
Selling the Dream
The Billion-Dollar Industry Bankrupting Americans
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Narrated by:
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Jane Marie
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By:
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Jane Marie
About this listen
Peabody and Emmy Award–winning journalist Jane Marie expands on her popular podcast The Dream to expose the scourge of multilevel marketing schemes and how they have profited off the evisceration of the American working class.
We’ve all heard of Amway, Mary Kay, Tupperware, and LuLaRoe, but few know the nefarious way they, and countless other multilevel marketing (MLM) companies, prey on desperate Americans struggling to make ends meet.
When factories close, stalwart industries shutter, and blue-collar opportunities evaporate, MLMs are there, ready to pounce on the crumbling American Dream. MLMs thrive in rural areas and on military bases, targeting women with promises of being their own boss and millions of dollars in easy income—even at the risk of their entire life savings. But the vast majority—99.7%—of those who join an MLM make no money or lose money, and wind up stuck with inventory they can’t sell to recoup their losses.
Selling the Dream “is an urgent and riveting exposé” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) that reveals how these companies—often owned by political and corporate elites, such as the DeVos and the Van Andel families—have made a windfall in profit off of the desperation of the American working class.
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Critic reviews
“What a strange and insidious world Jane has chosen to explore and share with us, one that is hiding around every corner of American life.” (Susan Orlean, New York Times bestselling author of The Library Book)
“So, my former intern wrote a book. You're looking at it. I knew nothing about this world and loved learning about it from Jane.” (Ira Glass, host and producer of This American Life)
“Charting the dark underbelly of multilevel marketing isn’t for the faint of heart, but in Jane’s capable hands we’re along for a wild ride. In Selling the Dream her big heart and clear-eyed reporting are on full display.” (W. Kamau Bell, author of The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell)
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-
The Woman Who Fooled the World
- By: Beau Donelly, Nick Toscano
- Narrated by: James Saunders
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
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Belle Gibson convinced the world she had healed herself from terminal brain cancer with a healthy diet. She built a global business based upon her claims. There was just one problem: she'd never had cancer. In 2015, journalists uncovered the truth: this hero of the wellness world, with over 200,000 followers, international book deals and a best-selling smartphone app, was a fraud.
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Must listen
- By NutriGal on 02-10-18
By: Beau Donelly, and others
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The Age of Magical Overthinking
- Notes on Modern Irrationality
- By: Amanda Montell
- Narrated by: Amanda Montell
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Utilizing the linguistic insights of her “witty and brilliant” (Blyth Roberson, author of America the Beautiful?) first book Wordslut and the sociological explorations of her breakout hit Cultish, Amanda Montell now turns her erudite eye to the inner workings of the human mind and its biases in her most personal and electrifying work yet.
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This was a memoir pretending to be something more scientific
- By Kay on 05-19-24
By: Amanda Montell
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Don't Call It a Cult
- The Shocking Story of Keith Raniere and the Women of NXIVM
- By: Sarah Berman
- Narrated by: Ewa Wolniczek
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Investigative journalist Sarah Berman explores the shocking practices of NXIVM, a cult run by Keith Raniere and many enablers. Through the accounts of central NXIVM figures, Berman uncovers how dozens of women seeking creative coaching and networking opportunities instead were blackmailed, literally branded, near-starved, and enslaved. Don't Call It a Cult is a riveting account of NXIVM's rise to power, its ability to evade prosecution for decades, and the investigation that finally revealed its dark secrets to the world.
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Detailed (best for those already interested)
- By JR on 05-02-21
By: Sarah Berman
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The Quiet Damage
- QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family
- By: Jesselyn Cook
- Narrated by: Jesselyn Cook
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Quiet Damage, celebrated reporter Jesselyn Cook unfolds the heartbreaking stories of five representative families from couples young and old to rural white parents to urban Black siblings, to show how QAnon shattered bonds once believed unbreakable. Cook paints a portrait of American suffering, of the vulnerabilities that have left people susceptible to outrageous theories promising order and control in a world where both are increasingly in short supply.
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Engaging story telling
- By Joshua M. Kuo on 09-30-24
By: Jesselyn Cook
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Cultish
- The Language of Fanaticism
- By: Amanda Montell
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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What makes “cults” so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join - and more importantly, stay in - extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell’s argument is that, on some level, it already has.
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Get this book ASAP
- By chris boutte on 06-17-21
By: Amanda Montell
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Highlight Real
- Finding Honesty & Recovery Beyond the Filtered Life
- By: Emily Lynn Paulson
- Narrated by: Emily Lynn Paulson
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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A music prodigy, head of her class, and well-liked in school, Emily Paulson decided early that embellishment paved the road to success. As she grew up, she figured out how to make the picture look even better - with a successful husband, five beautiful children, and all the required accompanying accoutrements. Then along came social media, where those pictures of the perfect life grew her a following of women who believed that everything about Emily was #blessed #inspo. But behind the filtered façade was a reality filled with trauma, addiction, and dysfunctional behavior.
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Worthy
- By Beth Hood on 10-16-19
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Unscripted
- The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy
- By: James B. Stewart, Rachel Abrams
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2016, the fate of Paramount Global’s entertainment empire hung precariously in the balance. Its founder and head, ninety-three-year-old Sumner M. Redstone, was facing a very public lawsuit brought by a former romantic companion, Manuela Herzer, which placed Sumner’s deteriorating health and questionable judgment under a harsh light.
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I could t wait for it to end
- By Abbie L. Smith on 03-01-23
By: James B. Stewart, and others
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Black Pill
- How I Witnessed the Darkest Corners of the Internet Come to Life, Poison Society, and Capture American Politics
- By: Elle Reeve
- Narrated by: Elle Reeve
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Award-winning journalist and CNN correspondent Elle Reeve was not surprised by the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. With years of in-depth research and on-the-ground investigative reporting under her belt, Reeve was aware of the preoccupations of the online far right and their journey from the computer to QAnon, militias, and racist groups. At the same time, Reeve saw a parallel growth of counterforces, with citizen vigilantes using new tools and tactics to take down the far right.
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Great story — uneven performance
- By SSG on 08-19-24
By: Elle Reeve
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The Mother Next Door
- Medicine, Deception, and Munchausen by Proxy
- By: Andrea Dunlop, Mike Weber
- Narrated by: Andrea Dunlop
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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No bond is more sacred than the one between a mother and child. And no figure is more sympathetic than a mother whose child faces a life-threatening illness. But what if the mother is the reason for the illness? What if the sympathy is the point? With help from some of the top MBP experts in the world, Dunlop and Weber uncover the complex maze of psychological, systemic, and cultural issues that compound MBP and offer solutions for how we might find our way out.
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Nothing about her sister’s case !
- By cannot open on 05-30-25
By: Andrea Dunlop, and others
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The 10
- A Memoir of Family and the Open Road
- By: E.A. Hanks
- Narrated by: E.A. Hanks
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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From Vanity Fair and The New York Times contributor comes a beautifully written, deeply felt memoir recounting the solo cross-country journey she made along the Ten across the American southwest: a mission to uncover both what harrowing violence may or may not have happened to her late mother, but also, to look within and discover who she herself is—where her mother ends and she begins.
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Wanted to like it ... halfway through and need a break
- By Anonymous User on 04-14-25
By: E.A. Hanks
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A Well-Trained Wife
- My Escape from Christian Patriarchy
- By: Tia Levings
- Narrated by: Tia Levings
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Recruited into the fundamentalist Quiverfull movement as a young wife, Tia Levings learned that being a good Christian meant following a list of additional life principles—a series of secret, special rules to obey. Being a godly and submissive wife in Christian Patriarchy included strict discipline, isolation, and an alternative lifestyle that appeared wholesome to outsiders. Women were to be silent, “keepers of the home.” A Well-Trained Wife is an unforgettable memoir about a woman's race to save herself and her family and details the ways that extreme views can manifest in a marriage.
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A review from a chronic non-reviewer
- By T. L. P. on 08-11-24
By: Tia Levings
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The Cult of Trump
- A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control
- By: Steven Hassan
- Narrated by: Steven Hassan
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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The Cult of Trump is an accessible and in-depth analysis of the president, showing that under the right circumstances, even sane, rational, well-adjusted people can be persuaded to believe the most outrageous ideas. Hassan’s audiobook is essential listening for anyone wanting to understand the Trump phenomenon and looking for a way forward.
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Tools to deprogram
- By N. Squier on 01-11-20
By: Steven Hassan
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Cruel Deception
- The True Story of Multiple Murder and Two Devastated Families (St. Martin's True Crime Library)
- By: Gregg Olsen
- Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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In and out of hospitals since birth, angelic nine-month-old Morgan Reid finally succumbed to what appeared to be sudden infant death syndrome. Morgan's Texas-born mother, Tanya, a nurse and devoted wife, pulled up stakes with her grieving husband, Jim, and moved on. It was the best way to put the past behind them. Until their son, Michael, a boy who by all accounts was terrified of his mother, began showing signs of the same affliction that stole the life of his baby sister....
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Deadly Mystery
- By Judy on 06-07-22
By: Gregg Olsen
Historical perspective.
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Incredible listen
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Jane Marie offers an efficient overview of the history of MLMs in the United States, how they work, who they recruit, and the challenges of regulating them. She‘s hard on MLM founders but compassionate towards the many people who get swept up into them based on false promises. Narration is in the personal style that fans of „The Dream“ podcast will enjoy.
Read this before replying to a „Hey hon“ DM…
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Critical Reading for All
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Kept me wanting more
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Jane Marie, Expert in her Field
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Great expansion of The Dream podcast!!!
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Very Informative
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Just a small town girl from Michigan warning us all!
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As to the question, why do people join and then stay in MLMs long after there is any real chance to make any money, the author provides trenchant, razor sharp analysis.
Insightful Analysis
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