say she’s dangerously death-obsessed. We say she’s serving strong “9 Perfect Strangers” v ...  Show more

After surviving a difficult childhood, Teal Swan starts a family and reinvents herself as a spiritual leader for the Internet age. She gains a huge following by talking openly about a wide-range of topics, including taboo mental health issues. In her videos, she’s warm, candid, a ...  Show more

A search for spiritual guidance leads a group of strangers to seek help from a self-help guru. He’s part of a growing number of entrepreneurs giving workshops and seminars all over the US in the 2000s. His unorthodox methods and blend of self-improvement philosophies and economic ...  Show more

Teal Swan’s self-help empire is on the rise, and so is the backlash to some of her most controversial techniques. Teal fights back against her critics, releasing long rebuttals and detailed explainers on YouTube. She even invites a film crew to document her life and hires a priva ...  Show more