The Orgasm Cult

4. Why do people turn to the wellness industry?

This podcast is now the subject of a legal complaint by Nicole Daedone, Rachel Cherwitz, OneTaste Incorporated, the Institute of OM LLC and OM IP Co. One Taste sold itself as a wellness company – part of a multi-billion dollar industry selling everything from green smoothies to healing crystals to cryotherapy.The wellness industry has grown massively in recent years. Wellness practices can offer hope and empowerment to people – particularly women – who are looking for connection or meaning in their lives, or who have medical concerns that they feel haven’t been taken seriously by mainstream doctors.But wellness can be a double edged sword. While it can offer a sense of control and community, the industry isn’t regulated, which can leave consumers vulnerable.So what makes people turn to wellness?What are they looking for that they can’t find elsewhere?And what are the potential dangers of wellness practices?We find out with Dr André Spicer, professor of organisational behaviour at Cass Business School and co-author of The Wellness Syndrome, and doctor, midwife and herbalist Dr Aviva Romm.Presenter: Nastaran Tavakoli-Far
Producer: Lucy Burns
Editor: Penny Murphy

This podcast is now the subject of a legal complaint by Nicole Daedone, Rachel Cherwitz, OneTaste Incorporated, the Institute of OM LLC and OM IP Co.In the search for wellness, how far would you go?Nicole Daedone, the charismatic co-founder of wellness company One Taste believed that orgasm would one day sit alongside yoga and meditation as the self-care practice for the modern empowered women. Except that now the FBI is making enquiries in to One Taste over allegations including sex trafficking, prostitution and violations of labour law.How did Orgasmic Meditation go from hippy beginnings to a sleek, million-dollar operation? How did this wellness practise – touted as the next big thing everywhere from Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop to the New York Times – lead to isolation, debt and abuse?Why is women’s health and pain still not taken seriously by conventional medicine? The Orgasm Cult is a story about people desperate for connection and how far they would go to find it. Join Nastaran Tavakoli-Far as she investigates One Taste through exclusive interviews with former employees and asks big questions about the wellness industry.