Lace yourselves up for this haunting and twinkle-toed episode covering one of our most consistently requested topics: Ballet! Despite the tutus and baby pink palette, this ruthlessly competitive industry often seems less like a dainty art form and more like a doggone cult. Think about it: Why do we audience members just blindly accept and support an industry helmed by power abusive men, who have absolutely no problem taking little girls away from their families, working them to the bone, and literally starving them, all in pursuit of so-called greatness? Orrrrrr is that take a bit dramatic? To help us figure it out, podcast producer and former ballerina Erika Lantz, host of THE TURNING, joins the pod for a deep discush of how culty the ballet world is really.  Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod @amanda_montell To order Amanda's new book, The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, click here :) To subscribe to her new Magical Overthinkers podcast click here! Thank you to our sponsors, who make this show possible: Dipsea is offering an extended 30-day free trial when you go to DipseaStories.com/cult.  Go to Zocdoc.com/CULT and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Go to the App Store or Google Play store and download the FREE Ibotta app to start earning cash back and use code CULT. Head to Squarespace.com for a free trial, and when you’re ready to launch, go to https://www.squarespace.com/CULT to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.