Introducing Untold, a new podcast from the Financial Times Special Investigations Team. In the first series, The Retreat, host Madison Marriage explores the world of the Goenka network, which promotes a type of focused meditation known as Vipassana.
In January 2023, Madison received an email from a desperate father named Stephen. He said his twin daughters have changed dramatically. They were once promising young women with exciting plans for their futures, but have since fallen into despair and struggled to live a normal life. Stephen believed that the root of his daughters' problems lay in a particular network of meditation retreats.
Thousands of people attend Goenka retreats every year to learn Vipassana meditation. Silicon Valley's tech moguls are raving about it. Getting tickets is like getting tickets to Glastonbury. Tickets are coveted. But some of the people who go to these retreats are suffering. They may feel a deep sense of fear or a break with reality. And after that they are no longer themselves.
The Retreat is a four-part series that will be published every Wednesday starting January 24th.
Subscribe and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Listen to the trailer:
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Madison Marriage is the FT's special investigations editor. She leads a team of reporters investigating fraud and abuses of power across business, politics, housing, education and more.
Since joining the FT 12 years ago, she has held a number of correspondent positions covering wealth management, tax and accounting. She joined the investigative desk in 2019 after conducting two award-winning investigations into sexual harassment at an elite Presidents Club charity dinner and the assault of advertising magnate Sir Martin Sorrell.
