In 1973, a French motorsports journalist claimed to have been visited by a UFO that revealed to him the secret origins of humanity. For the next half-century, the man known as Raël would go on to create a new faith with tens of thousands of adherents all around the world.
The media have portrayed the Raelians as not just a cult, but a strange phantasmagoria of extraterrestrials, orgies and clones. But its followers insist it is the only true path forward for humanity.
Featured in this episode: Nicole Bertrand, Susan J. Palmer, Harold Henning
To learn more:
Aliens Adored: Raël’s UFO Religion by Susan J. Palmer
The Prophet and the Space Aliens by Yoav Shamir
The UFO sect campaigning against female genital mutilation by Monica Mark in The Guardian
Credits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)
Additional music from Audio Network
Sponsors: Douglas, Athletic Greens
If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.
You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Monopoly 3 - The Hudson’s Bay Company
Monopoly 2 - Big Milk
Monopoly 1 - Lost in the Supermarket
Introducing our new season… Monopoly
Introducing our new series: Ratfucker
WAR 8 - Who Pays the Price?
WAR 7 - The Long, Slow Death
WAR 6 - Tortured Pasts
WAR 5 - The Narcokings of Kandahar
WAR 4 - Medusa
WAR 3 - Tarnak Farms
WAR 2 - Lords of War
WAR 1 - Last Plane Out of Kabul
Introducing our new season… War
MINING 8 - The Crying of Lot 8
MINING 7 - Barrick and the Cruelty of Gold
MINING 6 - Diamonds of Attawapiskat
MINING 5 - The North’s Giant Monster
MINING 4 - The Westray Disaster
MINING 3 - Before Bitcoin, Bre-X
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Dirty John
Death, Sex & Money
No Such Thing As A Fish
Jalen & Jacoby
Sound Opinions