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Speaker 1: From UFOs to psychic powers and government conspiracies. History is

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Speaker 1: riddled with unexplained events. You can turn back now or

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Speaker 1: learn the stuff they don't want you to know. M

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Speaker 1: welcome back to the show. My name is Matt nola

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Speaker 1: is on Adventures and they call me Ben. We are

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Speaker 1: joined with our super producer Paul Bolo Decand that's a

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Speaker 1: little bit of an inside joke. I don't know if

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Speaker 1: we'll explain it in this episode. Yeah, speaking of Bolo,

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Speaker 1: be on the lookout for for more specific information about

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Speaker 1: the tour that we're going on in October. Yes, the

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Speaker 1: rumors are true. We are coming to a town hopefully

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Speaker 1: near you, on our first ever US tour, So check out.

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Speaker 1: We'll we'll have some more information. We'll also have probably

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Speaker 1: some promos running for it. You can hit us up

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Speaker 1: directly Conspiracy outstuff works dot com with any specific questions.

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Speaker 1: In the meantime, you are you, and you are here,

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Speaker 1: and that makes this stuff they don't want you to know. Alright,

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Speaker 1: we're here, this is the thing, it's happening. Well, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I wonder how many of you had had dreams of

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Speaker 1: becoming famous or an actor or maybe a famous actor.

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Speaker 1: Usually you don't have dreams of becoming an unknown character actor. Right.

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Speaker 1: There are very few people who say grew up in

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Speaker 1: acting dynasties and you know they were a Barrymore or

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Speaker 1: or a Coppola or something, and then they decided, I

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Speaker 1: hate living up to my parents expectations. I'm gonna run

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Speaker 1: away and be a c p A and chase my dreams,

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Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So this is an interesting

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Speaker 1: US and to especially here in the US, where the

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Speaker 1: desire for fame is co modified, it's idealized. It's so

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Speaker 1: common that it's an accepted part of stories in almost

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Speaker 1: any genre of fiction. And you know, most people, it's

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Speaker 1: similar to when we ask the question about whether or

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Speaker 1: not you wanted to be an astronaut when you grew up.

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Speaker 1: A lot of people do. A lot of people did,

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Speaker 1: and a lot of people do. And fame in its

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Speaker 1: own way is very similar. Many many people aspire to

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Speaker 1: fame through one avenue or another, and many of those people,

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Speaker 1: the vast majority of those people do not end up

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Speaker 1: attaining what they see as fame. Yeah, and and for

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Speaker 1: a long segment of time, to be famous, you needed

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Speaker 1: to have your face and your name on a screen, somewhere,

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Speaker 1: and a lot of times that was on a television

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Speaker 1: inside someone's home or on a giant screen where your

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Speaker 1: projected image becomes either the the fantasy or the usually

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Speaker 1: the fantasy and some right of the people who are

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Speaker 1: viewing and looking at your face. Uh. And now that

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Speaker 1: screen has moved to the palm of our hands as

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Speaker 1: we walk around in different ways. Now you can be

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Speaker 1: Instagram famous or YouTube famous. Um, it's interesting how that

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Speaker 1: has moved, but nothing about getting famous has really changed.

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Speaker 1: That is absolutely true. So we find that the rough

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Speaker 1: categories of fame as we we understand it. Let's just

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Speaker 1: define fame very very broadly as being known or familiar

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Speaker 1: to a large number of your fellow human beings, yes,

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Speaker 1: for one reason or other. Right, So there are a

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Speaker 1: couple of different categories for this. There's fame in the

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Speaker 1: real home of politics. President of the United States is

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Speaker 1: always going to be famous. They'll meet that definition of

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Speaker 1: celebrity because a ton of people know who this person

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Speaker 1: is and they're on screen a whole lot, and they're

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Speaker 1: on screen a whole lot. And then there are people

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Speaker 1: who are famous in some sort of religious or spiritual sphere.

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Speaker 1: The pope is always going to be famous, right, And

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Speaker 1: you could argue that that sphere has lost a little

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Speaker 1: bit of power in an increasingly secular world, or a

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Speaker 1: little bit of prominence, you know what I mean. But

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Speaker 1: it's still an avenue of celebrity, right or fame. And

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Speaker 1: then of course there's the world of entertainment or the

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Speaker 1: and you could say, you could say that famous athletes

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Speaker 1: qualify as well in the world of entertainment. Oh, I

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Speaker 1: would absolutely argue that, so I think the related genres

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Speaker 1: of that category. Then there is the much more controversial

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Speaker 1: category that again people would say is in some cases

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Speaker 1: very American. That is the category of infamy. Serial killers

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Speaker 1: are often uh romanticized right there. Definitely they reach some

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Speaker 1: status akin to that of fame, right. And other great criminals, yeah,

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Speaker 1: people who find themselves in the news who for one

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Speaker 1: reason or another. And by the way, when we say

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Speaker 1: great in this sense, we just mean they have committed

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Speaker 1: crimes of an alarming magnitude. We don't mean they're the

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Speaker 1: kind of people you want to hang out with at

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Speaker 1: your local Applebee's. And get that too for twenty which

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Speaker 1: which Paul is right now thinking about that. By the way,

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Speaker 1: go to your neighborhood. Applebee's. It's a place to gather

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Speaker 1: your friends and family for one of those special occasions

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Speaker 1: or just on a Tuesday. Applebee's, you're going to find

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Speaker 1: the finest beers on tap and some of the most

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Speaker 1: delicious chicken things around and um oh riblets and riblets,

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Speaker 1: Oh god, the ribblets. How could I forget the ribblets?

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Speaker 1: So we want to be clear. Applebee's is not a

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Speaker 1: sponsor of this show. This is a this is an

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Speaker 1: ongoing Paul said. Yet Paul to say, yeah, uh, this

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Speaker 1: is an ongoing uh thing with us off off Mike uh.

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Speaker 1: And maybe one day we can explain it in full,

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Speaker 1: maybe if we are on the big screen one day

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Speaker 1: in an interview, we can say, David Letterman, that's a

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Speaker 1: great question. But first let me tell you about our

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Speaker 1: running inside joke regarding apple Piece. Oh see, I just

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Speaker 1: see you driving around in a car with Jerry Seinfeld

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Speaker 1: and then you guys just show up at an Applebee's

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Speaker 1: and that's where the rest of the episode takes place.

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Speaker 1: Why aren't you guys there first? That's also a fantastic idea.

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Speaker 1: I wonder what his uh, what his opinion on Applebee's

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Speaker 1: is m mmmm, because you see, he did attain fame

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Speaker 1: these level beyond most others. Right, he's one of the

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Speaker 1: most famous, well known living comics, which places him squarely

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Speaker 1: in the entertainment industry. And today, while we're looking at fame,

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Speaker 1: we're focusing on the concept of acting. Quite a few

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Speaker 1: of us would we were growing up, or quite a

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Speaker 1: few of us listening today have aspirations to become actors,

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Speaker 1: right to be on screen talent and the entertainment industry,

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Speaker 1: or are working actors now to one degree or another.

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Speaker 1: And it's it's no secret that this industry in particular

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Speaker 1: is brutal. We did an episode exploring some of the

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Speaker 1: darker aspects of this industry that have recently and thankfully

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Speaker 1: finally become the subject of like scrutiny. We'll see how

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Speaker 1: long at lasts and whether there's any action, noble punishment

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Speaker 1: or consequences for the people involved. Yeah, And we looked

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Speaker 1: at an article from Wired to get some kind of

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Speaker 1: statistics about the state of the business of being an actor,

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Speaker 1: I guess, and also um, the probability of someone becoming famous. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: so brace yourself. In this article for Wired, mathematician named

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Speaker 1: Samuel Arabsman attempts to quantify the ratio of famous people

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Speaker 1: to the ratio of the non famous people, anonymous people,

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Speaker 1: regular old people, regular old people, a k a us. Everyone. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: And he believed that an easy way to find the

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Speaker 1: probability of anyone becoming famous in the most broad sense

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Speaker 1: would be to note the number of Facebook entries in

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Speaker 1: the category living people. And on January when he pulled

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Speaker 1: this number, that category was six hundred and four thousand,

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Speaker 1: one hundred and seventy four. Then he divided this by

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Speaker 1: the world population, which on that same day, January fifteen,

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Speaker 1: was a little over seven billion people, and so on

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Speaker 1: that basis, he concludes that point zero zero zero zero

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Speaker 1: eight six of the world population, or about one in

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Speaker 1: ten thousand people, is famous. Okay, one in ten thousand.

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Speaker 1: That's still a lot of famous people. Still better odds

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Speaker 1: than the lottery though. Yeah. But here's the thing. Most

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Speaker 1: of the people that are watched on screen internationally, in

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Speaker 1: let's say, Big Box Office movies or in HBO shows

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Speaker 1: or something that's been translated into other languages, they speak English. Ah, yes,

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Speaker 1: good point. Most famous actors, most of the most famous actors,

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Speaker 1: we should say, do speak English. So we need to

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Speaker 1: correct for that the total of English speaking persons on

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Speaker 1: the planet was only one point four nine billion, which

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Speaker 1: means that point zero zero four one, or about point

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Speaker 1: zero four percent of the English speaking world population is famous,

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Speaker 1: or about one in two thousand. Okay. Uh, Then then

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Speaker 1: back to actors. How many actors do we have in

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Speaker 1: the States. Typically, one of the best ways to get

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Speaker 1: statistics on a given profession in this country is to

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Speaker 1: check with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Oh, the

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Speaker 1: old BLS. The old BLS not to be mistaken with

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Speaker 1: b LT not nearest delicious. Uh. The BLS estimates that

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Speaker 1: the number of actors for T seventeen was thirteen thousand,

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Speaker 1: five hundred and sixty. That works out to about two

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Speaker 1: hundred and seventy one actors per state, which we know

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Speaker 1: is obviously not true. Yeah, yeah, exactly, it's got to

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Speaker 1: be a lot higher than that. Even I feel like

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Speaker 1: that number of people is just in l A. There

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Speaker 1: are that many actors just in l A, I want

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Speaker 1: to say, or at least twice more, three times more. Um. So,

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Speaker 1: if we take another group, the Actors Equity Association, they

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Speaker 1: had over fifty one thousand members associated with them in.

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Speaker 1: So there you go a lot more. Yeah, many, many more,

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Speaker 1: And these sources don't agree. One of our questions has

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Speaker 1: to immediately be when we're comparing sources, what gives right.

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Speaker 1: One reason for the BLS is underestimation of the number

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Speaker 1: of actors. Might be because they only count you as

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Speaker 1: an actor if you have a current acting job. Okay,

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Speaker 1: that would make sense. So there are thirteen thousand employed

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Speaker 1: actors at any given moment, and they also just as

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Speaker 1: side note, well almost visit this one. How much does

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Speaker 1: the BLS estimate working actors make per hour? Oh? Man,

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Speaker 1: I can't believe we missed that. The BLS says the

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Speaker 1: actors make an average of seventeen dollars and forty nine

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Speaker 1: cents per hour. Again average, right, So that's that is

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Speaker 1: what Tom Cruise's numbers lumped in with the one extra

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Speaker 1: that got paid. I guess a hundred dollars or fifty

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Speaker 1: dollars a day or something. Yeah. Yeah, so these averages

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Speaker 1: are dangerous. These are far from accurate numbers. But according

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Speaker 1: to the Actors Equity Association, which you mentioned earlier, Matt,

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Speaker 1: fewer than fourteen percent of actors were employed in two

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Speaker 1: sen and the statistics on actors not known to belong

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Speaker 1: to the Actor's Equity Association is is still an ambiguous,

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Speaker 1: nebulous number, but that number would likely be considerably worse

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Speaker 1: because there's not really a point to joining actors equity

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Speaker 1: if you are unimp Lloyd. So let's just do a

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Speaker 1: thought exer. Besides the networking associated with which is huge.

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Speaker 1: That's a great point. That's a fantastic point. Okay, So

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Speaker 1: bracketing that, let's do a thought exercise. If we multiply

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Speaker 1: that labor and statistic number by say, let's just say ten,

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Speaker 1: dream big, say ten, we can say that they were

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Speaker 1: around five thousand, six hundred actors in the US, which

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Speaker 1: still seems like a low number to me. And if

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Speaker 1: we multiply that number by point zero zero four one

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Speaker 1: or by point zero four percent Arabsman's estimate of the

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Speaker 1: percent of English speaking people who are famous, we can

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Speaker 1: conclude that they're about fifty six English speaking actors currently

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Speaker 1: working who are considered famous. Is a pretty off the

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Speaker 1: cuff estimate, and it sounds kind of low to me.

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Speaker 1: It sounds very low, to be honest with you. But

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Speaker 1: that many actors in all of the TV shows right

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Speaker 1: now there, and some of them would not be considered

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Speaker 1: famous really unfortunately, but there have to be there. There

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Speaker 1: have to be way more than that, way more, especially

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Speaker 1: with the explosion of high quality television, especially if you're

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Speaker 1: looking at streaming services in all of the original content

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Speaker 1: with new actors, I would agree, and also if we're

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Speaker 1: looking at you know, Instagram famous or YouTube famous, people

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Speaker 1: who are famous on a specific platform, so that there's

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Speaker 1: a situation where the final number is probably much higher,

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Speaker 1: and that's great, that's a good thing. But the number

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Speaker 1: of aspiring, non working actors, we have to remember, is

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Speaker 1: probably much much higher as well. What we're saying is,

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Speaker 1: any way you slice it, the odds of success of

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Speaker 1: reaching fame in the world of acting are very very

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Speaker 1: extremely low, way lower than you even think, way way low,

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Speaker 1: way lower. Even with that, even with those numbers we

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Speaker 1: just threw out there, you're h it's still it's not

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Speaker 1: as bad as like winning the powerball, the lottery. It's

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Speaker 1: it's not that tough. But that's that's a horrible comparison.

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Speaker 1: It's very difficult to demanding and brutal industry because it's

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Speaker 1: an industry fraught with obsfucation, sexism, racism and ageism. Those

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Speaker 1: are all acknowledged to they're part of the business. And

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Speaker 1: then especially and I'm not gonna get on the soapbox here.

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Speaker 1: I'm sure longtime listeners, I'm sure you know what I'm

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Speaker 1: going to say. It's fraught with nepotism, which is a

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Speaker 1: terrible thing and uh makes for worse end results. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and there's this element of pay to play and all

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Speaker 1: of these other things that you should get into. Well.

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Speaker 1: For instance, consider people who aspire to work at, for example,

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Speaker 1: a publishing house or a high quality fashion magazine. They

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Speaker 1: will typically enter into that realm through a low level position,

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Speaker 1: often an internship, and that internship maybe located in Los

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Speaker 1: Angeles or in New York. Uh, and they will have

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Speaker 1: to find some means of financial support just to afford

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Speaker 1: rent in a terrible apartment. And this means that there's

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Speaker 1: a built in, as you said, that there's a built

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Speaker 1: in pay to play aspect here that that commonly pops up.

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Speaker 1: And I want to take a note to say I

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Speaker 1: really fundamentally enjoy a lot of movies featuring the actor

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Speaker 1: known as Nicolas Cage. I'm on board with you there.

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Speaker 1: His real last name is Coppola, and yes, related to

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Speaker 1: the same Francis Ford Coppola. And the one of the

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Speaker 1: questions someone asked me off here somewhere, I can't remember

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Speaker 1: what I was talking about, how I just love the

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Speaker 1: insanity of the fights, face off or whatever, and they said,

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Speaker 1: do you believe that Nick Cage would be a famous

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Speaker 1: actor if he you were not in the Coppola dynasty?

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Speaker 1: And I couldn't answer that question. I will answer that question, Okay, absolutely,

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Speaker 1: there we go. There is a there is a Nick

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Speaker 1: Cage quality that you cannot get from anyone besides that, man,

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Speaker 1: I'm telling you, And it sort of it speaks to

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Speaker 1: the way in which we judge the performance of American actors. Right.

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Speaker 1: Have we mentioned this on the air before, the difference

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Speaker 1: between European and American actors. Okay, So American actors often

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Speaker 1: by and large are praised for their ability to consistently

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Speaker 1: be themselves or their own brand and whatever film you

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Speaker 1: see them in. Right, and even you know ones who

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Speaker 1: are exerted completely amazing masterclass actors. Al Pacino, for instance,

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Speaker 1: is always some version of al Pacino, Right, A lot

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Speaker 1: of those a lot of those nuances that we see

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Speaker 1: when he assumes different characters are still him doing the character.

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Speaker 1: You're still getting Pacino. You're still getting Pacino. Yes, and

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Speaker 1: that's arguably what you're paying for as a studio, right.

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Speaker 1: And in the European sphere, often actors are lauded for

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Speaker 1: a very different reason, their ability to be chameleons, right

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Speaker 1: to be so completely different from one fictional world to

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Speaker 1: the next. So by that logic, for instance, Liam Neeson,

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Speaker 1: despite being a European actor, fits into the American idea

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Speaker 1: of a fantastic actor. What about it some Idrisilba, Idrisilba,

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Speaker 1: It's a that's a different question. I haven't seen enough

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Speaker 1: of his stuff to say, but most of what I've seen,

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Speaker 1: he's recognizably Idrisilba. No, man, I don't know if I agree,

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Speaker 1: but let's go with it. No, I you know, I

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Speaker 1: this is just this is just opinion. But but so

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Speaker 1: the people who become a list actors who despite the

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Speaker 1: odds or because of the nepotism, reach that fabled position

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Speaker 1: in the American zeitgeist, in the Western pantheon of entertainment,

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Speaker 1: they will have not perfect lives, but they do have

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Speaker 1: a position in life that many many people aspire to reach,

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Speaker 1: and we have to ask ourselves. It's it's such again,

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Speaker 1: it's such a trope. What have people done to get

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Speaker 1: on this path? What have they done to get access?

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Speaker 1: Just to get noticed by a director, by an agent,

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Speaker 1: by someone they think that can provide them with opportunities.

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Speaker 1: It's the age old question what would you do to

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Speaker 1: be famous? And what would you allow to happen to

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Speaker 1: you to reach that level? Right, however, reluctantly, however, against

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Speaker 1: your better judgment, what would you feel coerced into doing?

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Speaker 1: Granted we don't we don't want to make it look impossible.

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Speaker 1: Some people do luck out. Those stories of you know,

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Speaker 1: someone just being recognized in them all those those things happened.

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Speaker 1: Harrison Ford, I believe, got cast as Han Solo when

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Speaker 1: he was doing some carpentry work on a set. And

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Speaker 1: some people work hard, just not just in the right

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Speaker 1: place at the right time, but they're determined, their tenacious.

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Speaker 1: They are doing eighty hours a week of legwork, auditions,

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Speaker 1: practicing network character yeah, yeah, yeah, over and over and over.

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Speaker 1: And in that case it's it's I would say it's

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Speaker 1: disrespectful for the Bureau of Labor and Statistics to consider

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Speaker 1: them unemployed. Yeah, that's a heck of a job, you know,

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Speaker 1: and probably one of the most demanding. For some reason,

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Speaker 1: I want to put Steve Ashimi in there, but I

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Speaker 1: don't know if it's right. Somebody who's just been doing

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Speaker 1: roles forever and then finally like, oh, I actually get

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Speaker 1: a show now in big fan of his. Uh So,

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Speaker 1: some people also network, As we mentioned, they're looking for

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Speaker 1: opportunities and access they could not otherwise find on their own.

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Speaker 1: Today's episode, Fellow Conspiracy Realists is about one of these groups,

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Speaker 1: a group that purports to provide great opportunity to provide

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Speaker 1: personal and professional awakening, a group called Nexium, and we're

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Speaker 1: going to dive deep into their origins and how it

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Speaker 1: became a thing. After a word from our sponsor, here

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Speaker 1: are the facts, So, Matt, we dug around and we

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Speaker 1: went to the primary source to describe Nexium itself. It's

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Speaker 1: spelled in x I V M, but it's pronounced nexium yes.

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Speaker 1: And what exactly are they? What? What? What's their deal? Well,

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Speaker 1: according to the splash page on their website, it's a

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Speaker 1: company whose mission is to raise human awareness, foster and

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Speaker 1: ethical humanitarian civilization, and celebrate what it means to be human.

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Speaker 1: That sounds nice aspirational y, it sounds familiar to other

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Speaker 1: groups that we've discussed before on this show, especially with

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Speaker 1: within the context of acting. It's making me think a

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Speaker 1: little bit about scientology. I see. Yeah, the idea of

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Speaker 1: self realization ultimately and and helping an act to become

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Speaker 1: them their true selves in order to become the best

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Speaker 1: actor possible. And if that sounds a little vague, they

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Speaker 1: do go into further detail. Su Nexium is a community

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Speaker 1: guided by humanitarian principles that seek to empower people and

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Speaker 1: answer important questions about what it means to be human.

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Speaker 1: The Nexium philosophy is expressed through a series of companies

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Speaker 1: and initiatives, all of which were designed to broaden the

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Speaker 1: way we currently think about problems and help create solutions

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Speaker 1: for a kinder, more sustainable, ethical world. With unique tools

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Speaker 1: that facilitate success both internally and externally, Nexium helps people

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Speaker 1: realize the potential that exists within them. Okay, admittedly sounds

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Speaker 1: pretty vague, right, Yeah, I don't really get anything. There

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Speaker 1: are techniques that are gonna help me become me to

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Speaker 1: my full potential. So we if we were to bit

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Speaker 1: ball and speculate, we could say that one of the

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Speaker 1: seminars or sessions might be something about confidence in social

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Speaker 1: or business functions. Right, yeah, perhaps just in any interaction whatsoever?

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Speaker 1: How how do you display yourself? Little body language, some

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Speaker 1: public speaking, uh, some maybe some ideas about how to

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Speaker 1: frame what information you present, how to manage your reactions? Uh.

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Speaker 1: Scientology does it a lot of that as well, but

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Speaker 1: so do a ton of other things. We often call

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Speaker 1: them life coaching stuff. Right, and Tino Massorrow had some

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Speaker 1: of that stuff. Sure he did. I'm sure he did

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Speaker 1: or does. But on balance this seems pretty harmless. Believe

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Speaker 1: in yourself. What's wrong with that? And we'll teach you

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Speaker 1: how to do it for whatever money? Right? Right? It

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Speaker 1: does have a price tag attached. So where did Nexium

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Speaker 1: come from? It is the brainchild of founder Keith Rainieri,

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Speaker 1: which is how we found it. Pronounced the multiple media

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Speaker 1: sources reneering uh. And it evolved from his earlier work

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Speaker 1: with something called the Consumers Byline Incorporated. That's b U

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Speaker 1: y l I n E. That sounds familiar, consumers byline.

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Speaker 1: You know why was that? Because a byeline sounds like

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Speaker 1: an upline or a down line. Do you know why?

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Speaker 1: Because it's a multi level marketing scheme that was broken

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Speaker 1: up when it was investigated for being a pyramid scheme. Yes, yes, so.

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Speaker 1: Keith was born back in nineteen sixty in New York.

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Speaker 1: He graduated Rocklands County Day School of private school in

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Speaker 1: nineteen seventy seven, and he was thought to be a

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Speaker 1: very intelligent young man. In two he graduated from the

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Speaker 1: Rensselair Polytechnic Institute with three separate bachelor degrees. Shortly there

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Speaker 1: he joined am Way, oh, another one of those byline

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Speaker 1: way line. He is considered a boy genius at the time,

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Speaker 1: a title he really leans into later in life. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: He He once had on his website that at the

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Speaker 1: age of one, he was speaking in complete sentences, which

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Speaker 1: is a huge achievement and good for him. Yeah, I'm skeptical,

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Speaker 1: but sure, sure, sure, it's possible. He taught himself how

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Speaker 1: to play concert level piano by age twelve, which is

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Speaker 1: a possibility. Also a possibility, possible. So. He spent about

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Speaker 1: a year from nine working at the New York State

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Speaker 1: Parole Board as a programmer around thirty two thousand dollars

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Speaker 1: a year, and then he left to become a sales

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Speaker 1: trainer for something called Prepaid Legal, which was a marketing company, okay,

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Speaker 1: and then he opens the Consumer's Byline that you had

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Speaker 1: mentioned had some problems. Yeah, it was a marketing club

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Speaker 1: and uh, it would hook its members up. It would

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Speaker 1: just give him all these discounts on all kinds of

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Speaker 1: different consumer goods. And his partners at the time were

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Speaker 1: Karen um Tarranner Terrainer not exactly, trud to pronounce her name,

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Speaker 1: and Pam Kaffrets Now. Um, at this time Pam is

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Speaker 1: his longtime girlfriend. Pam. I don't know if they're still

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Speaker 1: together or not. I don't keep up in the celebrity

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Speaker 1: news unfortunately. Um, I'm not sure at this time when

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Speaker 1: we're recording this if Pam is still his girlfriend. I

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Speaker 1: like that he may have evolved past that. Yeah. I

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Speaker 1: like how you bring that idea of celebrity back, right,

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Speaker 1: the new the true uh, one of the huge religions

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Speaker 1: of our current society. Right, there's money and then there's fame. Yeah, right.

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Speaker 1: By multiple agencies are investigating Consumers Byline because, as you

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Speaker 1: said earlier, Matt, they believe it is a pyramid scheme

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Speaker 1: by Keith and his partners settled with the New York

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Speaker 1: State Attorney's office to end the probe of consumers byline,

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Speaker 1: they don't admit any guilt, but they do agree not

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Speaker 1: to promote, offer, or grant participation in an illegal chain

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Speaker 1: of distribution scheme. Oh well, that's nice, she said, We're

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Speaker 1: not guilty. We also promised not to do these things.

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Speaker 1: And as part of the settlement, near I agreed to

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Speaker 1: pay a forty dollar fine. Not not that crazy. Who

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Speaker 1: knows how much money they were actually ranking in? Right? Right? Uh,

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Speaker 1: there are no m M. I don't know. I'm sure

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Speaker 1: the courts found something, but I don't know what the

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Speaker 1: real amount is. And then everything changes in nine seen

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Speaker 1: when he meets a person who later becomes influential in

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Speaker 1: his life. Yeah, Nancy Salzman. She's a psychotherapist who was

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Speaker 1: running the International Center for Change, and basically Ranieri became

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Speaker 1: her mentor and he started teaching her these methods that

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Speaker 1: he had been I guess thinking about or maybe he

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Speaker 1: was coming up with at the time, and he called

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Speaker 1: them rational inquirity. Yeah, yeah, she was. Well, she was

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Speaker 1: kind of like um subject zero for what would then

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Speaker 1: become nexium. Right, And we're at that point in the

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Speaker 1: timeline in or near a creates Executive Success Programs or

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Speaker 1: ESP and it's later going to be named Nexium. Nancy

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Speaker 1: Salzman as president, and Karen and Pam also joined up

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Speaker 1: as partners. By October, Nexium states that it's seminars and

425
00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:03,480
Speaker 1: programs have provided tools, coaching, techniques, and training to sixteen

426
00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:08,840
Speaker 1: thousand people across thirty different countries. N A becomes a

427
00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:13,360
Speaker 1: niche celebrity of his own, especially within the organization. He

428
00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:16,640
Speaker 1: meets with the Dalai Lama on May six, two thousand

429
00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:21,200
Speaker 1: and nine. The Nexium group purchases multiple buildings in the Albany,

430
00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:25,719
Speaker 1: New York area. But what is it? Exactly? From their

431
00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:29,080
Speaker 1: own copy and from your accurate description, Matt, it sounds

432
00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:32,840
Speaker 1: like Nexium is a life coaching organization, but critics and

433
00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:38,680
Speaker 1: legal filings have referred to it as an MLM, a scheme,

434
00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:43,880
Speaker 1: a pyramid, a multi level marketing scheme. Yeah. In two

435
00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:47,640
Speaker 1: thousand and twelve, The Times Union, which based in Albany,

436
00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:51,760
Speaker 1: publishes a report wherein experts argue that rene A is

437
00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:57,360
Speaker 1: not a life coach and more of a cult leader. Yeah,

438
00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:01,000
Speaker 1: not even an MLM, just top of the you know,

439
00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:05,320
Speaker 1: chain guy and and actual occult leaders. What this paper

440
00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:07,320
Speaker 1: is saying, and you can read this article right now

441
00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:09,880
Speaker 1: if you google it, and it's pretty good, but it

442
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:12,320
Speaker 1: definitely takes that stance. And I think there was there

443
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:15,480
Speaker 1: was an earlier article in the two thousands from Forbes

444
00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:20,600
Speaker 1: that had some of his supporters say they had attended

445
00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:23,800
Speaker 1: seminars or sessions and found it worthwhile. Oh yeah, so

446
00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:26,280
Speaker 1: we do want to be fair in that regard, so

447
00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:29,920
Speaker 1: when they say he's a cult leader, they don't just

448
00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:34,040
Speaker 1: throw the C word out and then let it let

449
00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:39,200
Speaker 1: it play. They have some specific accusations against him. Yeah.

450
00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:43,480
Speaker 1: The article is titled Secrets of Nexium again spelled n

451
00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:48,240
Speaker 1: x I v M, and they go into allegations of

452
00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:53,800
Speaker 1: all kinds of different sexual manipulation, both of adults and

453
00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:58,840
Speaker 1: also people who are under age women specifically they're also

454
00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:02,880
Speaker 1: they go into these murky possibilities about illegal financing, financing

455
00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:07,960
Speaker 1: schemes within the organization. Uh, there are multiple interviews with

456
00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:11,520
Speaker 1: people who have been involved at one time or another

457
00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:15,240
Speaker 1: with Nexium and we have Oh. They they also speak

458
00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:18,280
Speaker 1: about a relentless intimidation of anybody trying to break away

459
00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:21,880
Speaker 1: from the organization. Does that sound familiar to any of

460
00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:25,920
Speaker 1: the other organizations we've discussed in the past, specifically people

461
00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:29,400
Speaker 1: who are questioning the internal practices of Nexium, people who

462
00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:33,080
Speaker 1: know how it functions or claimed to yes. So maybe

463
00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:36,600
Speaker 1: this is just a hit piece. Perhaps perhaps let's hold

464
00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:39,600
Speaker 1: off judgment for a moment. We have to pause here

465
00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:43,080
Speaker 1: and introduce another character in the story, one of Bernire's

466
00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:49,280
Speaker 1: most high profile followers in Nexium. Her name is Alison Nac.

467
00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:54,320
Speaker 1: If her name sounds familiar, that's because she's an actor

468
00:32:55,240 --> 00:32:58,200
Speaker 1: of somewhat of note. And let's let's talk about her

469
00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:02,320
Speaker 1: her back story. So, she was born on July two

470
00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:05,400
Speaker 1: in West Germany. She has been an actor for most

471
00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:08,160
Speaker 1: of her life. Her first major role was in the

472
00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:11,560
Speaker 1: Warner Brothers series one that you probably remember if you

473
00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:15,920
Speaker 1: were my age just turned thirty five, Seventh Heaven, and

474
00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:20,360
Speaker 1: she played a teenage cutter, which was a thing that

475
00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:23,600
Speaker 1: I had never seen before in my life when I

476
00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:26,000
Speaker 1: was at that stage watching it with my family, and

477
00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:31,360
Speaker 1: I actually remember that because it wasn't a huge role, yeah,

478
00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:34,680
Speaker 1: but it was I guess, a groundbreaking or influential role

479
00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:39,200
Speaker 1: in the public discourse. And she continued as a working actor. Again,

480
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:42,040
Speaker 1: she's on the way, she's on a path to which

481
00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:45,880
Speaker 1: so many people aspire. In two thousand and one, she

482
00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:49,680
Speaker 1: landed a role as Chloe Sullivan, one of Clark Kent's

483
00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:53,040
Speaker 1: best friends, in the popular series Smallville that went on

484
00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:57,120
Speaker 1: and on for multiple seasons. In two thousand and ten,

485
00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:02,800
Speaker 1: Alison Mack reportedly joined the Vancouver chapter of Nexium, along

486
00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:09,040
Speaker 1: with another Smallville colleague, the actor Kristen Krueg. Mac rose

487
00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:13,880
Speaker 1: through the ranks, eventually becoming the organization's top recruiter, attempting

488
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:17,240
Speaker 1: to recruit other actors of notes such as Emma Watson

489
00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:21,080
Speaker 1: or entertainers like Kelly Clarkson and feminist writers into what

490
00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:26,080
Speaker 1: she described as a quote human development and women's movement organization.

491
00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:30,320
Speaker 1: Many young actors were joining up in hopes of attaining

492
00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:35,160
Speaker 1: further personal and professional success. After all, Alison mac is

493
00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:37,560
Speaker 1: a star, right, Yeah, she's got to be doing something,

494
00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:39,840
Speaker 1: right I I should follow in her footsteps. Let me

495
00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:42,920
Speaker 1: listen to what she's gonna say. But then rumors of

496
00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:47,040
Speaker 1: even more salacious occurrences within the next seam organization begin

497
00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:53,080
Speaker 1: to surface. So again, what exactly is happening within this

498
00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:58,200
Speaker 1: organization at you know, the events? Maybe behind closed doors.

499
00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:02,000
Speaker 1: We'll get into that again. Right after a quick word

500
00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:11,839
Speaker 1: from our sponsor. Here's where it gets crazy. It's time

501
00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:17,879
Speaker 1: to peek behind the curtain of Nexium. As it turns out,

502
00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:22,160
Speaker 1: Alison mac was one of the top recruiters for Nexium,

503
00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:26,360
Speaker 1: but she wasn't just recruiting for Nexium in general, and

504
00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:29,840
Speaker 1: she was not just hooking people up with acting gigs

505
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:34,680
Speaker 1: or promising them the sort of personal realizations that would

506
00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:38,759
Speaker 1: lead to more success in the entertainment industry. She was

507
00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:44,799
Speaker 1: recruiting for two other inner groups, just for women. One

508
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:49,239
Speaker 1: one was named j Nes capital j lower case nest

509
00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:54,600
Speaker 1: like lockness monster Jans Janus, and this was the recruiting

510
00:35:54,760 --> 00:36:01,000
Speaker 1: pool for something else, an organization. Outside ers were never

511
00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:06,360
Speaker 1: supposed to know about a secret group, and these recruits

512
00:36:06,719 --> 00:36:11,080
Speaker 1: who went through Nexium went through Jane S and joined

513
00:36:11,120 --> 00:36:14,280
Speaker 1: this other group where the varying ages that were entering

514
00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:20,959
Speaker 1: a secret sisterhood sometimes referred to as dominos osequious sororirium

515
00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:29,400
Speaker 1: or d oss or the vow uh the d o

516
00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:34,760
Speaker 1: s the Latin there means something like the obsequious sisters,

517
00:36:36,239 --> 00:36:40,440
Speaker 1: and it's it's a loaded term. In a groundbreaking report

518
00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:45,040
Speaker 1: from October, writing for The New York Times, journalist Barry

519
00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:48,640
Speaker 1: Meyer details what women had to do in order to

520
00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:52,239
Speaker 1: gain admission into this group. We do want to tell

521
00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:55,480
Speaker 1: you ahead of time what we are about to discuss

522
00:36:56,160 --> 00:37:01,719
Speaker 1: in this in this segment may be disturbing for audience members. Yeah,

523
00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:08,440
Speaker 1: if you've had any experience akin to abuse in this realm,

524
00:37:08,719 --> 00:37:11,640
Speaker 1: just go ahead and either skip forward or maybe just

525
00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:15,400
Speaker 1: listen to the next episode. Here we go. So, the

526
00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:20,759
Speaker 1: first thing that happens is that they become or they

527
00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:24,240
Speaker 1: call themselves and kind of take a vow to become

528
00:37:24,600 --> 00:37:28,640
Speaker 1: slaves with the person above them, the the woman above

529
00:37:28,719 --> 00:37:31,680
Speaker 1: them within their hierarchy, and that person is going to

530
00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:34,799
Speaker 1: be considered their master. And there are six of them

531
00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:38,239
Speaker 1: generally how it functions in a cluster, So there's one

532
00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:42,320
Speaker 1: master and then six slaves, so seven people total, and

533
00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:49,480
Speaker 1: these potential slaves to in order to join the organization

534
00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:53,640
Speaker 1: or to join DOSS, they were required to give this master,

535
00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:56,680
Speaker 1: whoever that person might be, always a woman in this case,

536
00:37:57,480 --> 00:38:00,759
Speaker 1: they were required to give this person coll adderal that's

537
00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:02,880
Speaker 1: what it was called. These would be in the forms

538
00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:08,840
Speaker 1: of naked photographs, sexually explicit photographs, or other compromising material,

539
00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:12,680
Speaker 1: and some people wrote down just past transgressions things that

540
00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:15,080
Speaker 1: they had done wrong, that they knew were wrong, that

541
00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:18,040
Speaker 1: would harm somebody else if that information came out right,

542
00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:22,840
Speaker 1: things they could harm their own reputation as they pursued celebrity,

543
00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:26,080
Speaker 1: or things that could harm the reputation of their loved ones,

544
00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:30,640
Speaker 1: and the expectation here the implication was that should they

545
00:38:30,719 --> 00:38:33,640
Speaker 1: break the vow of silence, should they say anything about

546
00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:37,920
Speaker 1: this group, that information would be exposed, leaked to the public.

547
00:38:38,280 --> 00:38:41,520
Speaker 1: The word for this is blackmail. Yeah, but ben trust

548
00:38:41,600 --> 00:38:45,680
Speaker 1: goes both ways. You know what I'm saying. I yes,

549
00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:49,120
Speaker 1: I don't agree in this case, but yeah, I know

550
00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:53,560
Speaker 1: what you mean. I don't agree either. It's just that's scary.

551
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:58,400
Speaker 1: And again it hearkens back to another group, to the

552
00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:02,600
Speaker 1: audit system, right, yeah, or the rundowns. We're going to

553
00:39:02,719 --> 00:39:05,920
Speaker 1: record everything that you say when we're going through your darkest,

554
00:39:06,239 --> 00:39:11,960
Speaker 1: deepest past, just in case, just for our records. So

555
00:39:12,640 --> 00:39:16,200
Speaker 1: at this point some of the people entering into this

556
00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:20,759
Speaker 1: organization had heard they might receive a small tattoo in

557
00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:24,319
Speaker 1: the process. Instead, they were told to disrobe and lay

558
00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:27,680
Speaker 1: on a massage table and they were ordered to say, master,

559
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:31,200
Speaker 1: please brand me. It would be an honor and that's

560
00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:33,600
Speaker 1: a quote. That's not like a you say something like this,

561
00:39:33,920 --> 00:39:39,520
Speaker 1: that's the value take. Yeah, it's verbatim. Female doctor Allegedly

562
00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:44,239
Speaker 1: a member of Nexium named Danielle Roberts would use a

563
00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:49,000
Speaker 1: cauterizing device to sear a two inch square symbol below

564
00:39:49,200 --> 00:39:52,120
Speaker 1: each woman's hip. And this procedure took about twenty to

565
00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:55,400
Speaker 1: thirty very very painful minutes. Yeah. And in some of

566
00:39:55,440 --> 00:39:57,960
Speaker 1: these articles you can read some of the women who

567
00:39:58,040 --> 00:40:00,680
Speaker 1: joined this group describe the process where there are at

568
00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:03,640
Speaker 1: least three other women holding down their legs in their

569
00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:08,640
Speaker 1: arms while they're in this device this chair um or

570
00:40:08,680 --> 00:40:12,000
Speaker 1: the massage table, I guess, and then the process of

571
00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:15,600
Speaker 1: just screaming and disassociating as it's going on because they're

572
00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:19,239
Speaker 1: in so much pain. It's rather horrifying. And this one

573
00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:22,160
Speaker 1: with Danielle Roberts is this is the one we know about,

574
00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:26,759
Speaker 1: right because there are groups their Nexingum groups all over

575
00:40:26,920 --> 00:40:30,360
Speaker 1: in so many countries, in Canada and Mexico and the

576
00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:33,520
Speaker 1: United States and other countries. These are this is just

577
00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:36,880
Speaker 1: the one group that we're aware of where this process

578
00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:44,000
Speaker 1: took place exactly. And what we what we find is

579
00:40:44,120 --> 00:40:49,120
Speaker 1: that after being branded several of these women. Multiple women

580
00:40:49,440 --> 00:40:52,600
Speaker 1: alleged that when when they were in this dominant submissive

581
00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:56,480
Speaker 1: relationship with their quote unquote master and the secret organization,

582
00:40:57,080 --> 00:41:01,440
Speaker 1: they were coerced into sexual activities with Keith Bernier himself.

583
00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:04,440
Speaker 1: Who oh wait, they don't call him Keith, by the way,

584
00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:09,600
Speaker 1: in the group, they call him the Vanguard, which I

585
00:41:09,719 --> 00:41:13,839
Speaker 1: think is a lame, lame name. Lame nickname, the Vanguard.

586
00:41:14,200 --> 00:41:16,640
Speaker 1: I would have really liked it if I was still

587
00:41:16,960 --> 00:41:20,640
Speaker 1: playing EverQuest like, I would have thought, Man, that's a

588
00:41:20,719 --> 00:41:23,960
Speaker 1: cool name, the Vanguard. I like that. In addition to

589
00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:31,600
Speaker 1: sexual exploitation for the pleasure of the Vanguard, other women

590
00:41:31,840 --> 00:41:35,239
Speaker 1: and survivors of this situation say that Mac and other

591
00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:40,160
Speaker 1: members required them to do forced labor or menial task.

592
00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:45,480
Speaker 1: They had to do this without question, it didn't matter

593
00:41:45,560 --> 00:41:48,880
Speaker 1: what it was around the house, chores, yardwork, et cetera.

594
00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:55,280
Speaker 1: And for this, allegedly, the Vanguard would then pay Mac

595
00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:58,879
Speaker 1: or other masters. So if we're keeping count right now,

596
00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:05,520
Speaker 1: that's sex trafficking, blackmail, blackmail right and forced labor. If

597
00:42:05,600 --> 00:42:08,880
Speaker 1: we're being held by the US legal code rather than

598
00:42:08,960 --> 00:42:12,800
Speaker 1: the vision of the Vanguard, I just can't say that

599
00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:16,520
Speaker 1: name with a serious tone, but there's more right. Additionally,

600
00:42:16,840 --> 00:42:22,600
Speaker 1: he had very very rigid opinions on how people should

601
00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:26,000
Speaker 1: conduct any aspect of their lives. Obviously a lot of

602
00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:30,320
Speaker 1: cult leaders, tales old as time, are very controlling people.

603
00:42:30,520 --> 00:42:34,200
Speaker 1: So what what was one of his other conditions that

604
00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:37,880
Speaker 1: came out? Um more trigger stuff here if you've ever

605
00:42:38,000 --> 00:42:41,800
Speaker 1: had an eating disorder or um, something to that effect,

606
00:42:42,040 --> 00:42:44,759
Speaker 1: or just know we're going to talk about some of

607
00:42:44,840 --> 00:42:48,080
Speaker 1: that right now. So the Vanguard apparently liked women to

608
00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:53,120
Speaker 1: look emaciated. That was his thing, so he would he

609
00:42:53,239 --> 00:42:58,319
Speaker 1: preferred extremely thin women. So the slaves had to stick

610
00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:02,120
Speaker 1: to these extremely low calorie diets. They would document every

611
00:43:02,520 --> 00:43:06,120
Speaker 1: piece of food that went into their mouths, and as

612
00:43:06,160 --> 00:43:08,680
Speaker 1: punishment for not following orders, women would we were a

613
00:43:08,719 --> 00:43:11,439
Speaker 1: lot of the times forced to attend these classes where

614
00:43:11,440 --> 00:43:14,360
Speaker 1: they had to wear fake cow utters over their breasts

615
00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:18,200
Speaker 1: and people would call them terrible names and make fun

616
00:43:18,239 --> 00:43:20,440
Speaker 1: of them for wearing it, and then they would even

617
00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:23,359
Speaker 1: be threatened to be put into a cage because they

618
00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:26,000
Speaker 1: can't follow orders, they're not doing the right thing and

619
00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:30,600
Speaker 1: treated like cattle. Uh, they're being suppressive or there being

620
00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:35,759
Speaker 1: an obstacle to their own success. An sp right again. Yeah,

621
00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:38,880
Speaker 1: and Nexium, by the way, did, or at least the

622
00:43:39,080 --> 00:43:42,320
Speaker 1: Vanguard did, use the term suppressives when he was getting

623
00:43:42,360 --> 00:43:45,480
Speaker 1: into people's head. At this point, it's not clear who

624
00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:49,399
Speaker 1: in Nexium was aware of these activities, nor how many

625
00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:53,040
Speaker 1: people were branded, because you know, it's the inner circle

626
00:43:53,200 --> 00:43:56,200
Speaker 1: of an inner circle. However, we do know that Keith

627
00:43:56,280 --> 00:44:00,040
Speaker 1: himself was certainly aware. He sent a text message to

628
00:44:00,160 --> 00:44:04,880
Speaker 1: a female follower discussing the branding, wherein he noted, quote

629
00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:09,719
Speaker 1: not initially intended as my initials, but they rearranged it

630
00:44:09,840 --> 00:44:14,160
Speaker 1: slightly for tribute, adding if it were Abraham Lincoln's or

631
00:44:14,239 --> 00:44:17,520
Speaker 1: Bill Gates initials, no one would care. We should mention

632
00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:20,480
Speaker 1: that the appearance of the brand, it's yeah, let's talk

633
00:44:20,520 --> 00:44:24,400
Speaker 1: about it. It's his initials. Well, you know, in a

634
00:44:24,640 --> 00:44:27,839
Speaker 1: it's a stylized K and a stylized R. Yeah. I'm

635
00:44:28,080 --> 00:44:30,879
Speaker 1: looking at a picture from the New York Times. It's

636
00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:34,920
Speaker 1: a woman named Sarah Edmondson who came forward with some

637
00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:38,200
Speaker 1: of these I guess you have to call him allegations,

638
00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:41,080
Speaker 1: But who came forward to discuss these things after she

639
00:44:41,239 --> 00:44:45,279
Speaker 1: was branded? Um, she showed hers on on the New

640
00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:49,320
Speaker 1: York Times website, and it just it looks almost like

641
00:44:49,560 --> 00:44:52,279
Speaker 1: an X in a way that has some extra little

642
00:44:52,360 --> 00:44:57,120
Speaker 1: flourishes to it, but it looks just like a terrible

643
00:44:57,760 --> 00:45:05,160
Speaker 1: wound essentially. It's all right, yes, And so far there

644
00:45:05,680 --> 00:45:09,759
Speaker 1: hasn't been a conviction for this yet, so you are correct, Matt.

645
00:45:09,840 --> 00:45:14,759
Speaker 1: We do we do need to say that these are allegations. Technically, yeah,

646
00:45:14,840 --> 00:45:16,520
Speaker 1: I just got to hold back of the vomit a

647
00:45:16,520 --> 00:45:22,280
Speaker 1: little bit. So there's another controversy here. Like many organizations

648
00:45:22,360 --> 00:45:26,919
Speaker 1: of this type, Keith and his followers spent a great

649
00:45:26,960 --> 00:45:32,560
Speaker 1: deal of time attempting to turn or compromise wealthy and

650
00:45:32,719 --> 00:45:37,800
Speaker 1: powerful and most importantly vulnerable people and possibly influential and

651
00:45:37,960 --> 00:45:41,960
Speaker 1: possibly influential right. Uh, and that is again a textbook, uh,

652
00:45:42,160 --> 00:45:46,800
Speaker 1: textbook move from organizations that are like this. Two of

653
00:45:47,000 --> 00:45:51,960
Speaker 1: its most notable successes in this regard are the Bronfman sisters,

654
00:45:52,239 --> 00:45:55,600
Speaker 1: Sarah and Claire. They are believed to have squandered as

655
00:45:55,680 --> 00:45:59,160
Speaker 1: much as one hundred and fifty million dollars of their

656
00:45:59,200 --> 00:46:04,279
Speaker 1: inherited four urchin on the organization. They are the heiresses

657
00:46:04,520 --> 00:46:12,759
Speaker 1: to the Seagram's fortune and multiple other things. You can imagine, Uh,

658
00:46:12,960 --> 00:46:17,840
Speaker 1: this on fifty million dollar price tag or heist of

659
00:46:18,440 --> 00:46:23,120
Speaker 1: their family's fortune. Included sixty six million dollars allegedly used

660
00:46:23,200 --> 00:46:28,560
Speaker 1: to cover reniers failed bets in the commodities market, thirty

661
00:46:28,600 --> 00:46:30,720
Speaker 1: million to buy real estate in l a and around

662
00:46:30,760 --> 00:46:36,400
Speaker 1: the Albany area. Eleven million for a plane a jet actually,

663
00:46:36,719 --> 00:46:41,120
Speaker 1: excuse me, Canadair CL six hundred. That's a two set

664
00:46:41,160 --> 00:46:46,400
Speaker 1: to engine jet nice ride. Millions more to support the

665
00:46:46,520 --> 00:46:50,560
Speaker 1: barrage of lawsuits that Nexium would wage against people who

666
00:46:51,120 --> 00:46:54,400
Speaker 1: wronged Keith and so excuse me. The Vanguard in some

667
00:46:54,600 --> 00:46:59,400
Speaker 1: way or uh were seen as a threat. Yeah, and

668
00:47:01,239 --> 00:47:06,800
Speaker 1: the father, Mr Bronfman, he's a billionaire. His name is

669
00:47:06,920 --> 00:47:11,759
Speaker 1: Edgar Edgar Bronfman. He he attended a Nexium session and

670
00:47:12,680 --> 00:47:15,960
Speaker 1: after a little while he came out strongly against the

671
00:47:16,120 --> 00:47:19,760
Speaker 1: organization and he himself referred to it as a cult.

672
00:47:20,440 --> 00:47:26,280
Speaker 1: Which is something to note here, because, um, the sisters,

673
00:47:27,320 --> 00:47:31,239
Speaker 1: who I believe are his daughters, came out and you know,

674
00:47:31,400 --> 00:47:34,680
Speaker 1: are shelling out all now. I don't want to say

675
00:47:34,760 --> 00:47:37,279
Speaker 1: his money, but the family's money, just shelling it out

676
00:47:37,320 --> 00:47:39,719
Speaker 1: for this group that he believes as a cult. And

677
00:47:39,960 --> 00:47:45,040
Speaker 1: you'll hear people allege that what the organization when next

678
00:47:45,160 --> 00:47:52,640
Speaker 1: him itself was doing was exploiting or leveraging the problems

679
00:47:52,840 --> 00:47:56,879
Speaker 1: that existed in the Brafman families inner relationships, like god

680
00:47:57,239 --> 00:48:00,840
Speaker 1: dislike of their father. Right, he's a billion he didn't.

681
00:48:01,640 --> 00:48:04,160
Speaker 1: That's one of the closest things a human being in

682
00:48:04,239 --> 00:48:09,080
Speaker 1: this current system can have to godlike powers. Right. So

683
00:48:10,719 --> 00:48:13,960
Speaker 1: the idea then is that their agency has been removed,

684
00:48:14,040 --> 00:48:18,560
Speaker 1: they have been brainwashed somehow into supporting this guy, and

685
00:48:18,840 --> 00:48:22,879
Speaker 1: that they are I mean, that's an interesting legal point.

686
00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:28,319
Speaker 1: Are they complicit in these situations? We're about to find out.

687
00:48:29,160 --> 00:48:32,600
Speaker 1: You know, we mentioned that excellent piece by Meyer in

688
00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:36,799
Speaker 1: the New York Times in seventeen. Rania noticed it as well.

689
00:48:37,120 --> 00:48:40,040
Speaker 1: He read he read it, and then he fled for Mexico.

690
00:48:40,400 --> 00:48:42,960
Speaker 1: Yes he did. By the way, it's called inside a

691
00:48:43,080 --> 00:48:48,719
Speaker 1: secretive group where women are branded, and he was. He

692
00:48:48,920 --> 00:48:53,000
Speaker 1: was partnering with some of his followers who already lived

693
00:48:53,080 --> 00:48:58,240
Speaker 1: in a Mexican outpost for Nexium with some again notable

694
00:48:58,440 --> 00:49:04,680
Speaker 1: high profile followers, and he was found shortly thereafter in

695
00:49:04,800 --> 00:49:09,680
Speaker 1: a Puerto Vieta luxury gated community living with several women.

696
00:49:09,840 --> 00:49:13,520
Speaker 1: Authorities took him into custody on a US warrant investigators

697
00:49:13,600 --> 00:49:16,640
Speaker 1: said the women got into a high speed car chase.

698
00:49:17,520 --> 00:49:20,719
Speaker 1: At this point, we we don't have more information about that,

699
00:49:21,239 --> 00:49:24,160
Speaker 1: but we can only imagine they were also apprehended, and

700
00:49:24,280 --> 00:49:26,880
Speaker 1: so when he was arrested, he was transported to Texas

701
00:49:27,040 --> 00:49:31,640
Speaker 1: and officially charged with sex trafficking. We should also mentioned

702
00:49:31,800 --> 00:49:36,080
Speaker 1: that numerous sources state he was involved with three women

703
00:49:36,760 --> 00:49:39,319
Speaker 1: who were under the age of sixteen at the time. Yeah,

704
00:49:39,440 --> 00:49:42,200
Speaker 1: which is a whole other I was gonna say a

705
00:49:42,239 --> 00:49:46,160
Speaker 1: bag of badgers, but let's not than Yeah, let's it's

706
00:49:46,160 --> 00:49:48,520
Speaker 1: a whole thing. Let's at least save that one. Yeah.

707
00:49:49,080 --> 00:49:52,440
Speaker 1: So now he and Allison Mac face a minimum of

708
00:49:52,600 --> 00:49:56,719
Speaker 1: fifteen years each of convicted. That's a minimum of fifteen,

709
00:49:57,080 --> 00:49:58,480
Speaker 1: but it could go all the way up to life.

710
00:49:58,600 --> 00:50:01,640
Speaker 1: It probably won't because there's still a ton of money

711
00:50:01,680 --> 00:50:04,080
Speaker 1: involved here. I should be noticed that noted. I think

712
00:50:04,400 --> 00:50:06,200
Speaker 1: I'm not sure we even said it. Alison Mac is

713
00:50:06,239 --> 00:50:08,880
Speaker 1: also like caught up in the illegal stuff. That's like

714
00:50:08,960 --> 00:50:12,920
Speaker 1: you're saying, they're they're both facing charges. Yes, absolutely, And

715
00:50:13,680 --> 00:50:17,400
Speaker 1: at this point here in August, as we record this,

716
00:50:17,760 --> 00:50:21,480
Speaker 1: the case is still ongoing. We do have the official

717
00:50:21,640 --> 00:50:27,000
Speaker 1: statement from Nexium. They are on pause. Near A released

718
00:50:27,000 --> 00:50:30,760
Speaker 1: a letter responding to these allegations as well at some point,

719
00:50:30,960 --> 00:50:34,640
Speaker 1: but this is the official statement from Nexium on their

720
00:50:34,719 --> 00:50:39,240
Speaker 1: current operations. It is with deep sadness that we inform

721
00:50:39,360 --> 00:50:43,480
Speaker 1: you that we are suspending all Nexium ESP enrollment, curriculum

722
00:50:43,600 --> 00:50:46,680
Speaker 1: and events until further notice. We will be in touch

723
00:50:46,760 --> 00:50:50,160
Speaker 1: with more information for anyone currently enrolled in upcoming events

724
00:50:50,200 --> 00:50:54,440
Speaker 1: and programs. While we are disappointed by the interruption of

725
00:50:54,480 --> 00:50:58,160
Speaker 1: our operations, we believe it is warranted by the extraordinary

726
00:50:58,239 --> 00:51:01,880
Speaker 1: circumstances facing the company at this time. We continue to

727
00:51:01,960 --> 00:51:04,560
Speaker 1: believe in the value and importance of our work and

728
00:51:04,680 --> 00:51:10,600
Speaker 1: look forward to resuming our efforts when these allegations are resolved. Okay,

729
00:51:10,920 --> 00:51:17,839
Speaker 1: all right, uh and short, simple to the point of course,

730
00:51:17,920 --> 00:51:24,520
Speaker 1: they're going to Allied the details of the specific accusations.

731
00:51:26,200 --> 00:51:29,040
Speaker 1: That's the word of your day, Allied Ben Bolan tell

732
00:51:29,120 --> 00:51:33,520
Speaker 1: us what the what the word means? Okay, Allied E

733
00:51:33,880 --> 00:51:37,520
Speaker 1: l I D E means to leave or strike out

734
00:51:37,880 --> 00:51:45,520
Speaker 1: to omit perfect. So he didn't lie, but they did elied.

735
00:51:45,760 --> 00:51:51,279
Speaker 1: There you go the details, Okay. So Claire Bromfman was

736
00:51:51,560 --> 00:51:55,479
Speaker 1: also arrested and in late July, just the month before

737
00:51:55,520 --> 00:51:59,480
Speaker 1: we recorded this as she put up twenty five million

738
00:51:59,560 --> 00:52:04,759
Speaker 1: dollars in cash and several high end properties, including a

739
00:52:04,920 --> 00:52:08,080
Speaker 1: stake in a private island in Fiji, which is amazing

740
00:52:08,200 --> 00:52:11,440
Speaker 1: to just on a private island as collateral on her

741
00:52:11,560 --> 00:52:16,360
Speaker 1: one hundred million dollar bond. She faces racketeering charges in

742
00:52:16,480 --> 00:52:21,640
Speaker 1: connection to her role in the Nexium functions, according to

743
00:52:21,680 --> 00:52:25,399
Speaker 1: the court documents, So she's going down more for financial shenanigans,

744
00:52:25,640 --> 00:52:27,879
Speaker 1: of which there are quite a few. You can read

745
00:52:28,120 --> 00:52:32,880
Speaker 1: more about that in an excellent article from Oh Gosh,

746
00:52:32,960 --> 00:52:38,640
Speaker 1: way back in Vanity Fair. It's called the Heiresses and

747
00:52:38,760 --> 00:52:42,200
Speaker 1: the Cults. And there's something really important we have to

748
00:52:42,239 --> 00:52:45,440
Speaker 1: mention here, Ben. There are a lot of people who

749
00:52:45,480 --> 00:52:49,920
Speaker 1: would consider themselves members or are members of Nexium who

750
00:52:50,040 --> 00:52:53,040
Speaker 1: had absolutely no knowledge of any of these things that

751
00:52:53,080 --> 00:52:56,600
Speaker 1: were going on. And I didn't even know that or

752
00:52:56,680 --> 00:53:01,000
Speaker 1: didn't feel at all like this, like this company did

753
00:53:01,040 --> 00:53:05,120
Speaker 1: anything besides help them, Right, Yeah, Because again, sixteen thousand

754
00:53:05,280 --> 00:53:08,640
Speaker 1: or so people participated. The majority probably just attended a

755
00:53:08,760 --> 00:53:14,240
Speaker 1: handful of seminars and then left, perhaps feeling better about themselves,

756
00:53:14,320 --> 00:53:18,520
Speaker 1: perhaps a more confident. Maybe the classes even have measurable

757
00:53:18,600 --> 00:53:21,040
Speaker 1: positive impacts on their lives of the victims who have

758
00:53:21,160 --> 00:53:23,640
Speaker 1: come forward. We also have to note that they're likely

759
00:53:23,840 --> 00:53:27,520
Speaker 1: more who, for one reason or another, are too intimidated

760
00:53:27,600 --> 00:53:30,839
Speaker 1: to take these stories public. Yea. And perhaps they can

761
00:53:30,960 --> 00:53:34,440
Speaker 1: feel emboldened in a way or empowered by having some

762
00:53:34,600 --> 00:53:38,280
Speaker 1: of these stories come out. Um, and you know, perhaps

763
00:53:38,360 --> 00:53:41,920
Speaker 1: you were a victim and there you can you can

764
00:53:42,000 --> 00:53:46,720
Speaker 1: be supported now. And what about the future for rene

765
00:53:46,880 --> 00:53:50,080
Speaker 1: A Mac and more? As you said, there is still

766
00:53:50,200 --> 00:53:53,400
Speaker 1: a ton of so much money at play, and it

767
00:53:53,480 --> 00:53:58,080
Speaker 1: maybe some time before anyone gets convicted. Both of these individuals,

768
00:53:58,200 --> 00:54:03,280
Speaker 1: Alison and Keith pled not guilty. One one note about

769
00:54:03,480 --> 00:54:07,720
Speaker 1: Nia's finances. That's that's going to be a huge issue

770
00:54:07,840 --> 00:54:10,640
Speaker 1: for his legal team because apparently he did not have

771
00:54:10,760 --> 00:54:15,000
Speaker 1: a bank account nor a driver's license, and of course

772
00:54:15,080 --> 00:54:18,920
Speaker 1: he started encrypting email and tossed his phone as soon

773
00:54:19,000 --> 00:54:22,640
Speaker 1: as the New York Times article went live. It's fascinating

774
00:54:22,680 --> 00:54:25,160
Speaker 1: how much she, I don't know, trying to give himself

775
00:54:25,200 --> 00:54:28,799
Speaker 1: a plausible deniability about some of that stuff, right exactly,

776
00:54:30,120 --> 00:54:33,399
Speaker 1: tried to be in the operative phrase there. Alison Mac,

777
00:54:33,440 --> 00:54:36,360
Speaker 1: as we record this is currently out on bail. She

778
00:54:36,560 --> 00:54:39,600
Speaker 1: paid a five million dollar bond and she is living

779
00:54:39,760 --> 00:54:43,200
Speaker 1: at her parents house. At this point, observers suspect Mac

780
00:54:43,280 --> 00:54:46,200
Speaker 1: will likely attempt to plea bargain. This would not be

781
00:54:46,320 --> 00:54:49,040
Speaker 1: out of the realm of possibility. She could claim that she,

782
00:54:49,360 --> 00:54:54,080
Speaker 1: like her victims, was psychologically manipulated, coerced, and therefore controlled

783
00:54:54,200 --> 00:54:58,640
Speaker 1: by the Vanguard. And it's an argument that prosecutors or

784
00:54:58,640 --> 00:55:01,840
Speaker 1: a jury may well accept. And there's something to be

785
00:55:02,040 --> 00:55:06,440
Speaker 1: said there perhaps. I mean, we say it's an argument

786
00:55:06,480 --> 00:55:08,840
Speaker 1: because that's the way you would frame it in a

787
00:55:08,960 --> 00:55:14,080
Speaker 1: court of law. But psychologically there's there's some probably truth

788
00:55:14,160 --> 00:55:19,680
Speaker 1: to that. Oh, absolutely absolutely. And then we have one

789
00:55:19,800 --> 00:55:25,480
Speaker 1: more tidbit about Keith Renier himself. Oh yeah, his his

790
00:55:25,640 --> 00:55:30,000
Speaker 1: lawyers requested a ten million dollar bond and he was

791
00:55:30,120 --> 00:55:36,600
Speaker 1: completely denied bail, and that was denied after June fiveen

792
00:55:36,640 --> 00:55:40,480
Speaker 1: they filed it. Then he was arrested on March twenty

793
00:55:40,800 --> 00:55:43,000
Speaker 1: six of this year. That's when they got him in

794
00:55:43,840 --> 00:55:48,680
Speaker 1: Mexico and brought him to Texas. Um Mac also, interestingly enough,

795
00:55:48,760 --> 00:55:51,520
Speaker 1: in an earlier interview, she told The New York Times

796
00:55:51,640 --> 00:55:56,840
Speaker 1: magazine that the branding was her idea. Well yep. And

797
00:55:57,040 --> 00:56:02,080
Speaker 1: their trial is set to begin on October one of

798
00:56:02,360 --> 00:56:05,000
Speaker 1: this year, so there will be more to come. This

799
00:56:05,239 --> 00:56:08,560
Speaker 1: is an ongoing story. There's a lot coming out right now.

800
00:56:08,719 --> 00:56:12,960
Speaker 1: The day that we're recording this, um, Katherine Oxenberg, who

801
00:56:13,760 --> 00:56:16,640
Speaker 1: was a star on the show Dynasty, just came forward

802
00:56:16,760 --> 00:56:19,719
Speaker 1: discussing her daughter who got caught up in the organization.

803
00:56:21,239 --> 00:56:24,040
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's gonna keep happening. It's going to keep happening.

804
00:56:24,120 --> 00:56:27,279
Speaker 1: There's going to be more news hitting the airwaves soon

805
00:56:27,800 --> 00:56:31,960
Speaker 1: regarding this situation, and we would like to stay up

806
00:56:32,000 --> 00:56:33,920
Speaker 1: to date. We'll almost certainly have to do an update

807
00:56:34,320 --> 00:56:37,000
Speaker 1: once the trial goes through to see how that all

808
00:56:37,080 --> 00:56:41,240
Speaker 1: shakes out. We also like to hear from you, especially

809
00:56:41,320 --> 00:56:48,000
Speaker 1: if you are an aspiring actor a working actor. First, congratulations,

810
00:56:48,080 --> 00:56:51,359
Speaker 1: it is a very difficult industry. Second, have you run

811
00:56:51,560 --> 00:56:56,080
Speaker 1: into things like this? Have you seen organizations promising you

812
00:56:56,320 --> 00:57:00,320
Speaker 1: some sort of access or influence or greater per personal

813
00:57:00,480 --> 00:57:04,600
Speaker 1: self realization? If so, what are the names of those organizations?

814
00:57:04,680 --> 00:57:07,000
Speaker 1: Do you think their aims were legitimate? Do you think

815
00:57:07,080 --> 00:57:09,960
Speaker 1: there was something else at playing? Is there anything we

816
00:57:10,120 --> 00:57:13,440
Speaker 1: could look into? Send it our way, and we'd like

817
00:57:13,600 --> 00:57:17,560
Speaker 1: to thank you so much for listening. Uh NOL, like

818
00:57:17,720 --> 00:57:20,920
Speaker 1: all of us is working on any number of secret projects.

819
00:57:20,960 --> 00:57:24,520
Speaker 1: We can't wait to tell you about those. Uh, Paul,

820
00:57:24,720 --> 00:57:27,800
Speaker 1: Matt and I will at some point get to an Applebee's.

821
00:57:28,120 --> 00:57:31,760
Speaker 1: We made a covenant. We did for the record. We

822
00:57:31,880 --> 00:57:34,160
Speaker 1: did for the record, if you follow us on social media,

823
00:57:34,480 --> 00:57:39,760
Speaker 1: we did show up to that movef on meeting. We did. Yeah,

824
00:57:40,240 --> 00:57:44,040
Speaker 1: Matt and I went to the Georgia chapter of the

825
00:57:44,160 --> 00:57:48,680
Speaker 1: Mutual UFO Network and I'll admit it, man, I was

826
00:57:48,760 --> 00:57:51,600
Speaker 1: surprised by how packed it was. It was a crazy

827
00:57:51,680 --> 00:57:55,080
Speaker 1: packt You walk into the library in Tucker, Georgia. You

828
00:57:55,280 --> 00:57:58,440
Speaker 1: hang a left and there's a big meeting room. Most

829
00:57:58,480 --> 00:58:03,360
Speaker 1: of the chairs are filled and people were being very

830
00:58:03,440 --> 00:58:07,200
Speaker 1: cordial and just listening. The meeting was were on very well. Um,

831
00:58:07,600 --> 00:58:11,640
Speaker 1: when you maybe it's just the the vision that I

832
00:58:11,720 --> 00:58:14,280
Speaker 1: have sometimes when you were talking about a group of

833
00:58:14,400 --> 00:58:19,320
Speaker 1: people who collectively have some belief in the unidentified flying

834
00:58:19,360 --> 00:58:22,880
Speaker 1: objects in aerial phenomena, that perhaps we're all a little

835
00:58:22,920 --> 00:58:25,760
Speaker 1: bit strange. I'm including myself in this group. By the way, Um,

836
00:58:26,160 --> 00:58:29,640
Speaker 1: the human beings that were there in that room, assuming

837
00:58:29,640 --> 00:58:33,760
Speaker 1: they were all human beings are I mean, it was

838
00:58:33,880 --> 00:58:36,080
Speaker 1: so refreshing that I felt like we were all just

839
00:58:36,360 --> 00:58:39,440
Speaker 1: regular people. Is that is that weird? I don't think so.

840
00:58:40,320 --> 00:58:43,240
Speaker 1: It was crazy refreshing. That's a good people there too.

841
00:58:43,520 --> 00:58:46,320
Speaker 1: And so we would like to follow up in the

842
00:58:46,480 --> 00:58:50,600
Speaker 1: future with some of the details about Moufon in a

843
00:58:50,760 --> 00:58:53,560
Speaker 1: in a separate episode, maybe bring somebody from there to

844
00:58:53,800 --> 00:58:57,640
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about their experiences, their inspirations. Who

845
00:58:57,720 --> 00:59:00,919
Speaker 1: doesn't love a good UFO story. And then we found

846
00:59:01,000 --> 00:59:04,280
Speaker 1: some other things that we thought would be of immense

847
00:59:04,520 --> 00:59:10,480
Speaker 1: interest to you, some specific cases, some specific cases, fellow listeners.

848
00:59:10,960 --> 00:59:13,280
Speaker 1: If you'd like to hear a little bit more about

849
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Speaker 1: Moufon or what what we ended up doing there on

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Speaker 1: that Saturday h then check us out on social media.

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Speaker 1: You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. We

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Speaker 1: particularly like to recommend Here's where it gets crazy our

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Speaker 1: community page, which is sort of a enough about us,

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Speaker 1: what about you kind of thing where you can meet

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Speaker 1: with the most important part of this show, your fellow listeners.

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Speaker 1: We've got some excellent moderators. The meme game on that show,

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Speaker 1: m E m E is a plus plus double good

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Speaker 1: top of the line. Um. Yeah, and if you know

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Speaker 1: you do hit up in Applebee's, don't forget to get

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Speaker 1: a Muto frozen strawberry Summer Squeeze. Um. They're only there

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Speaker 1: for a limited time, do you guys? He's googling the menu. Yep.

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Speaker 1: Chickens fingers are still there. The shrimp wanton stir fries

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Speaker 1: to die for, So I just don't don't forget it,

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Speaker 1: So send us your stuff. If you don't want to

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Speaker 1: contact us, just email us from your local Applebee's. We

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Speaker 1: are conspiracy at how stuff works dot com.