Amanda Montell
@AmandaMontellPodcasts·19.4K subscribers·276 videos
The Cult of America's Next Top Model
Posted
July 8, 2025
Views
4,845
Likes
146
Comments
10
Engagement
3.22%
July 8, 2025
4,845
146
10
3.22%
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2:23:10Now PlayingThis week, Chelsea, Amanda, and guest Sarah Hartshorne (@sarahbhartshorne) dig into the high-gloss, high-drama, and disturbingly high-control world of America’s Next Top Model. Once hailed as a launchpad for aspiring models, the long-running franchise masked emotional manipulation and identity erasure beneath a veneer of empowerment and fashion fantasy.
From Tyra Banks’ god-like authority to the cultish language of “smize” and “booty tooch,” we explore how ANTM built a reality TV empire on forced makeovers, psychological pressure, and spectacle disguised as self-improvement. Sarah, who rose to fame as the only plus-size contestant on Cycle 9, joins us to expose what really went down behind the catwalk, drawing from her upcoming memoir You Wanna Be On Top?
👽 About Sounds Like A Cult Podcast 👽
Putting the “cult” in culture… Do you think SoulCycle is a cult? What about the Royal Family? What about Disney Adults? Or spiritual influencers? Is Instagram itself a cult? We’re Sounds Like A Cult, a podcast that analyzes a different fanatical group every week to try and answer the big question: This sounds like a cult, but is it really?
Sounds Like A Cult premiered in June of 2021 and has since been downloaded over 30 million times. It was named a best podcast of 2022 by Vulture, Esquire, Wired, Marie Claire, and others. The pod won the 2023 iHeart Radio “Best Emerging Podcast” Award and has been praised by The New York Times and other publications.
New episodes every Tuesday on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!
✨Your Co-Hosts ✨
Amanda Montell
Chelsea CharlesMcClure
Reese Oliver
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#soundslikeacultpodcast #cult #americasnexttopmodel #tyrabanks #antm #model #modeling #podcast #amandamontell
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