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Comedy Fiction · Brenden Dahl

How to Start a Cult

by Brenden Dahl

#163 Comedy Fiction
new today

Chris, a charismatic college stoner, starts a podcast with his best bud Dougie examining famous cults. As a joke, they invent their own: the Sacred Order of Chris, where enlightenment is achieved through “the Divine Chill,” aka smoking weed and listening to music. As the show goes unexpectedly viral and listeners start treating the jokes as gospel, Chris rides the wave of ironic fame until it snowballs into a real life movement with disastrous consequences.

Latest episodes

Showing 7 · updated from the feed

Episode 6: A Brief History of Fake Religion

Chris breaks down Discordianism, the Church of the SubGenius, and Pastafarianism aka the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, three religions that started as a joke. P

Sep 16
33 min

Episode 5: ChrisCon

No cult breakdown this week. Chris puts on a wig and goes undercover at ChrisCon, a 200+ person Sacred Order convention at the Holiday Inn Express. Recording entirely on

Sep 2
28 min

Episode 4: Bee-lieve in Yourself

Chris covers pyramid schemes and MLMs, the cults that recruit all your mom's friends. Plus, a few details emerge from the Sacred Order retreat, and Dougie has an exciting

Jul 22
25 min

Episode 3: The Apostle

Chris breaks down Heaven's Gate, a super messed up UFO doomsday cult from the 90s. Plus, Mark the apostle shows up in person bringing gifts, and a Sacred Order retreat is

Jul 15
30 min

Episode 2: The First Chris-mas

Chris breaks down Charles Manson and the Family, aka what happens when a guy doesn't get a record deal and thinks a Beatles song is a prophecy. Plus, Dougie celebrates Ch

Jul 8
21 min

Episode 1: Stoner Jesus

Chris breaks down the People’s Temple aka Jim Jones’ cult aka Jonestown. Plus, Dougie appoints himself High Priest of a fake stoner religion called the Sacred Order of Ch

Jul 1
20 min

Season 1 Trailer

Episode 1 Coming July 1st… (00:00) - 30 Second Intro (00:30) - Main

Jun 24
1 min

Chart trend

Position in the Comedy Fiction chart (US), last 90 days.

#1#100#198JunJulSep

#91

all-time peak

1

day in the top 100 since Jun 2026

Chart positions

Where How to Start a Cult ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 21, 2026).

#163 NEW Comedy Fiction US

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About How to Start a Cult on Reason.fm

Here you find the Apple Podcasts chart positions of How to Start a Cult, its latest episodes to listen to directly, and reviews from listeners. Rankings are updated daily for the United States.

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