Perched on the edge of Tomales Bay in Marin County, the newly revamped Lodge at Marconi blends natural beauty with a unique, albeit sordid, history. Throughout its many lives it’s been everything from a historic technical site where radio communication…[Continue Reading...]
If you're a fan of learning about cults, this has been your year for streaming. From "Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God" to "Escaping Twin Flames," there has been no shortage of storylines exploring religious extremism in 2023.…[Continue Reading...]
Watch L.A. Times Today at 7 p.m. on Spectrum News 1 on Channel 1 or live stream on the Spectrum News App. Palos Verdes Peninsula and Orange County viewers can watch on Cox Systems on channel 99. In the 1960s…[Continue Reading...]
During the 1950s, Detroit, like other urban cities, had startling numbers of residents suffering from drug abuse and the city became the ideal starting ground for the country's first drug rehabilitation programs. A new HBO Max docuseries, "The Synanon Fix,"…[Continue Reading...]
The Synanon was a community founded by Charles E. “Chuck” Dederich in 1958. After being a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, a rehabilitation group for people suffering from alcohol abuse, Charles decided to start a community of his own for people…[Continue Reading...]
A California rehabilitation foundation for people addicted to heroin transformed into a "communal living experiment" with cult-like tendencies in the 1950s, according to a new documentary series. Charles Diedrich, a former alcoholic, initially founded his storefront rehabilitation center in Santa…[Continue Reading...]
Synanon was the brainchild of Charles “Chuck” Dederich. The infamous cult leader died in 1997, but the story of his reformative-turned-destructive drug rehabilitation organization is now the center of a four-part docuseries on HBO. Titled The Synanon Fix: Did The…[Continue Reading...]
What happens when a rehab program that is supposed to cure addictions becomes addictive itself? That’s the story of Synanon, an organization that went from providing revolutionary therapy to becoming “a kooky cult,” as TIME put it in 1977. The…[Continue Reading...]
Before there were organizations in place to help people with drug addiction, the landscape for people with these problems was harsh and unforgiving. In the late 1950s, Charles "Chuck" Dederich wanted to change that. Dederich — who was open about…[Continue Reading...]
From books and docuseries to podcasts and big-screen thrillers, true-crime tales are everywhere. Much of it is thinly researched retreads of well-worn cases and subjects that feel exploitative in the end. “Born in Synanon” is none of those things. The…[Continue Reading...]
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