Popular Reviews of The Dream

Interesting and informative! The first season is all about MLMs which was good, but definitely had a bit more "zone-out" moments. Season 2 really shined for me, which delved into the world of wellness and all of its scams and beliefs. If anything, I was left with wanting more information than they gave.

Season 1, great.Season 2 is a disaster so far. First of, can you criticize the whole wellness industry? Well, it seems that if you turn your journalistic podcast into a platform in which you can bully your boyfriend for liking crystals and then go on to cry because you had terrible migraines, absolutely! In the middle, express the anger you have towards migraine sufferers who are able to talk while they have an episode because yours were so bad. So far, no journalism, no serious approach to what seems to be at first just an industry, but they promise that some essential oils companies are mlms, so that must be bad. Cringy.

The first season is amazing. I loved everything about it and I hope someone else will pick up where it left off. Season 2 is so terrible thus far that I won't bother checking back to find out if there is an actual point. There is no shortage of well done, critical insight into the wellness industry, it's become hackneyed AF. And...I too suffer from debilitating migraines after a childhood TBI and found LM's contempt for others who don't have it as bad insufferable. You guys can do better than this!

This podcast amazed me. I loved how the arc of the first season curved from an intimate story of how MLM businesses affect ordinary people's lives, to how MLM businesses have shaped American politics. All told with charm and humor, by a host who always sounds like a best friend letting you in on a secret. I can't wait for season 2! This is one of my all time favorites.

Don't just listen to this podcast, listen to it right now!

A great look into the economical/psychological gears behind MLM schemes

The 2nd season is all over the place. She clearly holds a distain for all things natural while failing to actually investigate any of them. I'm not sure the point other than belittling them. Too bad she didn't try any of these natural approaches while she suffered with migraines! She even went so far to include how different she is from Dan including his kale salad and her burger and fries. Nope. Not making fun of Dan! Making fun of her failure to explore. Feel sorry she hasn't yet explored natural and food options for depression and health issues.

Season 1!

Here's this podcast series in a nutshell. Stupid people do stupid things. Podcast hosts talk about why we need strict government control of everyone in order to keep stupid people from doing stupid things, even if that means making legitimate drugs or suppliments inaccessible or outrageously expensive. They go on about financial conflicts of interest, but all I'm left wondering is whether or not they're in the payroll of Big Pharma. Note: none of their oh so strict cautions apply to marijuana, which they joke about and apparently use regularly. I think it's safe to assume that when mental illness and brain damage starts showing up in themselves, their children and their friends they will be the first to scream about suing marijuana providers for "not looking out" for them. Yes, I'm supposed to pay four times as much a year for butterbur/petadolex for otherwise intractable migraines because a bunch of naive narcissist potheads want us all to be slaves to the government.

I absolutely adored the first season-- it definitely gets 5 stars! The second season was a little less focused because of the subject matter. Wellness is such a huge industry that I wish they'd reigned in the focus to just one aspect of wellness. Still an incredible pod! Well-researched and well-designed. Excited for season 3!

The first season was great. The second season was so terrible it took my average for the two from five to two stars, and made me question whether the same tactics were used to tell a one sided narrative in the first season, and I was simply less aware. It’s like they were in a race to capitalize on the popularity of the first season, and it shows. The content is either regurgitated from the first season, or extreme and one sided. How do you attack the whole wellness industry? At one point, she explains that she herself doesn’t want to relax, she’s only seeking stress and thrills - perhaps that’s part of what’s wrong with society. Some of her issues with the industry are reasonable, but the problem is she conflates one valid point with anecdotes that don’t represent the idea of wellness at large, essentially dismissing all of non-modern industrial Medecine. Suggesting all of wellness is as faulty as Goops latest product is just as unreasonable as suggesting all FDA drug products are safe and altruistic. At one point, she talks about natural birth and doulas, and villainizes the whole industry, while critiquing oppositional views that criticize modern medicine carte Blanche. How does she not see the hipocrisy? She’s lost credibility for me as a journalist by tainting the whole story with a personal narrative and belief system that predetermined what she ends up telling, regardless of veracity or nuance.

I am a big fan of investigative podcasts that look at the history of a company or industry and vet it out. I was very excited upon hearing of this podcast and listened intently for several episodes. However, beginning with Episode 3 of Season 1, this podcast fell prey to the very thing it was criticizing at points; propaganda. It is quickly becoming a large issue for multiple podcasts, that the hosts just cannot keep political commentary and their personal views out of a podcast that claims to be investigative. By episode four, the political tone and view became nauseating. I HATE MLM's and think they are one of the disgraces of capitalism. In that I agree with the hosts. But they (the hosts) started making conjectures that were so off-base to the subject matter, that over and over I found myself disgusted, frustrated and wondering what in the world their comments really had to do with anything. Please remember...while the sharks responsible for MLM's took positive thinking the wrong direction...the premise of some of their core beliefs are true and if not adhered to, we wouldn't have Rosa Parks, Women's Right To Vote, etc. The hosts put down all of the imaginings of the leaders here with such vitriol, clearly losing their way amongst their own frustrations and complex beliefs. Please report on the subject matter for what it is and not what you think of it. You have something great here, but ruined it.

The first season was a very interesting look into MLMs, particularly because it bothered to look into what makes their public (mostly working class women) fall for them; and, at the same time, explained the financial aspect of it in ways that were easy to understand.The second season is about why crystal and essential oils, and MLMs around them, are not pseudoscience, scams and MLMs because the host's husband is into them. A completely 180 from the previous season, suddenly both anti-science and scams are okay.

Fantastic Podcast to Binge

A great look at MLM schemes. The first season was informative and entertaining. Expecting more in season two.

First season is amazing. We've all had friends who have gotten caught up in MLM (errrrr... Network Marketing) "businesses" and The Dream does a great job of showing why these companies exist and why so many people get involved.

Good content but narrator needs to stop with the "vocal fry".Good, interesting content but I had to stop listening because the narrator unfortunately thinks a "vocal fry" is a desirable vocal trait to put on and it eventually fried my ears.Too bad.Malcolm Gladwell and Pushkin actually did an episode on the vocal fry and perhaps the narrator should give it a listen.

Interesting podcast, but definitely not for those with an affinity for "alternative medicine", and detox cures.The first season is perhaps the most coherent, a thorough investigation of the MLM industry, how it targets vulnerable people, and the harm it causes. It has a strong narrative arc, featuring some excellent interviews.Season two looks into what underpins that industry, the health claims of "wellness" products. While there are a few good interviews with experts (like a scientist at CERN debunking the supposed benefits of crystals), there is some lack of depth, and cohesion. Still worth listening - if only for the curious similarity between Gwyneth Paltrow and Alex Jones.

Season 1 on the Multi level marketing certainly gets 5 stars. Especially the in depth look at the legal aspects and why the US has struggled to legislate and prosecute many of these dubious "businesses" Well researched and well produced, well worth a listen.

Very interesting listen. My heart broke for some of the people caught up in MLM. The woman wanting to get enough money to buy a headstone still sticks with me.