Jonestown pt. 1

One of the largest mass murders of American citizens in history took place in 1978 in Guyana at the hands of cult leader, Jim Jones. This discussion delves into the circumstances that gave rise to Jones' power and influence of hundreds of people that lead to a tragic mass death of hundreds of people young and old. This first episode chronicles Jones' life as he rose to prominence and eventually moved his congregation to South America. The next episode will unravel the tragedy that took place in 1978, as well as an discussion about how this cult was so influential, whether this could happen again, and what we can do about it. 

Recommendations

• Abraham: Saosin by Saosin (https://open.spotify.com/album/2osTPStH5H7i4fMHS7eauR) 
• Shane: The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57693406-the-kaiju-preservation-society)

Holidays (7/16/2025):

• Guinea Pig Appreciation Day
• Hot Dog Night
• National Corn Fritters Day
• National Fresh Spinach Day
• National Personal Chef’s Day
• Take Your Poet to Work Day
• World Snake Day
• Captive Nations Week
• Coral Reef Awareness Week
• Every Body Deserves a Massage Week
• National Baby Food Week
• National Ventriloquism Week
• Operation Safe Driver Week
• Rabbit Week
• Sports Cliche Week

Links and References: 

1. https://adst.org/2012/11/the-jonestown-massacre/
2. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/november-18/mass-suicide-at-jonestown
3. https://www.annemergmed.com/article/S0196-0644(11)01340-0/fulltext
4. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/17/an-apocalyptic-cult-900-dead-remembering-the-jonestown-massacre-40-years-on
5. https://www.britannica.com/event/Jonestown
6. https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/yorklr2&div=6&id=&page=
7. https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bjso.12772
8. https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-events/jonestown.htm?s1sid=a48k3z9p1i7wvnlvcw1lrfbq&srch_tag=ben5nf7at4ksnp6j5hq3de3buxzfctat 

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-we-do-what-we-do--3419521/support.

Support our podcast: www.patreon.com/wwdwwdpodcast