WEBVTT - Part Three: The Orgasm Cult 0:00:01.720 --> 0:00:04.160 Alzoone Media. 0:00:05.559 --> 0:00:09.600 Welcome back to Behind the Bastards, a podcast that you're 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:12.920 listening to or like watching right now. I think like 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:15.680 ten percent of the audience watches, but it's impossible to 0:00:15.760 --> 0:00:19.799 tell because streaming numbers are famously opague. But you know 0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:23.720 what's not opegue. Our guest for the podcast today, the 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:26.440 great Jamie Loftu, is here to help us finish the 0:00:26.480 --> 0:00:30.200 epic saga of One Taste, a Bay Area orgasm cult 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:33.200 that went way too far. Jamie, Welcome back to the show. 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:36.239 So good to be here. I am famously translucent. It 0:00:36.320 --> 0:00:41.919 is nice to not be opaque. Yeah, I do wonder 0:00:42.040 --> 0:00:46.400 who's watching, but usually I feel like if someone is watching, 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:48.280 they'll let you know, and they'll let you know exactly 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:51.559 what looks wrong about you. So I'll get back to 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:53.760 you with the numbers. 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:57.920 Good to know. We also have on the podcast today 0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:00.880 our producer Sophie Lichterman, who is not showing up through 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:03.800 video because you don't need to. You just need to 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:07.480 justify that to you, you maniacs watching the show. You 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:09.080 don't need to know why Sophie's not going to be 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:11.520 on video. She's not deal with it. 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:14.800 Yeah, we don't need another subreddit about if I'm safe 0:01:14.840 --> 0:01:15.039 or not? 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:18.800 Guys, Yeah, podcast listeners, you can just continue ignoring. 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:21.680 All twenty twenty six. I'm not, of course, I'm unsafe. 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:27.440 What you Jamie? Are you excited to conclude this epic 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:29.360 story because we had a little bit of a break, 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:31.280 a longer one than we usually do between the first 0:01:31.319 --> 0:01:34.520 two parts and the third, so you know, I expect 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:37.119 things have been building up, edging if you will, as 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:39.440 we wait for you know, the conclusion here. 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:43.679 I liked it did feel kind of like message podcasting 0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:46.240 that you sort of left me hanging on the edge 0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:52.280 of something thrilling for like ten days and now I'm 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:58.520 ready to uh what what is like? Is enlightenment? This 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:02.640 feeling of knowledge? Like what is if knowledge is coming? 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:04.720 What is that? That's enlightenment? Nirvana? 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:08.040 It's interesting they come to the longer one taste goes 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:10.800 on the more Nicole didone, who is again like the 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:14.880 leader of all. This gets everyone referring to orgasm as 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:17.520 if it's like mana in like a like a like 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:20.760 a role playing game or something like your orgasm is low, 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:23.000 or you've got a high level of orgasm, your power, 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:26.120 your orgasm is powerful. So like you're They refer to 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:30.080 orgasm not as like like a biological thing that that 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:34.840 happens you know sometimes, but as like this this mana 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:38.840 pool that you build up over time, both through like 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:42.240 O wimming, through like receiving it if you have a vagina, 0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:45.240 or through giving you know, O wimming you build up 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:48.560 your orgasm level. And it's almost like this mana pool 0:02:48.600 --> 0:02:52.639 that helps you gain powers. That's kind of how she taks, and. 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:55.520 That's what you were doing for us and for them. 0:02:55.600 --> 0:03:00.760 Okay, I see, I think I wanted to raise your mana. 0:03:00.840 --> 0:03:03.960 One of my favorite things about cult stories is just 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:08.720 like the moving goalposts and how you're like, oh, you 0:03:08.800 --> 0:03:12.360 thought that was coming. Well, actually there's a secret different 0:03:12.480 --> 0:03:15.680 kind of come that. There is a huge financial barrier 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:16.920 to accents. 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:20.919 It's part of this like colts have to be all consuming. 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:24.200 They have to like fill every space in your life. 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:27.560 Colts don't want you to have like hobbies or you know, 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:31.920 outside stuff going on. So you know, if you're if 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:34.080 it's a call like scientology, where it's supposed to be 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:36.880 all consuming, you've got this totally different way of looking 0:03:36.960 --> 0:03:40.160 at the world and psychology in the mind that's easier 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:42.040 but if you come in with like this really narrow 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:45.440 focus like Nicole did, where it's just about you know 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:48.680 kind of lingis basically you really have to like you 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:51.680 have to get creative to make that all consuming because 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:55.200 most people just it's not an option to to have 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:57.960 oral sex all day every day for that to be 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:00.680 like your only behavior. So you really have to work 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:02.320 to make that everything. 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:04.920 Yeah, you should never you should never start a cult 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:09.040 around something that is free to do, right, Yes, it's 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:12.080 it's gonna get difficult quickly if people figure out they 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:13.680 can come for free at their house. 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:17.200 Although you know, Jamie, people have always technically been able 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:19.040 to come for free, and yet one of the most 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:21.640 reliable ways to make money is assisting them in that. 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:24.719 So that's true. That's true. And I will say, you know, 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:27.360 say what you will about Nicole, but she certainly has 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:29.120 gotten creative with it so far. 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:30.880 She's creative. She's creative. 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:32.640 I have never heard quite of this. 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:43.720 Yeah, So in mid two thousand and six, one Taste 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:46.839 used Rob's money, Remember our boy Rob, who's you know, 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:50.279 she's she's turned into like the figure the male figurehead 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:52.520 a lot of the time of the Colt in this period, 0:04:52.640 --> 0:04:55.080 she uses his money to lease a warehouse, and the 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:57.920 coal mandates everyone's got to live together. Now we're all 0:04:57.960 --> 0:05:00.320 living in this fucking warehouse. This will be the first 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:03.599 of two different warehouses that are like communal living spaces 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:06.039 and initially nice warehouses. 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:08.520 Warehouse could mean so they're in the bay. 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:11.800 You know, it's it's off of what's it called. It's 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:14.080 off of folsome Street. So it's not like it's an 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:18.440 expensive area, like it's fairly expensive realist date from the videos. 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:21.640 It's like a warehouse, but not a bad one. I 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:24.960 have spend time in San Francisco warehouses that are living 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:28.320 well Oakland warehouses that were living spaces. This seems like 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:32.600 one of the nicer ones, right, okay, sound around fifty 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:34.560 people move in it first, and they have to give 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:37.480 up most of their early possessions to do so. Once 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:40.679 they all live in the warehouse. Clothing, basically most things 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:44.320 are communal and borrowed or shared. People will like borrow 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:45.719 and take each other's clothes. 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:46.440 Uh. 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:49.120 If you complain that someone's like taking all of your 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:51.640 clothes or taking your stuff and that you don't feel 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:55.600 like it's equal, you'll be sort of critiqued or attacked 0:05:55.640 --> 0:05:58.880 for being too obsessed with attachments. Nicole starts having these. 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:01.039 She'll go through a couple of different names, but they're 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:06.440 all there's these various different sort of group meeting structures 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:08.360 that she'll do where everyone sits around in a circle 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:11.920 and like critiques each other. This is all downhill from 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:14.280 send and on and the game that they played whereveryone 0:06:14.360 --> 0:06:17.000 gets in a circle and insults each other. There's different 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:19.200 versions of this, but it's a way. 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:23.680 Honesty approach where it's like I'm actually I'm being abusive 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:25.640 towards you for your self improvement. 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:32.160 Because this is a lot of ye yep, yeah. So 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:35.440 people who complain that, like, hey, all my clothes have 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:37.960 been taken by someone else will be critiqued as being 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:40.520 obsessed with attachments. You don't want to be too obsessed 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:43.360 with attachments. You know, we're we're doing this for the 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:46.760 betterment of humankind. You know where you care that everyone's 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:51.479 taking your shirts? Everybody sleeps. There's one giant central main 0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:54.840 room with like a dozen or more beds crammed together, 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:57.440 like it has to be like twenty beds, twenty something 0:06:57.440 --> 0:07:00.040 beds for fifty people cram together and like between I 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:02.480 mean two and three people for a bed. It kind 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:05.760 of seems like I think it's usually couples, but it does, 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:08.279 at least from some interviews, it seems like some people 0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:12.880 are doing you know, thropples or foursomes too. So again, 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:15.640 at this point, you've got a few dozen, maybe around 0:07:15.680 --> 0:07:20.120 fifty full time members who have like really devoted themselves 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:23.240 completely to the cult, and then a few hundred people 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:26.440 in the Bay area who are kind of taking their courses. 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:29.040 Some of these folks are casual, maybe once or twice 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:31.400 a year they'll do a thing. Some of these folks 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:34.200 are more regular. You know, they're coming in every month 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:36.320 or even every week to do a variety. Maybe they're 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:40.000 doing a mix of yoga, some om classes, whatever. And 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:42.320 that's kind of how the cult is limping along at 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:43.280 this point in times. 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:47.400 So we've fifty people like full time in the warehouse, 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:51.920 living together, completely committed, and then a few hundred people 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:53.160 who are like paying money. 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:55.560 And you wouldn't even call those folks cult members, right 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:58.040 because the cult has a business side, So it'd be 0:07:58.040 --> 0:07:59.960 more accurate to say there's maybe fifty or some members 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:03.080 than a few hundred customers, right. I think that that. 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:04.800 Makes sense for San Francisco. 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:08.760 Yeah, yeah, right, right. The cult is not at this 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:13.000 point financially self sufficient, but it is making enough money 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:17.000 that Nicole only needs to like donations from rich people 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:20.080 to kind of seal the gaps. So periodically, you know, 0:08:20.160 --> 0:08:22.880 probably a few times a month, she'll be like, Okay, 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:26.600 we need x thousand dollars, so we've got to find one, two, 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:28.800 three wealthy donors who are willing to put in this 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:32.160 much money. And generally what she's doing is kind of, hey, 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:34.319 you remember you took this last class. We've got another one. 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:37.000 It costs like five grand, but I know you're really 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:40.800 attracted to this cult member. She'll be in the class, 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:43.320 don't you want to get right, that's kind of how 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:48.880 this is. And that's not quite prostitution, but that's like 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:52.320 on the edge, right well, especially. 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:55.920 Yeah, she has too much, she has all the power 0:08:56.200 --> 0:08:59.320 in that situation. And also I'm assuming that you know, 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:01.760 at least some of the time she's lying about that, 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:05.280 Oh yeah, for sure, for sure. So yeah, so in 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:07.199 a way, that is trafficking, isn't it. 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:11.360 Yeah, it's definitely trafficking or trafficking adjacent, and it's gonna 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:13.600 get a lot more direct at this point, it's a 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:17.439 little you know, fuzzy, and she's always. 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:21.320 I'm still enjoying the idea of all of the like hundred, 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:23.600 like the few hundred people who are just sort of 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:25.920 like one toe into the cult. I think we both 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:27.880 live in cities where that is the case for about 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:29.960 half of the residents, where I'm like, yeah, I've been 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:35.480 a couple a couple of times. Yeah, yeah, a couple 0:09:35.600 --> 0:09:37.880 times a month. I probably go to a place that 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:40.400 I'm going to read an expose about in a couple 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:40.800 of years. 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:43.800 I don't know easily. Like I said, I'm not one 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:46.640 hundred percent sure. I haven't been to parties with like 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:50.560 a bunch of one taste people. Look, because I got 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:53.120 high a lot in the Bay Area around this time. 0:09:56.040 --> 0:09:58.040 I mean, it's like, we're never going to move into 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:00.560 the warehouse. But you know, not on a the question 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:02.400 that maybe you've been to the warehouse. 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:04.040 You know, I've been to a few been to a 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:04.960 couple of warehouses. 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:06.680 You're an open minded guy. 0:10:07.120 --> 0:10:10.079 Yeah, yeah, I'm an open minded guy. I love a warehouse. 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:14.160 You know, I've maybe presed what if I done stand 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:14.840 up at it? 0:10:16.320 --> 0:10:19.559 Robert Adams, I love a warehouse. 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:23.200 I love good warehouse. I love a good warehouse. Yeah. 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:25.880 So uh and this is kind of so, you know, 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:28.160 on the on one side, you've gotten Nicole reaching out 0:10:28.160 --> 0:10:31.679 to these folks who are like regular wealthier customers. These 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:34.000 are Bay Area tech bros generally who have a good 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:36.000 amount of money. So she's got a list of these 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:38.040 guys who she's like, Okay, we need money. I can 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:40.120 reach out to these dudes and maybe that'll bring in 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:42.079 five or ten grand that we need. And then on 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:45.280 the other side, within the cult, she frames this often 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:47.319 as like a game, where like she'll go to a 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:50.600 specific member and be like, hey, so we're doing a 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:52.959 class and it's a high dollar class. I'll give you 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:55.200 a free ticket, but I'm gonna have to partner you 0:10:55.280 --> 0:10:58.559 up with so and so because he really likes you. 0:10:58.559 --> 0:11:00.800 You know, do you want to freak class? Right? And 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:02.680 she would she would ask you to do her like 0:11:02.720 --> 0:11:06.320 a favor, often for you, right, or a favor for them. 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:10.120 And so even outside of the classes, she's sometimes saying, hey, 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:12.440 this guy needs you know, I want to convince him 0:11:12.480 --> 0:11:14.760 to sign up. Would you do me a favor? And 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:18.400 favor is a hand job generally, usually when she uses 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:20.320 that term that means like, I want you to jerk 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:23.000 this guy off for me outside of the class. So 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:25.360 now we're really now we're. 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:30.120 Yeah, come on, no, this isn't so the line. 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:32.960 Is this is this is kind of and from a 0:11:33.040 --> 0:11:36.719 very early point two thousand and five six, she's regularly 0:11:37.000 --> 0:11:41.240 it's not always, but she's pretty regularly crossing the line 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:43.480 into into prostitution. Right. 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:47.360 Well, this like ex seeds like certain Epstein tactics. To me, 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:50.040 it's like, it's not just you're recruiting someone to go 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:53.600 to a second location. It's your being trafficked to go 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:57.079 give a hand job to get to a second location. 0:11:57.200 --> 0:11:59.280 Right to get them into the class where they'll then 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:02.440 be going down on you for an hour or for 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:05.280 three days or whatever, depending on the kind of class 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:05.840 that they're. 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:08.120 Doing, depending on how warehouse you are. 0:12:08.360 --> 0:12:11.760 Yeah, yeah, how in the warehouse you are, and yeah 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:14.960 that that kind of overtime. This just becomes a major 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:18.040 part of how one taste gets by certain moneyed men 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:21.040 will pay for group workshops where many of the other 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:24.280 seats are taken by other people paying for seats, including women. 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:26.040 There are women in the Bay Area who pay for 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:28.160 these seats and they get paired up with these guys too, 0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:31.200 but a decent number of seats and holes kind of 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:33.760 if we haven't sold. Oh, there's twenty four slots in 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:37.559 this We only found fifteen people and most of them 0:12:37.559 --> 0:12:40.360 are men, so we need to make up the difference 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:42.720 with a lot of young females from the cult. 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:46.440 Right, the ratio is off in the colt. 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:51.160 Yeah, we got to get right. So by two thousand 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:53.560 and eight, the constant struggle to keep the lights on 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:55.920 in one taste because again they're never quite in the 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:57.840 black has made in a cold, had made in a 0:12:57.840 --> 0:13:01.680 cold desperate, right. She likes the lifestyle, but it's also 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:04.920 not quite working, and there's I think she's aware of 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:07.800 the risk. I think she knows I've crossed the line 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:11.760 already and we're still not profitable. Maybe I should either 0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:14.599 leave or try to like sell off my position in 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:17.480 the cult to a mark. Right, So she starts wondering 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:21.000 has this thing run its course? And just as she's wondering, 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:23.880 like do I need to cancel a say or do 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:26.640 I need to end things? A savior appears and that 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:31.160 savior is The New York Times. So one of their 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:34.400 reporters calls and here's I've heard there's this Bay Area 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:38.600 company that's, you know, an orgasm classes and they're teaching 0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:42.199 people how to do orgasmic meditation. Sounds like a great story, 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:45.240 and Nicole is like, come on by, we would love 0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:48.000 to have you. Now. I've quoted a couple of times 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:51.559 in previous the previous episodes from that New York Times article, 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:53.959 and what I really want to emphasize to you is 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:57.239 that this is a bad and irresponsible piece of journalism. 0:13:57.240 --> 0:13:59.800 The Times does not come in. There's a couple of 0:13:59.840 --> 0:14:02.560 lines in there where they're like, some people say this 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:06.280 is problematic, and there's a couple references to they may 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:09.720 be blurring some lines, you know, in regard. 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:12.800 Crazy about the New York Times both sizing an issue 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:15.480 in which there is a clear right side to be on. 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:16.920 That's so interesting. 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:21.240 No, they treat this like it's a cool tech company. 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:24.840 They treat this like it's between somewhere between that and 0:14:24.880 --> 0:14:30.800 like an interesting new you know, uh kind of alternative 0:14:30.840 --> 0:14:34.080 healthcare thing like like cold plunges or something. It's very 0:14:34.160 --> 0:14:36.720 much written like that, or like when that dude was 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:40.600 talking doing all those classes onlike I can be submerged 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:42.880 in the cold. We did episodes on them for crazy periods. 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:45.360 It's like that sort of thing where they're treating it 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:48.320 like a fucking Malcolm Gladwell book, like, oh she made 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:52.080 you know, yeah, she says science tells us this about orgasms. 0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:54.200 You know, they're just trying to be more scientific, right, 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:56.360 That's how it's brand. These are researchers. 0:14:56.680 --> 0:14:59.280 How like I mean, The New York Times is its 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:03.000 whole own set of issues. But how like East Coast 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:07.200 journalists often talk about like West Coast trends where they 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:10.720 are just like they're just kookie, They're just weird over there. 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:12.840 Check out these freaks, and you're like, no, those are 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:13.800 sex criminals. 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:15.800 No, this is the weird problem. 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:17.440 Yeah. 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:19.880 And so as a result, the the article winds up 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:23.120 working as an advertisement for one Taste more than anything else. 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:27.000 And it even features they take photos of om sessions 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:31.680 of like women being stroked in and other like otherwise 0:15:31.720 --> 0:15:35.520 masturbated in these in these different clinic classes that go on, 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:38.640 but like really work safe. So you'll just get like 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:40.400 Sophie's gonna put one on screen for those that you 0:15:40.440 --> 0:15:43.000 can see, and it's this like beautifully lit photo of 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:45.560 just like the top half of a woman and she's 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:48.840 she's like it's it's reversed, so like her head is 0:15:48.880 --> 0:15:50.640 facing down and so you could just see her head 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:54.080 and she's got this like expression of ecstasy. She's wearing 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:57.000 like a black shirt or something. It has her hands 0:15:57.360 --> 0:15:59.800 like kind of folded across her chests, and she's lit 0:15:59.880 --> 0:16:02.120 so that like it almost looks like her face just 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:03.160 her face is glowing. 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:07.680 She looks like a vampire coming back to life. Said 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:10.800 to have this picture taken in view, Oh my god. 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:13.680 I mean in the in the article, the framing of it. 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:15.880 It's the title of the photo is Inner Bliss and 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:18.960 a One Taste Urban retreat Center. A resident practices or 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:21.040 gasmic meditation. Partner not shown. 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:22.720 Partner not shown. 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:28.160 Yeah, so just of all. In the article, The Times 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:32.320 describes Nicole as a literal quote sex diva. And here's 0:16:32.480 --> 0:16:34.760 Sophie'll show you again. There's this photo. Nicole's right in 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:36.560 the center. This is her given a class. She's like, 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:40.560 well lit sex diva. Nicole didone One Tastes founder says 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:43.920 women will experience freedom when they own their sexuality. 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:47.320 God, how proud was the writer who came up with 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:50.480 the phrase sex diva that they had to write it down. 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:52.400 God, god fuck it. 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:55.880 It's an interesting photo to choose because it almost looks 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:58.840 like a like like a like a ted talk. 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:03.680 Yeah, well, great, Sophie put a pin in that. So 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:07.520 the article is a massive hit for one taste. Suddenly journalists, 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:09.960 including a lot of like local TV news journalists in 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:12.639 the Bay Area, are crowding in to get the story 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:14.679 on one taste, and most of them are covering it 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:17.639 in positive ways. They're kind of amused, look at this 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:21.560 kooky thing, but it's like good, no, Like these are 0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:24.080 not generally wondering is this all like a sex cult 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:27.520 that she's just like trafficking her members to rich tech 0:17:27.560 --> 0:17:30.240 guys in order to keep the lights on? Right? That's 0:17:30.280 --> 0:17:33.560 not really quite asked, you know, And she's. 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:36.080 Still like playing into the whole. I Mean, what has 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:37.639 kind of been striking to me about a lot of 0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:41.520 the marketing we've looked at is that she's getting she's 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:43.840 got the girl boss scam of like making it seem 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:46.360 like this is good for women and women centered. 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:51.080 Yeah, yeah, this is empowered, This is empowering. Going with it, yeah, yeah, 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:53.159 because this is always framed us like, did you know 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:56.040 this very large percentage of women have never had an orgasm, 0:17:56.160 --> 0:17:59.159 never had an orgasm with another partner, you know, And 0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:01.320 then from there to like, so that makes this health 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:03.639 issue right, and that makes this and then there's all 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:05.920 this like and here's what we've learned about the health 0:18:05.960 --> 0:18:09.399 benefits of orgasm, and so there's always this like underpinning 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:14.119 of actual statistics and actual stuff, and as a result, 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:16.240 it gets covered as if it's just part of the 0:18:16.280 --> 0:18:20.720 broad sort of body hacking, body optimization stuff that's going 0:18:20.880 --> 0:18:23.880 crazy in the oughts. And so in very short order, 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:28.760 one taste starts picking up some really like mainstream partners 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:31.960 Audible Sponsors. One of their podcasts they have like an 0:18:32.280 --> 0:18:36.159 erotic poetry open mic night, and like Audible Sponsors turning 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:37.160 that into a podcast. 0:18:37.240 --> 0:18:41.600 They always oh, my god, every cult is trying to 0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:44.919 get stand up comedians in the door. Some of the 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:47.720 worst people that come in your door, they're oh, the site, 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:48.399 never forget. 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:52.200 I came very closed. I was nearly persuaded in twenty 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:54.120 fifteen to go to a Scientology open mic. 0:18:55.280 --> 0:18:56.960 Oh, that would have been amazing. 0:18:57.480 --> 0:18:59.960 They have refreshments, They have refreshments. 0:19:00.240 --> 0:19:01.919 That's really been awesome. 0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:05.800 Oh man, I know my career would be at a 0:19:05.880 --> 0:19:07.080 better place of sure. 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:08.920 Yeah they still have that. That sounds great. 0:19:09.359 --> 0:19:09.560 Yeah. 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:13.840 So cult members were very active on social media, and 0:19:13.880 --> 0:19:16.879 specifically like a lot of like local social media, like 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:19.080 in the Bay Area. So there's a lot of like 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:22.520 posts about like was that this great house party? Here's 0:19:22.520 --> 0:19:25.359 some crazy pictures, and you'll see these like giant cuddle 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:28.520 puddles a bunch of young women, and like thirty percent 0:19:28.560 --> 0:19:31.119 of the cuddle puddle will be like schlubby Bay Area 0:19:31.160 --> 0:19:34.120 engineer looking dudes. Right. These are all very much framed 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:36.320 as being like, hey, are you like a nerdy guy 0:19:36.359 --> 0:19:38.040 with a lot of money who lives in the area, 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:41.159 and maybe he's not good with like women, this cult, 0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:44.000 there's lots of young women who were good to go. 0:19:44.240 --> 0:19:46.760 All you got to do is pay to take a class. Right, 0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:50.919 That's very much what the messaging is to these guys. 0:19:50.960 --> 0:19:52.960 And a lot of new members are drawn and a 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:55.600 lot of new male members in particular, are drawn in 0:19:55.720 --> 0:19:58.440 by posts from residents of the warehouse talking about these 0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:01.680 wild sex parties and you know these we're doing. We've 0:20:01.680 --> 0:20:04.000 got a party, and they'll throw parties like on the beach. 0:20:04.240 --> 0:20:06.240 Here's a one Taste party on the beach. Come on, 0:20:06.480 --> 0:20:09.159 like show up. You know, people are being plied with 0:20:09.280 --> 0:20:11.800