Opportunity Cost
What makes the siren song of money-making schemes, cults, spiritual gurus, scams, and conspiracies of all kinds so irresistible? What is it about the desires of the human heart that make us vulnerable to such subterfuge?
Opportunity Cost, hosted by Jill, cobbles an auditory scrapbook of old videos, soundscapes, interviews, and commentary together in an attempt to uncover the history, nuances, and manipulation behind these cultural phenomenon.
Follow me on Instagram & TikTok - @oppcostpod
Episodes
10 episodes
Arbonne ft. Julie Jo
When Julie signed up as a distributor for Arbonne, she found early success and rapidly rose to the top of the ranks. What she didn't expect was her faith, finances, self-worth, and diet culture to be entangled with her business. Wh...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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50:55
Enagic ft. Anna
Anna thought that she had found a home among the spiritually-minded community in Enagic and their Kangen ionizers, what she found instead were empty promises, debt and culty practices. I sit down with Anna 1:1 to talk about her experience in En...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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54:50
Amway ft. Chrystal
We kick off a round of bonus full interview episodes with the lovely Chrystal. When she joined Amway on an invitation from her coworker, Chrystal had no idea how much of her life would eventually be consumed by it. Through ever-growing fees pai...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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1:02:26
The Wolf of Main Street
Insurance MLMs have given rise to a new wave of super bros, who are convinced that selling supplemental insurance is how they will make it big. American Income Life is famous among the MLM world, or maybe…infamous. American Income Life reached ...
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44:30
A Symphony in Pink
Mary Kay Ash spun a tale of female empowerment, and today, is hailed as a feminist icon. Their cream, goop, and makeup has been a fixture in pop culture Americana for decades, but the model it uses to sell products and Mary Kay's culty corporat...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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41:27
Clean Conscience
Arbonne boasts that their products are vegan, non-GMO, and tout their B Corp certification as an extension of their clean ingredient mission. Consultants rave about Arbonne’s healthy living products - while toxic diet culture reigns supreme.&nb...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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45:44
Diamonds and Unicorns
Bomb Party's surprise reveal jewelry has taken TikTok by storm. Thousands of people tune in live every day to watch reps unfurl rings, bracelets, and necklaces that Bomb Party claims are worth up to $1,500. Peering through the haze of bath bomb...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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38:24
Living Water
Seekers looking for community outside of traditional religion might find themselves in the New Age movement. These groups are not free from the grip of MLMs and the wild health claims made about their products. Enagic distributors claim to have...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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47:26
