In this episode of pplpod, we explore the terrifying trajectory of Jim Jones, the charismatic cult leader who orchestrated the largest single loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act prior to September 11, 2001. We trace Jones’s origins in rural Indiana, where a childhood obsession with religion and death led him to conduct mock funerals for roadkill, to his founding of the Peoples Temple, a racially integrated congregation that blended Pentecostal faith healing with radical Marxism,.

Join us as we discuss:

• The "Rainbow Family": Jones’s early reputation as a civil rights activist who helped desegregate Indianapolis hospitals and adopted children of various races,.

• Apostolic Socialism: How Jones moved the Temple to California, courted political elit ...