Powered by Orgasm - the rise and fall of a sex cult. (Cautionary Tales, with the amazing @ellenhuet.bsky.social ) timharford.com/2026/01/powe...
Ellen Huet
@ellenhuet.bsky.social
the self is an illusion, but — I write features & podcasts about tech for Bloomberg / Businessweek also writing a book about an alleged sex cult ellenhuet.com
It’s impossible to put this book down - incredible story, so well researched and well told.
I've lost friends to OneTaste and had to bail out of a work retreat accidentally programmed at a venue owned by OneTaste founders. Very glad @ellenhuet.bsky.social exposed the manipulation driving it. Here she is in convo with Jules Evans (www.ecstaticintegration.org).
🎙️ON AIR: We're talking to investigative journalist and features writer @ellenhuet.bsky.social about OneTaste, a company dedicated to “orgasmic meditation,” and how its cult-like nature led to a criminal conviction. ❓ Did you have a connection with OneTaste? Tell us about it. 📻 Listen:
Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power and the Downfall of a Bay Area Wellness Cult | KQED
We talk to investigative journalist Ellen Huet about OneTaste, a company dedicated to “orgasmic meditation,” and hear about its cult-like nature through accounts from former clients and community…
buff.ly
📖 Today, a Story Time episode featuring @ellenhuet.bsky.social reading from her new book, EMPIRE OF ORGASM: SEX, POWER, AND THE DOWNFALL OF A WELLNESS CULT (MCD Books). 🎧 Available wherever you get your podcasts.
Truly, it’s a bonkers story that you should absolutely read.
One charismatic person takes their trauma or extreme life experience and draws universal truths from it. Start charging money for those truths. Add in attachment theory/victim blaming. And gear everything towards getting young women to have sex with old men they are not attracted to.
Ooh boy, this is a wild one. It’s meticulously reported and compellingly written by @ellenhuet.bsky.social. I’ve read a lot about cults and this has all the hallmarks.
Chris@justokonline.bsky.social · 8mo agoNow listening to Empire of Orgasm by @ellenhuet.bsky.social
They felt safe telling each other something most people wouldn’t understand: they kind of wanted to join a cult again, Audrey said, “because we’re bored and lonely.” #SundaySentence from the riveting Empire of Orgasm by @ellenhuet.bsky.social #Booksky💙📚
Just found out about this book via this post and IMMEDIATELY went to my library’s website to place a hold
This deeply sad article by @ellenhuet.bsky.social and @rachelmetz.bsky.social made me think of Eleanor Rigby: All the lonely people. Where do they all come from? www.bloomberg.com/features/202... (Aside: Paul McCartney's songwriting always struck me as a depressive trying hard to stay cheerful.)
The Chatbot Delusions: Is AI Contributing to a Novel Mental Health Crisis?
Some users are losing touch with reality during marathon sessions with ChatGPT and other bots.
bloomberg.com
IT’S PUB DAY BABY HELL YEAH
Ryan Mac 🙃@rmac.bsky.social · 9mo agoCongrats to my friend @ellenhuet.bsky.social, whose book, Empire of Orgasm, comes out TODAY. What started as some dogged reporting about an SF wellness company, turned into a vivid tale about a full-on sex cult. Get it now! bookshop.org/p/books/empi...
On the latest podcast episode, @ellenhuet.bsky.social discussed her book investigating the true story of OneTaste, a sex wellness cult. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...
Investigating a Sex Wellness Cult ft. Ellen Huet
Podcast Episode · The Study Hall Podcast · 11/19/2025 · 54m
podcasts.apple.com
Breaking News: Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller who is running for mayor, was detained by ICE agents at an immigration court as he tried to escort a migrant out of the courthouse to prevent his arrest. nyti.ms/4jWkANE
NEW from me: a quick profile of Alexandr Wang, who left his company Scale to become one of Meta's most $$$ expensive hires with some fun details like - why his name is missing an e - how YC thought he "may be arrogant or brilliant" www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Scale AI’s Wang Brings to Meta Knowledge of What Everyone Else is Doing
Scale AI co-founder Alexandr Wang is such an enthusiastic networker that his former roommate — OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman — once jokingly told him to tone it down a bit.
bloomberg.com
“I was born here,” Jason Brian Gavidia shouted as a federal agent twisted his arm & pressed him against a fence outside his auto body shop in a working-class L.A. suburb. “I’m an American, bro!” Vivid @nytimes.com reporting on the targeting of U.S. citizens of Hispanic descent.
‘I’m an American, Bro!’: Latinos Report Raids in Which U.S. Citizenship Is Questioned
nytimes.com
NEW: @kateclark.bsky.social and i went deep on the unhinged spying saga between Rippling and Deel for @BW (and this gif!!!) two of the world's most valuable startups are volleying accusations back and forth at the center is one alleged spy, who says he smashed his phone w an axe (!)
Ron Chernow’s new book about Mark Twain is more about disappointment than success
Mark Twain Died Famous, Not Happy
In a new biography, Ron Chernow covers the sadness at the end of Twain’s life.
bloom.bg
NEW @bloomberg.com feature from me on @hf0.bsky.social, the 12-wk live-in startup accelerator that calls itself a "monastery for hackers" at HF0, founders tune out all distractions and build. the coaching incorporates mindfulness (and cold plunges) gift link 🎁: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
The Monastery Where Founders Meditate on Code and Profit
HF0, a live-in program for startup founders in San Francisco, mixes New Agey spirituality with Silicon Valley-esque hypercapitalism.
bloomberg.com
Kudos to the student journalists at The Tufts Daily, who crashed a last-minute issue of the paper to cover the outrageous arrest and detention of Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk: issuu.com/tuftsdaily/d...
The Tufts Daily - Thursday, March 27, 2025 by The Tufts Daily - Issuu
issuu.com
somehow this is the funniest part of the rippling-deel spy lawsuit to me. of course there's a dogs slack channel, and of course that's a channel you preview but don't join
new cult-ish content! i wrote a short explainer about the Zizians for @bloomberg.com's daily tech newsletter trying to answer: In what ways are the Zizians representative of the rationalist/AI safety/EA world, and in what ways do they deviate? gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Violent Cult Has Roots In Silicon Valley Quest to Keep AI Safe
Welcome to Tech In Depth, our revamped daily newsletter with reporting and analysis about the business of tech from Bloomberg’s journalists around the world. Today, Ellen Huet writes about the crosscu...
bloomberg.com
i talked about robot anxiety and why we take it out by vandalizing Waymos with @morgansung.bsky.social for Close All Tabs! podcast podcast podcast. also including @rcalo.bsky.social
Ryan Calo@rcalo.bsky.social · last yr.KQED podcast on Waymo vandalism, feat. @ellenhuet.bsky.social and me. www.kqed.org/news/1203086...
a fascinating longread in nymag from @anya1anya.bsky.social about ISTA -- the neo-tantra group that promised sexual healing but faced numerous allegations of sexual abuse www.thecut.com/article/the-...
The Neo-Tantric Sex Group That Promised to Change
ISTA is dedicated to exploring people’s darkest desires. Can it root out abuse?
thecut.com
Earlier today the LA Times had AI-generated counterpoints to a column from @gustavoarellano.bsky.social. His piece argued that Anaheim, the city he grew up in, should not forget its KKK past. The AI "well, actually"-ed the KKK. It has since been taken off the piece. www.latimes.com/california/s...
NEW: security researchers found what they say appears to be a backdoor into Eight Sleep beds, which could allow company engineers to SSH into any bed in theory, they could see if you're home or not, if you're sleeping alone or with someone in today's newsletter for @bloomberg.com
