TRENDING TOPIC: It's That Time of Year Again- Shen Yun and Falun Gong!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The phone tapping is pretty awesome.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Not for them, but usually the communists are being witch hunted.
In this case, they are doing the witch hunting.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
That's a weird flip.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Yeah, but that's kind of why I said earlier nobody's
good in this story, because like, I don't really support
witch hunts and book banning.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
I mean, that's fair.

Speaker 4 (00:25):
That's so fucked up. Present, So Photos Presents, that's so
fucked up present, So fu.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Supresse you guys, you are listening too, That's so fucked up.
A comedy podcast about colts, crime and other things that
make you say, ugh, that's so fucked up, or you know,
however you would say it. And this is that So

(01:01):
Fucked Up Presents, which is a spinoff series if That's
So fucked Up, where each month we talk about a
different kooky subject. This is sinister sex, not sex.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
Okay, it's a killer.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
The CTS, sinister c since citis. You know you heard
what I said. That's what we're doing. Mm hm. It's
about you know, groups aka sects that are well sinister.
You're like, oh, are they yeah? Uh huh?

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Are you sure?

Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, I am. Yeah. I'm gonna tell you guys, all
about it. Today, I am your host of That's So
Fucked Up and that So Fucked Up Presents Ashley Love
Richard's and today I am joined by two of my
friends who are also indie podcasters. Y'all need to go
show them some love. We all need help. Okay, everybody

(02:05):
knows my favorite murder and Crime Junkie and small Town
Who's what? I don't know? You know? It's when I
see the recommendations, I'm like, where are my homies? And
me at like everybody. I'm not saying those aren't great
podcasts well slim slim, but MFM was. Karen and Georgia

(02:27):
were my inspirations. So love forever to that show. But
I'm so fucking adhd you guys. I'm sorry I'm introducing already.
You guys have podcasts. Why don't you introduce yourselves in
alphabetical order of name.

Speaker 3 (02:47):
Okay, Caitlin, that's you. I was like, I think C
comes before LU.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yes, I know it does, at least in the English alphabet.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yes, where am I?

Speaker 3 (02:59):
I'm Caitlin from P ANDW Hants and Homicides. My lovely
co host Cassie is not joining us today, but that's
because she mostly prefers to speak about the spooky stuff.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
So I would argue this is pretty spooky, but not
in the traditional sense.

Speaker 3 (03:18):
Yes, exactly.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
Well, welcome Caitlin from PNW Haunts and Homicides. Where can
people find you and your social media and whatnot.

Speaker 3 (03:28):
All of the things. We have a website and a
link tree, and the link tree links to our website.
It's impressive stuff. Uh, it's like the matrix I made it,
so it kind of is. It's a little bit inception y.
It's P and W, hants and homicides all spelled out.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
Okay, there we go. Okay, nice and Lindsay, Hi, Hi, welcome, Thanks,
Welcome to the show.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
Thanks. I'm Lindsay and I'm one of the hosts of
Ye Old Crime, which is a show that I do
with my sister Medicine where we discuss funny, strange and
lesser known crimes that took place pre nineteen hundred And
you can find us on all of the things, and
our website is Yeold Crime podcast dot com. And the

(04:20):
old has an E at the end of it, so
that's how you know that we're no old school because
it's gotten E.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, so I mean Obviously you guys are listening. Hopefully
you like the show. I understand that some of you
are hate listening. That's fine if that's your prerogative. You
just don't have to leave a review about it anyhere.

Speaker 3 (04:43):
Also, just know that my hate listening, you are supporting
the show. Those downloads do count towards revenue. So thank you,
so thank you.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
And I obviously struck enough of a chord that you
know I affected you in some way, So I guess
I don't know. Thanks, you guys know you get it.
So you guys, this is the story that you didn't
know that you needed to hear, but you do. So
buckle up because today we're talking about Foulon Gong and

(05:19):
shen Yun. Oh boy for communism. Oh it's coming to town.
Have you guys ever gotten a mailer? Yes?

Speaker 3 (05:31):
No, I get emails.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
Maybe because I'm so far out of the cities that
I don't get the mailer, but I bet if I
did live in the cities, I would get one.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
You know, it's an incredible journey of incredible odds according
to the peeps at Shenyun. And yeah, you guys have
probably seen on your YouTube ads or on a billboard
or anywhere on Earth. It's majestic looking Chinese woman. She's

(06:02):
in a very beautiful, colorful gown and she's in a
ballet pose. And I feel like you guys, you guys,
you guys know what I'm talking about. And oh my god,
they are as of this recording. They'll be in Colorado tomorrow.
Oh boy, I could go for the low price of

(06:23):
eighty to one hundred and sixty dollars. Wow, what a steal.
This bitch is a little bit broke, and that's what
I'm a price range. Also, I don't want to really
get paid to get a bunch of propaganda thrown at me. So,
you guys, let's get into what the heck is this? Okay? So, usually,

(06:44):
like I said, it's advertised with bright, colorful posters and
signs in commercial major cities. That's why you might be
missing Allensay.

Speaker 1 (06:53):
Sorry, Well I'm very close to Minneapolis Saint Paul.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
So okay, Well, I don't know if they go there,
but they go fuck and everywhere everywhere. So. They are
a non profit performing arts company headquartered in Deer Park,
New York. They claim that they are reviving five thousand
years of civilization. Although this cult was started in the nineties.

(07:18):
But okay, and like I said, they claim that it's
China before communism, although it started after communism. Start it's
you know what I tell you. It's a bunch of bologna,
is what it is. Baloney.

Speaker 3 (07:38):
If Oscar Meyer Mine's first name is Oscar.

Speaker 2 (07:41):
If Oscar Meyer had a last name, it'd be fucking
shen Yun because this is horseshit.

Speaker 3 (07:48):
Okay, like the longest name ever.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
Okay, And I read a article in the I believe
it's a New Yorker article by Gia Tolentino, and she
said she went to two performances. That's a lot. I
think the second one was for journalistic purposes. The first
one she might have got. You know, I read that

(08:13):
article an hour ago. But I've looked at a lot
of things and I don't remember, so I don't remember
the exact circumstances. Okay, games, but she says quote. The
hosts started talking about a spiritual discipline called Falloon Dolfa,
which is also Fallon gung, and then introduced a dance

(08:34):
in which a beautiful young follower of Fallun Dolfha was
kidnapped and imprisoned by communists lit on fire. I actually
added that from another account that I heard. I don't
know if it happened in her show, but it does
in other shows apparently, and had her organs harvested because according.

Speaker 1 (08:55):
After being burnt, because that doesn't.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
Seem like maybe it was only in one show, because
they really it didn't really make sense. It was you know,
it's not everybody sees the same things, which we'll hear
from a YouTube user. But she says that atheism and
evolution are deadly ideas. Modern trends destroy what makes us human.
He sang. At the end of the song. The row

(09:19):
of older white people sitting behind me clapped fervently. In
the final dance number, a group of Faullandolpha followers who
wore blue and yellow and clutched books of religious teachings
battled for space in a public square with corrupt youth.
Their corruption was evident because they were wearing black, looking

(09:41):
at their cell phones, and then the case of two
men holding hands. Oh no, oh, you guys. They have
some pretty problematic views.

Speaker 3 (09:53):
Yeah, well, just somebody get them up herls.

Speaker 2 (09:56):
One of their big things is that the Andese Communist
Party is like kidnapping cult members and harvesting their organs,
which is why that's a part of all of their
Shenyan performances.

Speaker 3 (10:11):
Propaganda wowsers one YouTube user.

Speaker 1 (10:14):
I want it to be like the intestines are like
pulled out, like glorious ribbons that are like just like
fluttering all over the place. So make it really dramatic
and beauty. I could get like.

Speaker 2 (10:27):
A free pass and I could bring a spypen in.
I would do that for you guys. I'm just letting
you know. One YouTube user said, the best part of
this show is watching all the people who brought their
kids to the ballet without knowing what Shenyun is about.

(10:48):
My favorite was when a mother of three chose to
awkwardly shuffle her three tots out of the theater after
the main character had her eyes gouged out by the
CCP police.

Speaker 3 (11:00):
Oh my god, that is troubling.

Speaker 2 (11:06):
But this is like a beautiful show about the persecution
of the Is it fallon gung people that you know
started their group in the nineties, But if you say so, yeah,
you know a lot of cults and coercive religions are
super big on where the persecuted ones. Oh sure, Yeah,

(11:29):
everybody's being persecuted for their beliefs. Listen, if you walk
into a group and they're like, hey, fyss, everybody outside
of this is gonna say this is Shenanigans, but don't
believe them. Okay. If they're telling you that ahead of time,
it's red flag. Okay, right right guys. Okay. So, as

(11:49):
of recording this in twenty twenty four, eight large performing
ensembles tour internationally. Each ensemble includes around forty performers, although
I feel like somewhere else I read eighty, So you know,
a lot.

Speaker 3 (12:05):
That's a lot.

Speaker 1 (12:07):
Maybe it depends on the size of the venue. That's
how did they determine how big of the productions?

Speaker 2 (12:13):
Several dozen? Yeah, we'll go with that.

Speaker 3 (12:16):
Huh.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
They tour for six months every year, so yeah, it's
like that's almost like half of always.

Speaker 3 (12:26):
Yeah, half of Always.

Speaker 2 (12:27):
That's so much half of always.

Speaker 1 (12:31):
That's a good way to describe it.

Speaker 2 (12:35):
I'm gonna start using that more often when it applies.
Performances include dance and symphonic music, acrobatics and tumbling and fucking, ballet,
and classical Chinese dances with Ye and Mao and Tibetan
and Mongolian influences also included, while a full Western orchestra plays,

(12:57):
but Chinese instruments are also included because you know, they
have to.

Speaker 3 (13:02):
Yeah, it'd be weird if they didn't.

Speaker 2 (13:04):
It's just all horns and like jazz, it just seems
like like flutes.

Speaker 3 (13:11):
It just seems like such a mishmash of different styles
and types of performance art. It's like it's designed to
explicitly keep you like sort of confused, you know, like
there's too much going on in front of me that
I can't really think about the messaging.

Speaker 2 (13:28):
It's also very bright lights like technicolor.

Speaker 3 (13:32):
This is my actual night in your face.

Speaker 2 (13:35):
Like I said, I would go for you. That should
be my slogan if I would run for anything, I
would go for you.

Speaker 3 (13:42):
I would go for you.

Speaker 2 (13:43):
So you know, the songs, like I've talked about this
quite a bit lately. If you go to any megachurch
or MLM event or the fucking movies, dude, music is
supposed to invoke emotions and yeah, so their songs are
meant to invoke spiritual and religious themes related directly to

(14:07):
the fallin Gong faith. But that's like supposed to be
like a little bit like definitely in your face, but
kind of on the DL. Like I said, keep you
a little confused, you know, You're.

Speaker 3 (14:17):
Like, yeah, I'm just I am confused because I keep
thinking of Fallin. I'm thinking, you know, sorry, Fallin, it's
too close. I'm just picturing her as a cult leader. Now,
it's fine.

Speaker 2 (14:32):
She is a Chinese cult leader, a male Chinese cult leader.
That's not my co host, you guys, it's not That's
not our Fallon. That's not the one we know, Okay.

Speaker 1 (14:43):
I'm just trying to picture what sort of music would
be playing as the main character as having their eyes
gouged out.

Speaker 2 (14:49):
I would imagine intense, yeah, something intense.

Speaker 3 (14:52):
Yeah, something with drums ye or violin, Lindsay is that's
like a question abbing of a sound to it already,
don't you think.

Speaker 2 (15:02):
Don't get too crazy with me here, but I could
see drums and violin.

Speaker 3 (15:07):
Oh whoa, whoa, whoa. She's mad.

Speaker 2 (15:10):
She's just going to get you. Whoa. Yeah. So their
performances are supposed to tell stories based on Chinese history
and legends, and also tell the story of Fallongong today.
In the twenty ten production, two of the scenes in
the performance showed the persecution and murder of followers in
present day China. There was the jailing of a protester

(15:34):
and the beating to death of a mother. I would
be shocked, I'd say if I went and there wasn't
a trigger warning for that. You know whoa I thought
we were. I thought this was ballet warning.

Speaker 1 (15:47):
Play will include I gouging, people being dimolent, people being
beaten to death, disembow.

Speaker 3 (15:56):
The disemboweling will look like festive.

Speaker 2 (15:59):
It's beautiful, It'll it'll be gorgeous. It's going to be
beautifully done. Okay, very tasteful, all right, that's probably honestly,
it's that's something of the conversation. The scenes in performances
include communist thugs who are beating innocent followers, and the
followers give the communist thugs their book and whoa like magic.

(16:25):
It reforms them. They're communist thugs no more. They're ready
to follow. Who you ask, Well, his name is Lee
hong Zi, and I'm going to tell you about this guy.
So he founded Fallon Gung in the nineties, and what
it translates to is dharma wheel work to be able

(16:48):
to do his stuff. He has to like implant a wheel,
like a dharma wheel into you. But don't worry. It
can be done remotely, so it's oh great, travel not required,
bas don't worry, you guys, perfect and actually shen Yun
was founded by a group of Falloon Gong followers in

(17:10):
two thousand and six with the purpose of reviving Chinese
culture and traditions from the time before the Chinese Revolution.
I don't know enough about history to comment too deeply, Lindsey.
I feel like you know about history.

Speaker 1 (17:26):
I do a little bit.

Speaker 2 (17:27):
Have you heard of the Chinese Revolution and or when
that was?

Speaker 1 (17:31):
No, I'm googling it. Nineteen eleven is when it started.

Speaker 2 (17:34):
Okay, there was also one in nineteen forty nine.

Speaker 1 (17:37):
There's kind of a lot of them, so or if
it's the Communist Revolution, what's a.

Speaker 2 (17:42):
Little bit rough? Is like the bad guys in their
story are bad guys. The Chinese Communist Party is not
known for being like super cool.

Speaker 3 (17:52):
They're not super chill.

Speaker 2 (17:54):
But there is a story about five Falluon Gong followers
who apparently went to Tienem and Square and set themselves
on fire. But the only people that were able to
report the news on that was heavily gate keeped. It
was only reported by Chinese media company run by the
Communist Party, So I didn't even include it because I

(18:16):
was like, there's no good guy in the story. It's
like Fallongong's talking shit about you know, the CCP, and
they're talking shit on each other, but they're both bad,
so I mean, you know, any who. So it is
a relatively new religious movement, if you want to use

(18:38):
a nice word for a cult founded in the early nineties,
and like I said, it's headquarters in Deer Park, New York.
They have a compound called Dragon Springs which is four
hundred and twenty seven acres, and Lee hong z and
hundreds of other followers live near the compound mirror or

(18:59):
on either way.

Speaker 1 (19:01):
That's a lot of space to nutlebell.

Speaker 2 (19:03):
Members of shen Yun live and rehearse in the compound.
The compound also has schools, temples, and an orphanage and
a private arts college where the Shenyun performers fucking presumably study. Yeah,
is called the Phaetian College. And uh, the daily life

(19:25):
on the compound and no big surprise here. Daily life
on the compound is tightly controlled. Fallon Gong followers. They
view Lee Hongzy as a deity like figure. He's just
a normal dude, do you guys? You know, I guess
most cult leaders are, though, you know.

Speaker 3 (19:45):
To some degree.

Speaker 2 (19:46):
He just doesn't look very holy or trustworthy to me.

Speaker 1 (19:50):
I mean, have you seen Rasputin.

Speaker 2 (19:54):
Rah Rah Reciputin? That it's a great song is good.

Speaker 3 (19:59):
So I was wondering how long it would take for
this episode to get musical.

Speaker 2 (20:04):
Twenty five minutes. It's a while. So he first introduced
I'm gonna call it f G because I can't keep
saying that like all episode. It's too much. So he
first introduced FG on May thirteenth, nineteen ninety two in
chang Chun Jillan Province. In September of ninety two, made

(20:26):
June July August, I'll do it for you guys. Five
months later, Fallon Gung was admitted as a branch of
Chigong under the administration of China Chigong Scientific Research Society,
which was state run and Chigong, if you guys don't know,
combines body posture, movement, breathing, and meditation, and it's supposed

(20:51):
to be important for health, spirituality, and cultivate and balance
the mythical life force called Chi, which is like your
it's a life force. Lee was a Chigong master and
traveled throughout China to teach the practice. Originally, FG was

(21:14):
embraced by the Chinese government. They were looking to promote
Chinese culture, improve public morality, and lower health care costs.
They're like, uh, you guys, you can just fucking like
chiegong your way into health. Okay, we're not paying, We're
not fitting the fucking bill. Okay, how does that work

(21:35):
with like a broken lake? Just asking for a friend?
Should have chiegong get out ahead of time? You know,
you wouldn't be broken legs if you're if you were
chiegong strong. In nineteen ninety five, the Chinese government wanted
FG to tie itself to the Communist Party, and he
was approached by officials from the Ministry of Public Health

(21:56):
and the Chinese National Sports Committee, and after he declined
the offer, VCQRS or the China Chigong Scientific Research Society.
If you guys needed a reminder, which I did.

Speaker 3 (22:09):
It's a mouthful, it's a lot.

Speaker 2 (22:11):
After he declined the offer, they mandated that all Chigong
denominations established ties to the Communist Party, and again Lee refused,
Oh you guys, fun fact, I wonder if it's a
if that's like a thing. I'm going to look into
that later, not right now since we're mid recording, but

(22:32):
I wonder if there's still ties, you know. In March
of ninety six, FG officially officially, officially withdrew from the
Chigong Seek you know, that grew and began to operate
outside of official state sanctions. They're like, it's our party,
and will Chigong how we fucking want to So after

(22:55):
denial from other government organizations, FG fell outside the protections
being tied to the state party afforded. This departure from
state run organizations led to authorities attempt to control the
growth and influence of FG and other Chigong groups, and

(23:16):
in the mid nineties, state run media publishing articles were
critical of Chigong. Initially, FG was exempt from criticism, but
lost protection following their ninety six withdrawal from the China
Chigong Scientific Research Society. Yeah, the society, we'll just call
it that.

Speaker 1 (23:36):
The society.

Speaker 2 (23:38):
They withdrew from the Chigong Society. That was a no no.
So now they're under harsh scrutiny too. It's rough. It's
rough for the FG's right now. In June of ninety six,
the Guangming Daily, a state run newspaper, published an article
describing Zuon Fallon which is another one of their fucking

(24:01):
nicknames or whatever, as feudal superstition. In June of ninety six,
the gong Ming Daily, a state run newspaper, published an
article describing they group as feudal superstition, calling on Chinese
publishers not to print quote pseudo scientific books of the swindlers.

(24:23):
The next month, in July of ninety six, the Central
Propaganda Department banned all publication of FG books, and this
led to the state run Buddhist Association of China urging
Buddhists to not take up the practice.

Speaker 1 (24:40):
Oh damn. Even the Buddhists they were.

Speaker 2 (24:42):
Like, no, yeah, and maybe they were tempted because of
the Chigong and you know the old rituals.

Speaker 1 (24:51):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (24:52):
Yeah, the Buddhists they said, don't do it. And by
nineteen ninety eight, FG had successfully organized stuff protests against
reports of heretical heretical, heretical teaching. So the government resorted
to having phone lines tap, homes raided, and FG exercise

(25:14):
locations rated by public security agents to find evidence of
heretical teachings.

Speaker 1 (25:21):
So it was essentially a witch hunt.

Speaker 3 (25:24):
Yeah, yes, Barry McCarthy.

Speaker 1 (25:27):
The phone tapping is pretty awesome.

Speaker 2 (25:29):
Not for them, but usually the Communists are being witch hunted.
In this case, they are doing the witch hunting.

Speaker 1 (25:39):
It's a weird flip.

Speaker 2 (25:40):
Yeah, but that's kind of why I said earlier, nobody's
good in this story, because, like, I don't really support
witch hunts and book banning.

Speaker 3 (25:50):
I mean that's fair.

Speaker 2 (25:52):
You know, like you, When I think of the word
witch hunts, it's just not my face. Just I don't
like it. We're actually gonna we are gonna go there later,
you guys, So get ready for that. You're wondering what
how why? Yeah, no, I know it's gonna get wild.
So throughout the years of uncertainty for the group in China,

(26:13):
hong Zi was abroad teaching his practice in other countries,
and he obtained a permanent residence in the US in
nineteen ninety eight. By the next year, in ninety nine,
estimates of seventy million people were practicing FG in China.
Holy shit, cuckoo banans.

Speaker 3 (26:34):
Actually though, that's a lot of people, so I think
we need a minute.

Speaker 2 (26:42):
And it's like, okay, because listen, what was done to
them is super uncool. But who they are now and
what they represent and the propaganda that they spread is
also very uncool. So that's one of those things life
where you're like, you know what, both things not cool.

(27:03):
So on July twentieth, nineteen ninety nine, thousands of Foulongong
practitioners were abducted and detained by security forces on claims
that they were leaders, and two days later the police's
Republic of China Ministry of Civil Affairs, Why why are
the names of these places so long? Those guys outlawed

(27:28):
the FG Research Society, citing engagement in illegal activities advocating superstition.

Speaker 1 (27:37):
Which how are they advocating superstition if they're just talking
about the past?

Speaker 2 (27:42):
Listen, Okay, we're going to get to that. I really okay.
They're spreading fallacies, inciting and creating s disturbances, jeopardizing social stability,
which sounds very controlling me, you know, I mean, obviously
it is. This is my favorite though, and hoodwinking people.

Speaker 3 (28:03):
We love a good how dare they I can't even
say it.

Speaker 2 (28:06):
How dare they are hoodwinking the heck out of people?
And that's a no for them dogs, Okay. The Ministry
of Public Security issued a paper forbidding the practice of
FG possessing teachings, displaying symbols, or protesting against the ban.
By October of ninety nine, legislation was passed to outlaw

(28:29):
heterodox heterodox religions, and that refers to any opinions or
doctrines that differ with an official or orthodox position.

Speaker 1 (28:40):
So anything that wasn't the main religion.

Speaker 3 (28:43):
Yeah, everybody just think, like us.

Speaker 1 (28:45):
Is Buddhism the main religionism?

Speaker 3 (28:47):
I don't know that would have been my.

Speaker 2 (28:48):
Guess, shah shah, Yeah it is, which is I guess
why they were saying, hey, y'all, don't don't you Buddhists
gang up with them? Because in twenty twenty one, eighteen
point two percent of the country's total population were Buddhists,
compared to five point one percent Christian, which is like

(29:12):
much lower than the United States. But interestingly, get this,
you guys, because I guess things have kind of changed.
Because followers of folk religions comprise twenty one point nine
percent of the population. And here it sounds like they
were like, yeah, no, no heterodoxy religions. So it sounds like,

(29:39):
I guess maybe they've lightened up since ninety nine or
I don't know. You guys, look, don't quote me on
Chinese politics. Okay, like I didn't go that fucking deep.
I'm not a journalist or a politician.

Speaker 1 (29:50):
Okay, I am John Snow, I know nothing.

Speaker 2 (29:53):
Hundreds of thousands of FG followers are estimated to have
been imprisoned, and those being held are allegedly subjected to
forced labor, torture, psychiatric abuse, and many other coercive methods
of thought reform.

Speaker 1 (30:11):
Great something like that.

Speaker 2 (30:13):
We don't support that. The US Department of State and
the Congressional Executive Commission on China estimate that half of
China's re education through labor camp population is made up
of FG followers.

Speaker 1 (30:31):
Did you say half half?

Speaker 2 (30:33):
Yeah? You know how you learn a lot through hard
labor re education. I'm putting that in heavy quotes. The
re education through labor that you know, it's like, well,
we'll just work the fucking brainwashing out of you. I
don't which support people being in destructive cults. But I

(30:54):
also don't support communist government regimes that torture people. So
but this is like very uncool. So I mean, look
like they were persecuted. But also so we're a lot
of different religious people at different times, and you know,
lots of people are being persecuted for other reasons today

(31:15):
like race and gender and silly things like that. You
know what, moving on, we have we got FG Graham
to cover ladies, not a ton more, but I mean,
obviously we're what are they up to today? We're getting
to that. So the number of Followers estimated to have

(31:37):
been killed varies widely, but investigative journalist Ethan Gutman estimates
that sixty five thousand followers were killed for their organs
from two thousand to two thousand and eight. And while
this sounds super duper fucking crazy and obviously, Chinese officials

(32:01):
have denied any allegations of organ harvesting, according to pretty
extensive research by humans rights lawyers and lawmakers and journalists,
basically they say that the organ harvesting trade is real

(32:25):
and well and alive. It's apparently one of the largest
organ transplant programs in the world.

Speaker 3 (32:33):
I just linked you to a research paper from an
international scientist or researcher that he's Swiss. So I feel
like if you needed a more neutral source, you probably
aren't going to find one. And yeah, they're they're basically
saying like, yeah, it sounds pretty crazy, but also.

Speaker 2 (32:55):
It's true will as a matter of culture and custom.
According to way Wikipedia, China has extremely low rates of
voluntary organ donation. Between two thousand and three and two
thousand and nine, only one hundred and thirty people volunteered
to be organ donors in all of China. Where this shit?

Speaker 1 (33:19):
So is that like, is that something that's against their religion?
Do you think, like whatever religion they practice.

Speaker 2 (33:24):
This is going deeper than I realized initially. Okay, so
you guys, this is from the Human Rights Commission dot
House dot gov. There is wide alleged major harvesting and
trafficking of forcibly acquired organs. Quote available information indicates that

(33:44):
Fauan Gung practitioners have been the primary victims of the
cool practice, and there are now allegations that other religious
and ethnic minorities are also victims, according to caught and
dot Senate dot gov. So, according to Tom Cotton, Senator

(34:06):
for Arkansas, you guys, listen, I didn't do any more
fucking research. So besides, okay, he said that UH experts
estimate that the human organ trafficking industry in China is
worth one billion a year and is fueled by harvest
harvesting organs from China's one point five million concentration camp inmates.
So China appears to be the primary perpetrator, but is

(34:29):
not the only offender obviously, you know, other places are
also doing that. And in May of two thousand and eight,
the UN the United Nations, requested Chinese authorities to respond
to allegations of where they're getting this sudden increase of

(34:50):
organs available in two thousand, in the year two thousand,
Like why why do y'all have so many extras all
of a sudden? You know, So, look, you guys, it's
not good. And unfortunately, cults really thrive in places of
political unrest because they're like, this is fucked, and we

(35:12):
have the solution. And I mean, yeah, obviously they, along
with other Chinese minorities and shit, are being persecuted. And yeah,
you guys, that took a darker turn than like I realized.
You know, it's we started doing some like on the
fly googling, and its solution.

Speaker 3 (35:32):
Hard to find. Clearly, there's several different sources that want
people to be aware that this is a real issue.
It's more than a conspiracy theory.

Speaker 1 (35:42):
Yeah yeah, it's a known thing.

Speaker 2 (35:44):
It's that's proud. Uh wow zah right you guys, okay,
so okay. FG teachings are based entirely around Lee Hong Zy.
Followers believe he is a godlike figure who can levitate,
walk through walls, and see into the future. His teachings

(36:05):
are ultra conservative and reject modern science, art, and medicine.
In some cases, Lee has claimed complete recovery of illness
such as cancer through FG practice, and unfortunately, a lot
of FG followers, like followers of other religions and cults
that deny the use of modern medicine, a lot of

(36:28):
followers have died from easily preventable deaths. It's like, oh, here,
take a fucking antibiotics, those things that saved lives when
they got invented. They're like, no, dude, just cheegong harder.
He also denounces homosexuality and feminism and claims that quote

(36:48):
the biggest cause of society's changed today is that people
no longer believe in orthodox religion. They go to church,
but they no longer believe in God. They feel free
to do anything. The second reason is that since the
beginning of this century, aliens have begun to invade the
human mind and it's ideology and culture. So we got

(37:10):
aliens now too.

Speaker 3 (37:11):
You guys agreed, Cassie should really be here.

Speaker 2 (37:15):
You're like, she really missed out. She didn't even know.

Speaker 3 (37:17):
Yeah, it's who knew.

Speaker 2 (37:19):
It's it's got everything.

Speaker 3 (37:20):
Yeah, you know, it really does. Schmorgasbord if you will.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
Lee says that he is a being. I mean, it
sounds like you're a fucking alien dud who has come
to save humankind from destruction due to rampant evil. He
has said, quote, you can think of me as a
human being, though he claims at age eight he began
having supernatural powers, like being able to see through a

(37:47):
wall or into a human body. So he's a being,
Like he's a human being, just like an extra one,
because he's just like he's like, you guys are right here.

Speaker 1 (37:58):
You're like mid and I'm just.

Speaker 2 (37:59):
Like, you're like mid being and I'm fully being.

Speaker 3 (38:04):
Yes, Wow, I've never been insulted on so many levels
all at once, as the kids would say, yeah.

Speaker 2 (38:11):
And like in so many cults, followers are instructed to
downplay his controversial teachings to outsiders, like, no, it's not
that crazy, you know, scientology. You got to get like
tens of thousands of dollars in before they like start
revealing the real kooky shit. And then you're like, mm hmmm,
sunk cost.

Speaker 3 (38:30):
Fallacy exactly, You're in too deep.

Speaker 2 (38:33):
I've already put a lot of money and time into this.

Speaker 3 (38:36):
Yeah, I don't want to look stupid in front of
my friends.

Speaker 1 (38:39):
Yeah, can't back out now.

Speaker 3 (38:41):
Yeah, ball in, guess this is my life now.

Speaker 2 (38:45):
Lee is very critical of modern medicine and evolution.

Speaker 3 (38:52):
So just science? Should we just say science?

Speaker 2 (38:55):
He hates science? Yeah. Three things this guy hates are science, freedom, medison,
and yeah.

Speaker 3 (39:03):
I feel like that under science, science, women and freedom.

Speaker 2 (39:08):
Oh he hates women. He really hates homosexuals and people
of mixed ethnicities as well. He's super the list of
people that he's not a fan of, is it goes deep?

Speaker 3 (39:23):
Who has that kind of time this guy? Yeah? A
lot of work, honestly, Yeah, just it really does.

Speaker 2 (39:31):
It's funny though, because the three stated principles of the
teachings are forbearance, compassion, and truthfulness. Listen, I'm not gonna lie.
I don't know what forbearance means.

Speaker 3 (39:43):
I was going to say, I don't know what Sally
May has to do with this, but like she should
see her way out.

Speaker 2 (39:50):
Who is that?

Speaker 3 (39:51):
Oh, I don't get student loans?

Speaker 2 (39:53):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (39:53):
Its forbearance is a term for it's a student loan thing.
I'm sure it means other things elsewhere, but that's immediately
And I thought it.

Speaker 2 (40:00):
Was well four beard whatever. I don't know. Basically I
had to keep them. Yeah, it was bullshit. Anyways. Essentially,
FG's exercise consists of four standing poses and one sitting meditation.
So it's a lot of variety, spicy life and like

(40:22):
these are important, but not as much as the moral elevation.
And that's because you're like getting to be your best self,
a spending ascending spirituality through what's called moral rectitude. And
it's about karma and like getting good karma and trying
to not get bad karma, which is you know, defined

(40:45):
by their rules.

Speaker 3 (40:47):
And now you see how the Buddhists were maybe kind
of slowly drawn in.

Speaker 2 (40:51):
Yeah, use buzzwords like karma, you know.

Speaker 1 (40:55):
Ye, they're like, oh, we know about that, Like hey,
I like that shit.

Speaker 3 (41:00):
Yeah, yeah, we're all about that karma. I put that
shit on everything.

Speaker 2 (41:07):
I always say, like in the United States, they'll use
like faith as a buzzword because eighty percent of most
Americans are Christian according to like pretty recent stats, so
or at least I believe in like a Christian like
God of some sort. So you know, you throw in
words like faith and it's like, oh, that's something I'm into.

Speaker 3 (41:29):
Well that faith is general enough that it can apply
to any number of Judeo Christian religious beliefs.

Speaker 2 (41:37):
Yeah, it's just and it's I mean it's not necessara
league totally a biblical word, but like, isn't.

Speaker 3 (41:45):
It right, I mean it's been co opted like they've
if it wasn't theirs, they've.

Speaker 2 (41:51):
I just see it paired with a cross a lot
when it's on T shirts, you know. So. Elevation of
moral character is achieved when one's life is aligned with truth, compassion,
and tolerance while also giving up desires and negative thoughts

(42:11):
and behaviors. Negative behaviors include jealousy, robbery, theft, fighting, killing, deception, desire,
agreed profit lust, you know.

Speaker 3 (42:20):
Like sounds real familiar, the big ones.

Speaker 2 (42:23):
Nothing new there, yeah yeah, And the ultimate goal is
to gain super natural skills.

Speaker 3 (42:31):
Sure, like yeah, seeing through well x ray vision.

Speaker 2 (42:35):
Divine sight, which I would guess is like the X
ray vision. I don't know about levitating.

Speaker 3 (42:42):
Listen if levitating isn't on the table, not interested.

Speaker 2 (42:46):
If I can teleport, which is that's not listed here,
but I'm on board.

Speaker 3 (42:52):
If that's I'd like to change my answer.

Speaker 2 (42:55):
Like I don't you know, they say the journey is
the best part, but nah is it.

Speaker 1 (42:59):
I'm already late.

Speaker 3 (43:01):
I'd rather just be there yea, yeah, and believe you me,
I'm late. Yeah for what when this girl?

Speaker 5 (43:08):
Uh yeah half of always yeah, half of always.

Speaker 3 (43:14):
The ratio is starting to swing the other way for
like sixty to seventy percent of always.

Speaker 2 (43:21):
Yeah. For me, it's uh, it's teleportation or nothing or
I'm out. But you can only gain these powers through
moral practice, and you're not supposed to pursue them because
it's like a distraction. So while the goal is to
get them, like don't.

Speaker 3 (43:41):
Oh, it's a fuck boy situation. They're like I want
you to want me, but like don't want me?

Speaker 2 (43:46):
Too hard, but like, go do Shenyan instead.

Speaker 3 (43:48):
Yeah, gross, do the.

Speaker 1 (43:51):
Dance dance one, not the transportationation one.

Speaker 2 (43:54):
Yeah, you gotta get there on your own. So followers
are encouraged to participate in the secular world and must
maintain jobs in families' lives, which is that's kind of wild.
They're not supposed to distance themselves from society or governmental laws.

Speaker 3 (44:12):
Aren't They afraid people will realize it's insane.

Speaker 2 (44:16):
They love it. They love it. They're expected to not
hit back when attacked or not talk back when insulted.
Use of alcohol and tobacco products is not allowed, as
it is seen to impact health and mental state. I
don't know, you guys, like this sounds okay.

Speaker 1 (44:34):
There's sound a little too straight edge for me.

Speaker 3 (44:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (44:37):
Well, you can't kill for anything living boo. But you're
not required to be vegetarian, so like, I don't know,
I guess you can buy meat from the story, you
just can't kill it yourself or something, which I think
is actually really backwards.

Speaker 3 (44:52):
Yeah, that doesn't seem right.

Speaker 1 (44:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (44:54):
In terms of relationships and sexuality, followers are expected to
marry and have families, but any sort of sexual desire
or lust is not permitted. It's just like it's baby
making only reproductive services only.

Speaker 3 (45:11):
Yeah, okay, don't.

Speaker 1 (45:13):
Do it, just to do it.

Speaker 2 (45:15):
Yeah, and anything outside of obviously monogamous heterosexual marriage like
an sexual it's just a very bad So this is
a bummer warning warning. Bummer. Hagsy teaches that homosexuality makes

(45:37):
one unworthy of being human, creates bad karma, and is
comparable to organized crime, which is the last one.

Speaker 3 (45:46):
How do you figure?

Speaker 2 (45:48):
It's all very rude and fucked up. He also teaches
that quote disgusting homosexuality shows the dirty, abnormal psychology of
the gay who has lost his ability of reasoning, and
that it is a filthy, deviant state of mind. In
nineteen ninety eight, he stated that quote the God's first

(46:11):
target of annihilation would be homosexuals.

Speaker 3 (46:16):
Jesus Christ like tell us you're gay without telling us
you're gay. But also he's like, honestly.

Speaker 2 (46:23):
It's like the people who are so violently AGAs to
you know, homosexuality.

Speaker 3 (46:30):
Or he's so upset that he's never ever been able
to wear those sparkly shoes.

Speaker 2 (46:36):
Yeah, he and the the realt the rest of the
religion believe that each ethnicity will have its own heaven.
But multi ethnic children go to hell or what. I
don't know what their hell is. I didn't look into
that deeply, Like we all go to white heaven, all
the good black people go to black heaven, et cetera.

(46:59):
But if your mom was dad and you're what your
mom was dead, you're white, was black. You know what
I'm saying, You don't.

Speaker 1 (47:07):
Get to go great, straight to straight to hell, Do
not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars straight
to hell?

Speaker 2 (47:13):
What's Oh my god? I fucking yes. Ah, you guys's
referring to at parks and rec uh huh. See if
if you don't know, you should find out. So that's yeah.
He calls children of multi ethnicities quote a chaotic situation
brought about by mankind.

Speaker 3 (47:34):
All children are chaos.

Speaker 2 (47:36):
Yeah, like this this. Have you looked around this place?
It's all chaos those so like atheist of you man,
but unsubscribe. He claims that the world is in the
Dharma ending period, which is seen as the age of
moral decline in Buddhist text. A lot of buzzwords, you guys,
feel me. He says that his followers are in a

(47:58):
time of cosmic tra transition and renewal, and the persecution
by the Chinese government is seen as a symptom of
moral decay. However, he does not predict an epoctic apocalyptic
but that ending for the world, So I guess that's
cool something. I guess.

Speaker 3 (48:15):
I guess the world's not ending, but.

Speaker 2 (48:18):
It is in moral decay and you're fucked. In the nineties,
he claimed that aliens were behind any technological advancements, and
I don't know, hey.

Speaker 3 (48:28):
Listen, listen, I understand because I think it's a total no. Yeah,
I mean I think most men are like not the best,
so hot take, right, we had.

Speaker 2 (48:39):
So much going on, dude, He's like claiming the aliens
disguise themselves as human in order to corrupt and manipulate,
which I don't. I'm I'm sure you guys know that
like correlates with reptilians, right, oh yeah, the reptile Like
that's fully reptile people. So now they're here as well.
The reptiles are here.

Speaker 3 (48:58):
That's why the planet is forming. Yeah, yeah, like it
all makes sense that you just like a really hot
point pun not even intended. I was like, ooh that
slap girl, you know, and try. Yeah, hey, listen, not
just a hat wrack, okay pointing at her head? Are

(49:23):
you guys listening?

Speaker 2 (49:27):
The Chinese government labels FG as an anti society cult
that leads followers to self mutilation, suicide, and murder. The
Chinese embassy often issues warnings to Americans against seeing the
Shenyan productions. One warning stated, in addition to their taxi
taste and low artistic standards, which has been.

Speaker 3 (49:50):
That's how you worn off Americans, They're like, don't talk
about like genocide or the stealing of organs like wholesale.
Tell them it's.

Speaker 2 (49:58):
Tacky, oh love artistic standards, m oh soviety. And they
said that the performances were filled with cult messages and
implied attacks against the Chinese government. Chinese embassies worldwide are
trying to shut down performances performances by contacting the theaters

(50:22):
that are holding them. Shan Yun claims the Chinese government
is trying to silence them by tampering with their tour vehicles.
They also claimed Chinese spies listen to their phone calls
and photograph their movements.

Speaker 1 (50:36):
I mean, I'm not going to say you're wrong, but
it's entirely possible. That you're wrong. I mean it's a lot.

Speaker 2 (50:43):
But I mean the Chinese government like really has been
murdering them and stuff.

Speaker 1 (50:48):
That's why I was like, I mean, you're not wrong, right.

Speaker 3 (50:51):
So it's like, well, okay, two things can be true.
They can be stealing the organs of detainees, but also
not have someone following their tour vehicles over here, statesidey, I.

Speaker 2 (51:03):
Like your thinking here, broadmind, that's good. Cold Expert Rick
Alan Ross has spent more than ten years working with
former FG members and their families. So if that doesn't
say cold, then I don't know what does. He refers
to shen Yun as a cash cow, as Lee generates

(51:25):
an enormous amount of money from these performances, like I said,
sixty to one hundred eighty to one hundred and sixty
dollars for tickets. Performers do get paid, but it's a
very low amount. And the other people who are on
the tour work as quote volunteers, so I think that
would be called labor trafficking.

Speaker 3 (51:43):
You should just be honored to be here. The fact
that we like give a shit about you like that,
that should be.

Speaker 2 (51:49):
All your welcome. But we're letting you sit with us.

Speaker 3 (51:52):
Yeah, we wear pink on Wednesdays, by the way.

Speaker 2 (51:56):
And we worship Masterly every day or day, Ross says quote.
They are essentially devoted to him, devoted to believing in him,
believing in his claims about his spiritual unique superiority. So
they give their lives to who they call Master Lee.
Samuel Luo sent a letter to the San Francisco Sentinel

(52:16):
in two thousand and six claiming that the group was
a cult and that his parents refused life saving medical
treatment because they were brainwashed into believing Lee.

Speaker 1 (52:26):
No, damnit, No.

Speaker 2 (52:28):
That's not cool when they do that, right, Like when
they say you can't have medicine and then they murder people.
He also states that the International Cultics Studies Association put
together a program on FG and the group threatened a
lawsuit and were successful in stopping the presentation. So I
feel like when you are going out of your way

(52:51):
to stop people, even like asking questions or like, and
you're really out there trying to control the information, that's
a red flag.

Speaker 3 (53:00):
Yeah, that's that TikTok challenge, Like tell me that you're
in a coal without telling me you're a goal.

Speaker 1 (53:07):
I just picture the red flag guy, just like.

Speaker 3 (53:09):
Yes, running around Ashley, you would love I've seen him.

Speaker 2 (53:14):
Maybe somebody put him on reels or something.

Speaker 3 (53:16):
Oh, he's definitely on reels.

Speaker 2 (53:18):
Yeah, okay, that's Telly I saw. Ross states that af
chief it's the three core characteristics of a cult and
authoritarian leader with no meaningful accountability who becomes an object
of worship. The group uses identifiable, coercive, persuasion, thought reform,
and influence techniques to gain undue influence over the people

(53:39):
in the group. And the group does harm and is destructive,
using undue influence to exploit and cause harm to people.
Ross has received numerous complaints from family, including family estrangement,
social isolation, lack of communication, followers not taking medication or

(53:59):
going to a doctor when needed, and there's a full
lack of financial transparency. When it comes to profits and
performers salaries. It's like, oh, they're getting paid a penny
an hour.

Speaker 3 (54:12):
Yeah, oh yeah, that's fair.

Speaker 2 (54:15):
So if that all didn't scare you, guys, this should okay.

Speaker 3 (54:19):
Great, I can't wait. Seriously, show me so I can
get this over with.

Speaker 2 (54:26):
Seriously, I can't wait. Bring it. In addition to shen Yun,
FG has a number of other organizations that it operates,
including the Epic Media Group or Epoch Epoch. They also
run the new Tang Dynasty Television and the Epic Times newspaper,
Sound of Hope Radio, and the Rackland Media Group. The

(54:50):
Epoch Times was founded in two thousand, with the founders
claiming to be fighting the censorship inside China and the
world's lack of understanding about the Chinese government and it's
repression of FG. So it's really sad because all of
these people who are falling for the FG are either

(55:10):
getting fucked over by Lee their leader, yeah and being
in a cult, or by the Chinese government being like,
all right, well you come back here and we'll round
you up and fucking harvest your organs, motherfuckers.

Speaker 1 (55:23):
Yeah. It's like a lose lose situation either way. It's
really shitty.

Speaker 3 (55:27):
I don't want either of those things. I just like
on the record, I just want to say right now,
I don't want any of that.

Speaker 1 (55:34):
I'd like my organs kind of where they are.

Speaker 2 (55:37):
By two thousand and three, the Epoch Times had grown
into one of the largest Chinese newspapers outside of China.
Racklin Media Group is the pr firm for FG run
by Gail Racklin, who is the spokesperson for the Falloon
Dolfa Information Center. They're trying to keep you so confused.

Speaker 3 (55:59):
And it's working.

Speaker 2 (56:01):
I gotta say, you're like, who what? The Epoch Times
and other media organizations that they own are known for
being far right and promote conspiracy theories and misinformations. QAnon,
Oh my god, how do you know that? That was
literally the first thing on my list. Yeah, they promoted QAnon.
They promote anti vax misinformation. Big supporters of Donald Trump.

Speaker 3 (56:27):
Awesome.

Speaker 2 (56:28):
They think that he's some sort of messiah who's going
to bring an end to the Chinese Communist Party.

Speaker 3 (56:35):
What is this? Some mother godshit?

Speaker 1 (56:37):
Like, I wonder if there's like a Donald Trump's segment
in the Shenyan where they just come out wearing Donald
Trump shirts and then they like scurry off stage.

Speaker 2 (56:45):
They all have giant orange heads on.

Speaker 3 (56:47):
Yeah, they're just dressed up like pumpkins with a wig.

Speaker 2 (56:51):
Well, you guys, I was like, what the fuck are
they doing? Coming to Cheyenne, Colorado Springs and Denver? These
are very white public in areas. Denver not so much,
but Cheyenne, Colorado Springs these are pretty red white populations.
So I was like, who's going to see these shows?
But apparently a lot of people who are into the

(57:12):
same shit like them, like, you know, false election claims.
Oh you know, and.

Speaker 3 (57:20):
If your already mashed potatoes, you don't really care. Who's
pouring the bago bits on top of them? Is that?
I don't even know if that's a good analogy or not.

Speaker 1 (57:29):
But like, who I just heard bacon.

Speaker 2 (57:33):
You know. They were also into you know, Pizzagate and
comtrails and just all kinds.

Speaker 3 (57:41):
Of what do they think about five G?

Speaker 2 (57:45):
I don't even know about.

Speaker 3 (57:46):
Oh, Ashley, I've just opened up a whole new world
for you.

Speaker 2 (57:50):
I have five G on my phone.

Speaker 3 (57:52):
Uh huh, Yeah, you better go figure out what it's
doing to you. That's one of them. That's one of them.
You gotta go go find you some five G conspiracies.

Speaker 2 (58:00):
Girl. Oh oh, it's according to these peeps. Oh yeah,
these guys. Oh oh okay, oh shit, Oh well it's
in my pocket right now. Uh uh. A German broadcaster
Stephanie Aubrecht spent several days at the Berlin office and
observed the staff was all FG followers who were not journalists.

(58:23):
And did not fact check but trusted alternative sources. And
the Epoch Times also publishes climate change denial content just
like all the really good shit, even though they claim
to be neutral, independent and public interest oriented.

Speaker 3 (58:44):
I mean, you can be neutral but also incorrect.

Speaker 2 (58:48):
Yeah, okay, so this is fun. Sources of revenue are,
like I said, unclear, but recent records show that REV
is thriving under the Trump era. Scholar James R. Lewis
found in twenty eighteen that FG followers have attempted to
control English Wikipedia articles concerning the group. Control of these

(59:12):
pages affects the group's SEO search engine optimization, and these
entries can influence other media, which is their overall media strategy.

Speaker 3 (59:22):
Well, it didn't work.

Speaker 2 (59:24):
Well, it's actually unless you type like cult afterwards, it's
kind of hard.

Speaker 1 (59:28):
To unless you know what to look for.

Speaker 2 (59:31):
You find stuff on both sides because people are like, dude,
they're getting murdered in China and it's like really fucked,
and it's like, well it is, but it's also the
cult there in is also fucked. Lewis also states that
Amnesty International doesn't verify reports from FG groups and accept
any of their material as fact. He concludes quote FG

(59:51):
has been able to influence other media via its presence
on the web, through its direct press releases and through
its own media. The Epoch Times is published in twenty
one languages and thirty three countries. As of twenty twenty one,
the Epoch Times is the seventh most followed account on gab,

(01:00:13):
which is a far right leaning social networking site.

Speaker 3 (01:00:17):
Oh that's why I haven't heard of it.

Speaker 2 (01:00:19):
Okay, okay, it's just like a lot.

Speaker 1 (01:00:22):
I'm familiar with the Epoch Times. I'm familiar with that name.

Speaker 3 (01:00:26):
Yeah, I am too.

Speaker 2 (01:00:27):
Shen Yuan has been all around you, Falloon Gong for
all this time. You didn't even know.

Speaker 1 (01:00:31):
I am learning so much so.

Speaker 2 (01:00:34):
Ads have actually been banned by Facebook. No, that can't
be true.

Speaker 3 (01:00:40):
It has to be because I've never seen one on Facebook.

Speaker 2 (01:00:42):
No, but it says also YouTube. As of August twenty nineteen,
I've seen them on YouTube several times.

Speaker 3 (01:00:49):
They have content, but not ads.

Speaker 1 (01:00:51):
Well, and they can change how they present themselves.

Speaker 2 (01:00:54):
That's true.

Speaker 1 (01:00:55):
What kind of category they want to lift themselves under.
That's how a lot of advertisers are getting around people's
blockings of that type of content is by changing their
affiliation listening.

Speaker 3 (01:01:07):
Oh goodness, think about it, Ashley, because even like with
Spreaker for hosting, that's how they get around a lot
of the footholds and different things that are in place,
so that podcasters aren't advertising things that they don't want
their show to be represented as being behind.

Speaker 2 (01:01:25):
Occasionally, you guys, if something negative that does not align
with the show's values slips and it's it wasn't our choice.
Just know that.

Speaker 3 (01:01:33):
No, it's them being sneaky, little sneaks.

Speaker 2 (01:01:41):
And here's something to look out for. Snopes found links
between the Epoch Times and a large Facebook network called
the bl Beauty of Life, and these pages used more
than three hundred fake profiles impersonating Americans to spread pro
Trump posts and conspiracy theories such as QAnon.

Speaker 3 (01:02:03):
Come on, oh my god, you have enough problems over here. Okay,
I know, like leave us alone. Leave I mean I've
got time for that live yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:02:14):
Uh. Social media platform save Chat was reported in twenty
twenty one to have close ties to The Epoch Times
and FG as well. So save Chat not so safe,
you guys. Bl Beauty of Life it's SHNYA and Epoch Times.
The fucking new tang You just you know, just it's

(01:02:35):
stay away, just check your sources.

Speaker 3 (01:02:37):
Life legitimately sounds like an MLM cult. It sounds like
people that are pushing scented oil lipstick. And also Jesus
and Jesus and Jesus, Jesus won't do to have moist lips.
That's why you should buy this lip loss and they
should smell like lavender.

Speaker 1 (01:02:59):
You need to just smell and look pretty with Tracey's.

Speaker 2 (01:03:03):
Well you guys, wildly, that's all I have for you.

Speaker 3 (01:03:07):
Oh my god, I can't believe it's over. I feel
like there's so much. There's still so much. I have
so many questions.

Speaker 2 (01:03:13):
It's been such a wild ride.

Speaker 1 (01:03:15):
Yeah, Oh my god. We went on so many twists
and turns that I was not expecting.

Speaker 2 (01:03:21):
We had a chat going on about this for like
months about how we see these ads everywhere, and I
was like, you guys want to do an episode, get
in on this, and did you have any fucking clue
what was about to be lain at your nottitul door.

Speaker 1 (01:03:40):
No. I thought there was going to be some sort
of like maybe money scandal thing on the back end. Yeah,
Like was not expecting Oregon harvesting and concentration camps. It
was just like.

Speaker 2 (01:03:55):
Caring, conspiracy bullshit dress stuff.

Speaker 3 (01:04:00):
Is It's like the full breadth of like everything that
scares me about the world today. It's like the Internet. Yeah,
you could be kidnapped and someone will steal your organs,
and which is supposed to be like an urban legend
type things. It's real now again, also.

Speaker 2 (01:04:20):
Just the world today.

Speaker 3 (01:04:21):
I really do I really do.

Speaker 2 (01:04:27):
You know you guys know what I'm talking about. Come
on here we go down. I'm a bitch, I'm a lover.

Speaker 3 (01:04:44):
I'm she's like just skip forward, just well kneeling it.

Speaker 2 (01:04:58):
Balloon Gung and all of afiliated groups with Lee Hoong
Zing can suck it. Yick he sucks.

Speaker 3 (01:05:07):
So yeah, there wor's the Nickelback one of.

Speaker 5 (01:05:10):
This phonograph thing about those two songs is like inexplicably
tied in my head and I'm like, listen, Nickelback really
isn't that bad, but.

Speaker 3 (01:05:20):
I feel like for some people they have very strong feelings.

Speaker 2 (01:05:24):
Speaking of Nickelback, you guys join our discord, both of
you and everybody listening. Okay, go to TSF thepodcast dot com.
That's where you can find link to our discord. Our Bingo, Patreon,
social media, all that jazz because we have an exclusive
channel called random Fandom where we primarily talk about crocs

(01:05:45):
and nickelback.

Speaker 3 (01:05:47):
Fuck me.

Speaker 2 (01:05:48):
Yeah, you need to get in there, and if you
just need to like waste some time, get up in there.
I'm giving you consent. Yeah, all up in there, you guys.
It's like the safest, one of the most fun places
on the Internet.

Speaker 3 (01:06:02):
Now, I'm sure I already am there.

Speaker 2 (01:06:04):
Ashes, Well, I haven't seen you.

Speaker 3 (01:06:06):
So I know. Well, I'm sort of I'm busy lurking
on Reddit.

Speaker 2 (01:06:11):
It's a scary place to post. They're intense there, They
got pretty intense.

Speaker 1 (01:06:15):
I got very intense.

Speaker 2 (01:06:17):
Yeah, whoa, let's settle down, everybody. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:06:20):
Sometimes I look at I'm like, oh boy, that's that
person has been downvoted more times than I have in
total lifetime, karma. I feel like I'm not qualified to
engage in this conversation.

Speaker 2 (01:06:33):
Sometimes people say wild ash shit on there.

Speaker 3 (01:06:36):
They really do.

Speaker 2 (01:06:37):
I mean, I'm not gonna lie. I occasionally will let
out a little bit of rage in a Reddit thread.
You gotta do a comment section somewhere when people are
just saying really stupid shit. I can't deal Yeah, it just.

Speaker 1 (01:06:49):
Seems like a lot of times it goes from zero
to one thousand.

Speaker 2 (01:06:53):
And then I take it up to one thousand and
one because I'm like, you know what, I might be
the person you're referring to. Somebody makes one comment and
I'm like, I will murder your soul. Okay, Like, how
dare you talk about Brittany like that? It's usually about
much more like intense. I would say.

Speaker 3 (01:07:16):
I feel like, by and large, I just trust your judgment.
So like, if you want to murder their soul, I
just feel like, what did they do to deserve that?
You know what I mean?

Speaker 2 (01:07:25):
They fucked around and found out is what they did?

Speaker 3 (01:07:28):
Yeah, they sure did.

Speaker 2 (01:07:30):
You guys, where can everybody go listen to your shows?

Speaker 1 (01:07:35):
You can listen to Yield Crime wherever you listen to
that's so fucked up and Pacific Northwest hantson Homicides or PNW.
You know, I just like to be bougie and just
say the whole thing. So yeah, and you can find
us at yield Crime podcast dot com. We're also on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, begrudgingly.

Speaker 2 (01:07:57):
Yeah, yeah, same and ye old Crime. I realize they
all end with ease. So that's good to know.

Speaker 3 (01:08:06):
Oh yeah, I like that.

Speaker 1 (01:08:07):
Remember remember the three e's and then you'll find.

Speaker 2 (01:08:10):
This and Caitlin, where can they find you?

Speaker 3 (01:08:13):
Yeah, we are on entirely too many socials platforms. It's
a problem. Actually, I will never refer to it as x.
But we are on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, we're on threads.
We're probably literally everywhere that you are, and then maybe
some places that you're not, which that sounds exhausting, doesn't it.

(01:08:35):
And we're on I think pretty much all of the
major hosting platforms for podcasts, Amazon, Apple, Spotify. We're on
some that now no longer exist. I feel like, now
that's how I know we've been doing this for a minute.

Speaker 2 (01:08:50):
Is that like, oh, like, oh, that one's not around anymore.

Speaker 3 (01:08:54):
I should probably take it off our link tree.

Speaker 1 (01:08:56):
Well that don't exist anymore.

Speaker 2 (01:08:57):
Yeah. Yeah, Google Podcasts has failed me by dying. It
was really rude. So you guys make sure you go
listen to their podcasts. Support indie podcasts. Obviously you like
our content, which is, you know, not super heavy and intense.
We all bring a bit of humor and hey, this

(01:09:19):
is the first month we're doing this so, oh my goodness, y'all,
we put out a lot content, like a lot of content,
So we are actually partly to kind of decongest the
regular feed a little bit. We are going to start
putting the second two episodes of that so fucked Up

(01:09:40):
Presents of the Month on the Patreon feed. So this
month you got to hear about projects Modern Day Night
and Shen Yun. We've also got mister money Mustache coming up.
What the fuck is that? Right? Yeah, you'll find out.
And Kundalini. You're like, I thought I took a Kundalini
yoga class. Maybe you did. It's a cult. What's up?

(01:10:01):
So those are going to be on the Patreon. You
can join us for as little as five dollars a
month at patreon dot com slash tsf. You you also
get access to our exclusive episodes, which are monthly. Ash
Learns The Bible. I learned about the Bible. It's fun
and ad free, early swag, all kinds of stuff.

Speaker 3 (01:10:24):
So honestly, it's a bargain at any price.

Speaker 2 (01:10:26):
It's it's you know, just get over there check it out.
And there's a free version too if you don't want
to commit right away. So thanks so much for listening,
and we will see you next time.

Speaker 3 (01:10:40):
Yeah, we will see you lady, or we will see
you another time.

Speaker 2 (01:10:45):
Bye half of the time, always goodbye.

Speaker 3 (01:10:48):
Tot's goods. Jobin.

Speaker 4 (01:10:55):
That's so fucked up, so fucked up, so fucked up,
that's so fund the room

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