Sarin gas is essentially a sacrament to the faithful of AUM Shinrikyo....

Doomsday cults are a spectacular field of study!

Hoodoo is not the same as Voodoo Candomblé, or Santeria. Let's look at what makes Hoodoo special.

NXIVM is a wild ride, and some might label it a non-religious cult, but Preston insists that it is religious, and he's happy to explain how.

What is the NEW AGE? New Age Religion is one of the trickier things to understand by natural observation, so we've dug deep to find out what it all means, and why it is the way we see it today. There's a lot of trouble about stars, but the most devout astrologers and astrologists tend to ignore the visible sky completely--one would need to if they are serious about the established systems...

Latin America has managed to preserve some of its pre-Columbian religious heritage, so we're going to explore the traditions of the Olmec, Maya, Aztec, and Inca nations. We explore purification rituals, human sacrifice, gods from throughout history, and Catholic syncretism.

Katie and Preston explore some of their favorite films about cults.

Dr. Sean Hannan is an expert on the theological development of early and medieval Christianity, particularly the works of St. Augustine of Hippo and Meister Eckhart von Hochheim. Mysticism and theology are fascinating subjects that we're excited to explore together.

There are a lot of canonized saints with dubious historicity and questionable morality, but this time we want to focus on a heptad of saints with whom we have no quarrel (though we're open to correction).

The Church of Rome doesn't represent all of Christianity, but it is a major portion of the global population, so it's time for us to look at their foundation, and what makes them distinct from other groups. Let's explore the history of the Catholic Church, including the history of apostolic codenames, the trouble with apostolic succession, and more.

Welcome to a show about Death. This is a survey of the gods of death, the kings and queens of the underworld, and the reapers and guides of souls we like to call psychopomps.

Wearing pants isn't for everyone, some people will say so with religious conviction.... Religious clothing serves a few purposes, but most important is conveying to gods and neighbours that you are devoted to your faith (or faith community).

If sin were ugly, the world would be a paradise. Sin has a lot of faces in religious traditions around the world, some more consequential than others. Hamartiology is the study of sin...

What is a church? How does a religious society really differentiate itself from any other kind of society? What does it take to become a priest of the Holy Watermelon?

Why are there no bear ghosts? Death is everywhere, but religious beliefs surrounding this inevitable phenomenon vary more than you might think--and nearly everybody believes in ghosts.... What about near-death experiences?

Angels are a mysterious bunch of creatures, regardless of your religious tradition--and they are everywhere. Interpreting Colossians 1:16 to contain a list of angels is ridiculous, and nobody should be that bad at reading.

Katherine Spallino is the author of The Bad Cadet, a memoir of her days as a child-slave to the secretive Scientologist "Sea Org."

Bonnie Lu Nettles and Marshall Herff Applewhite, Jr. founded what is known today as Heaven's Gate, a fantastic group of UFO enthusiasts and religious believers. Though they both came from a Christian background in Texas, the mystery of Area 51 affected their daily lives to the very end.

Apotheosis is the process of becoming a god....

Euhemerism is the hypothetical explanation of the mortal (or non-divine) origins of a subject of worship or mythological figure.

Ever wonder why we bother with the groundhog, or horseshoes, or four-leaf clovers? Have you noticed city employees relying on divining rods to find your water leak? Where do all these superstitions come from, and how do they manage to linger in our science-powered information age? All these questions have answers, and we've tracked them down....

Zarathustra is the mythical hero at the foundation of Mazdaism, and thus it is better known as Zoroastrianism. Let's take a look....

This week we're talking to a former Catholic priest--but not just any pirest, Frank McMahon served in the VATICAN. He's joining us to talk about his experience with Playboy, puberty, alcohol abuse, Buddhism, and the things he loved about his service with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, as well as why he left, and the things he hopes to see change in the church.