Popular depictions of high-control religious movements typically conjure up images of remote rural compounds, matching uniforms, or devotees chanting around a fire. In reality, contemporary sectarian organisations frequently operate as sophisticated, highly monetised corporate networks.
At three in the morning inside a makeshift media production room, the monitors hummed with that specific high-pitched whine that eventually replaces your inner monologue. I had been awake for the better part of forty-eight hours, sustained entirely by adrenaline, cheap instant coffee, and the terrifying certainty that if the print deadlines slipped, cosmic history … Read more
Undercover Journalism, Secret Police, and Global Deportation Ping-Pong How an ill-fitting borrowed suit, a manic human rights lawyer, and an apocalyptic spiritual movement delivered me into a subterranean airport cell and a four-country deportation relay. The Survey, the Suit, and the Cover Story It was late August 2006, and my latest New Zealand tourist visa … Read more