31 years ago today, 918 people died in the Jonestown Mass Murder-Suicide. One week later, CBC Radio aired this comprehensive examination[MP3] of the events leading up the tragedy, including cult leader Jim Jones' rise to power, the founding of the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project in Guyana, and the ill-fated investigative delegation headed by Congressman Leo Ryan which precipitated the tragic event.
posted by Alvy Ampersand on Nov 17, 2009 - 51 comments

The music of the People's Temple. Five years before Jim Jones coerced 900 of his church members to commit suicide in Guyana, the People's Temple cut an album. [more inside]
posted by Bookhouse on Aug 7, 2008 - 24 comments

"What do we call it: suicide or murder?" An interview with filmmaker Stanley Nelson about his new documentary, Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple. The documentary has some never-before-seen footage and features two Jonestown survivors. "I think by the end of the film you feel that it's kind of both at the same time." [more inside]
posted by kirkaracha on Apr 6, 2006 - 13 comments

Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple. Was it a religion, a revolutionary social movement, a cult, or a combination of them all?
posted by semmi on Nov 23, 2002 - 5 comments