1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:04,640 Speaker 1: All right. Can you imagine needing emotional, intellectual, or spiritual 2 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: comfort so much that you'd be willing to sign your 3 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:11,600 Speaker 1: life away to a powerful, mind controlling individual. Some call 4 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 1: it a fad, others a cult. And what happens when 5 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:17,479 Speaker 1: you drink the kool aid and give up your life 6 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: for the cause. I'm Patty Steele. The Jonestown Massacre was 7 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:24,239 Speaker 1: the actual origin of the term drinking the kool aid 8 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 1: and it left over nine hundred dead. That's next on 9 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: the backstory. We're back with the backstory. So cults are 10 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: nothing new. You can go back to ancient times in Greece, Rome, Egypt, 11 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: and so many other societies and see the rise of 12 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 1: these powerful influencers who basically hypnotized people into joining their cults. 13 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 1: In Greece and Rome, a lot of them were what's 14 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: called mystery cults. It was about the mystery of life itself. 15 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: Join them and you had the opportunity to control your 16 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:02,280 Speaker 1: own life. That's what they told you. In order to join, 17 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:04,960 Speaker 1: you had to be initiated in order to prove your 18 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: devotion to the belief system. Cults back then and now 19 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:12,279 Speaker 1: are all about accepting the absolute authority of the leader. 20 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 1: Never questioning their decisions when it comes to your life, 21 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:21,120 Speaker 1: and accepting their unreasonable fear of upcoming catastrophes and evil 22 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:25,959 Speaker 1: conspiracies from the outside world, and most importantly, accepting without 23 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:31,039 Speaker 1: question that the group leader is always right. In ancient times, 24 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 1: the belief in these spiritual cults allowed people to figure 25 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,760 Speaker 1: out a reason for distressing events like hailstorms, winds that 26 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: prevented them from sailing, fires, and crop failures. If they 27 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:46,800 Speaker 1: then put their faith in these beings, sometimes gods that 28 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: controlled their spiritual life, they could ask for their intervention 29 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 1: in times of struggle. So at the end of the day, 30 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:57,919 Speaker 1: cult leaders, whether they're gods or human entities, attract people 31 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: who simply want to feel safe through the process of 32 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: being led, and over thousands of years that desire never 33 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 1: went away. How many of us feel safe around a 34 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: powerful figure. There's an old adage in the military that 35 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: in a time of crisis, people will listen to the loudest, 36 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: most powerful voice they can hear, and that is what 37 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: happened almost fifty years ago during the rise and the 38 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 1: ultimate fall of Jim Jones and his People's Temple. Jim 39 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 1: Jones was born in Indiana at the dawn of the 40 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: Great Depression. His parents were poor, his dad a World 41 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:36,079 Speaker 1: War One vet, his mom totally unemotional, except for her 42 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: belief that her son was destined for greatness. Even as 43 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: a kid, Jim was fascinated by religion. He'd stage funerals 44 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: for dead animals or animals he'd killed himself. Neighbors said 45 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,480 Speaker 1: he was an intense kid who was obsessed with death 46 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:54,080 Speaker 1: and power, but he also had an ability to captivate people. 47 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 1: He saw religion as a tool for control. It wasn't 48 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 1: about salvation, simply domination. By the nineteen fifties, Jim Jones 49 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: was a minister in Indianapolis and opened to church he 50 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: named the People's Temple. It was progressive. He preached racial 51 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: integration and social justice. He welcomed black members into his 52 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:18,680 Speaker 1: mostly white congregation and adopted children of different races to 53 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: form what he called his Rainbow Family. Those who felt 54 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:26,800 Speaker 1: alienated by mainstream society saw him as a revolutionary, a savior. 55 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:29,960 Speaker 1: But as the People's Temple grew, so did his need 56 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: for power. He started using faith healing to draw in followers, 57 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 1: performing miracles to heal the sick and disabled. The problem 58 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: is most of these healings were secretly staged. He would 59 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: plant people in the audience to fake their illnesses. He 60 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: moved his congregation finally to California and drew some pretty 61 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: powerful people under his spell. People like Jane Fonda sang 62 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 1: his praises for his devotion to Marxism, and California Governor 63 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:01,240 Speaker 1: Jerry Brown even spoke at the People's Temple. President Carter's wife, 64 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 1: Rosalind Carter, appeared on stage with him, and Pulitzer Prize 65 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: winning journalist Herb Kane called Jim Jones a profoundly decent man. 66 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: The more powerful he became, the more power he wanted. 67 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,839 Speaker 1: He demanded total loyalty and made his followers cut ties 68 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 1: with anybody outside the church, saying they were all out 69 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:25,479 Speaker 1: to destroy the faithful. Meantime, members were viciously disciplined and 70 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 1: publicly humiliated if they didn't follow the rules. Fear and 71 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: paranoia were at the base of his cult's identity, and 72 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,000 Speaker 1: he made it clear he was the only one that 73 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 1: could trust what to do escape. In nineteen seventy four, 74 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:43,800 Speaker 1: Jim Jones founded a utopian community in the Jungles of 75 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:47,919 Speaker 1: Guyana in South America. He promised that Jonestown would be 76 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 1: a paradise free from racism, inequality, and the outside world. 77 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:56,599 Speaker 1: Hundreds of followers sold their homes, gave up their savings, 78 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: and followed him into the jungle. Problem is, it was 79 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:04,320 Speaker 1: no paradise. There was nothing there but dense jungle. They 80 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 1: worked hours in the sweltering heat, clearing land, building primitive homes, 81 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: and growing crops. Descent was not tolerated. He had loud 82 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:18,040 Speaker 1: speakers throughout Jonestown, broadcasting his voice day and night, paranoid 83 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 1: tirades about enemies closing in and the need for total loyalty. 84 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 1: He staged what he called white Knights, which were rehearsals 85 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:30,080 Speaker 1: for mass suicide. He wanted his followers to see death 86 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:33,279 Speaker 1: as an act of devotion. At this point, back in 87 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:35,760 Speaker 1: the US, relatives started to freak out a little bit. 88 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:39,240 Speaker 1: As stories about what was going on leaked out. A 89 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:43,320 Speaker 1: congressman named Leo Ryan decided to launch an investigation. In 90 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:47,159 Speaker 1: November of nineteen seventy eight, Ryan went to Jonestown with 91 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:50,600 Speaker 1: a number of journalists and worried family members. At first, 92 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: things looked fine. Jim Jones offered a warm welcome with 93 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,960 Speaker 1: smiling followers and happy speeches. About the joys of life 94 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 1: in Jonestown, but it all began to fall apart. Some 95 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: residents slipped notes to Ryan's team, begging for him to 96 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:09,159 Speaker 1: help them escape. As Ryan got ready to leave, armed 97 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:13,320 Speaker 1: guards from Jonestown rushed the airstrip. They ambushed the group, 98 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 1: killing Congressman Ryan, three journalists, and a defector. There were 99 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:23,000 Speaker 1: some survivors, but the violent sealed Jonestown's fate. Back at Jonestown, 100 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:26,479 Speaker 1: Jim Jones told his followers the enemies would storm them 101 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:30,120 Speaker 1: and destroy their community. He said, the only solution is 102 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:35,239 Speaker 1: revolutionary suicide. Cyanide was mixed with a fruit flavored drink, 103 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 1: Thus the kool aid and mothers were instructed to give 104 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:41,479 Speaker 1: it to their children first. As the children died, the 105 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:45,559 Speaker 1: adults followed. Armed guards made sure everybody did as told, 106 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:49,479 Speaker 1: and anybody who resisted was forced to drink it. Jim 107 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: Jones himself was found dead with a gunshot wound to 108 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 1: the head. In all, authorities found over nine hundred people dead, 109 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,840 Speaker 1: including around three hundred children. How did Jim Jones convince 110 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:05,680 Speaker 1: so many to give up their lives? Pure manipulation, isolating 111 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: his followers, breaking their spirits, and enforcing blind loyalty to him. 112 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:15,560 Speaker 1: In the end, Jonestown was the culmination of one guy's 113 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 1: quest for absolute control. Hope you like the Backstory with 114 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: Patty Steele. I would love it if you'd subscribe or 115 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: follow for free to get new episodes delivered automatically, and 116 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:34,200 Speaker 1: feel free to dm me if you have a story 117 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:37,280 Speaker 1: you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele 118 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The 119 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: Backstory is a production of iHeartMedia, Premier Networks, the Elvis 120 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:51,280 Speaker 1: Durand Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. 121 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:55,160 Speaker 1: Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday 122 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 1: and Friday. Feel free to reach out to me with 123 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: comments and even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty 124 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 1: Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening 125 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:08,520 Speaker 1: to the Backstory with Patty Steele. The pieces of history 126 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 1: you didn't know you needed to know.