Reviews

John Safran vs The Occult by John Safran

a_novellife's review

3.0

Was definitely an interesting listen.

jadejade's review

4.0

Interesting listen on the way to and from work.

confessions_of_a_bookaholic's review

3.0

This wasn't what I really expected. It seemed to look more into the laws of certain places than into the occult itself. The first 4 episodes were OK but not great, the last one saved the series for me though hence the 3

mildy_lozza's review

2.0

I felt like this was John Safran giving ‘the bird’ to Richard Dawkins.

At times I found some of the talking points interesting but the majority of the time I was not inspired by the content.

I just didn’t really feeling like there was a conclusion and I really wanted to get some sort of satisfying ending... but maybe it’s all about starting the conversation.

Probably won’t listen to another one by John Safran. For now anyway.

ozshark's review

2.0

John Safran is always interesting, and most of these episodes/experiences warranted investigation. However this felt disappointingly unresolved or properly tied together. Overall, I felt like John pointed out some unusual stories, but didn't reach much of a conclusion.

greatgatsbys's review

dark informative slow-paced

2.0

sirchutney's review

3.0

John Safran vs the Occult, explores his fascination for religion and sacred rituals. He travels to Texas to track down former Salvadoran gang members purported to be Satanists (chief accusers of which include President Trump). Next John is off to the South Pacific to unravel the deaths of two men accused of being witches. And finally he's back home to Melbourne where he encounters a Muslim woman who thinks she's possessed after having a baby.

At the end of five episodes, the lessons seem to be:
- Even secular people frequently give the supernatural. The reason is that is (apparently) helps to release what’s inside.
- People in power use witchcraft and Satanism to control others.

Interesting, but not an essential listen.