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Escape From Jonestown cover art

Escape From Jonestown

Written by: Laurence Bouvard
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  • Summary

  • Please note: This title contains graphic audio which some listeners might find upsetting.

    Forty years ago, on Nov. 18, 1978, 914 members of a "˜utopian' society deep in the Guyana jungle, known as Jonestown, drank a lethal elixir of Flavor-Aid and cyanide. Tim Carter was in the inner circle of its charismatic leader, Jim Jones. He escaped into the jungle. This is his story.

    This is an Audible Original Podcast. Free for members. You can download all 6 episodes to your Library now.

    ©2018 Audible, Ltd. (P)2018 Audible, Ltd.
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Episodes
  • Ep. 1: In the Beginning
    Nov 9 2018

    Born into an Irish-Catholic family, Tim has enough to eat, clothes on his back and a place to sleep, but things are far from easy. As war looms, Tim turns to military service to escape the strife at home. This won’t be the last time he escapes from one hardship into another.

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    26 mins
  • Ep. 2: The Road to People's Temple
    Nov 9 2018

    Tim Carter describes the chaos and aftermath of serving in the Vietnam War. Lost in post-war life, he finds solace in a growing movement that will change his life forever.

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    21 mins
  • Ep. 3: Part of the Solution
    Nov 9 2018

    In 1970s San Francisco, Tim Carter finds purpose helping the city’s poorest and most vulnerable. Meanwhile the People’s Temple is thrust into the media spotlight.

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    18 mins

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What listeners say about Escape From Jonestown

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
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Damn good

Don’t listen to the other reviewer. This is a damn good series on Jonestown. Not super in depth but great as an intro or as another source.

Also for audible members it’s free, so ignore the comment about wasting your credit in other review.

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8 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Heartbreaking and Human

Jonestown was a horrifying event. It's easy to lose track of the fact that it happened to real people--as with many events of this magnitude. This series did a good job of emphasizing the humanity of those who lived and died there, and the forces that contributed to the event.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Emotional and intense

An emotional recollection of Jonestown with a morbidly fascinating collection of info from the archives

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent Insight

The subject matter is tragic, but it was definitely fascinating to hear the awful unfolding of the Jonestown events from someone in the inner circle. This series helped to humanise and break down how this cult of personality could have evolved into something so dark, especially in light of the very real, sincere idealism the people involved held. Fascinating and eye opening insight into an event that's proven so difficult for us to wrap our collective heads around. Good stuff.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Scary yet Intriguing

I’d never heard about Jonestown until this series. It’s hard to limit listening to just 1 or 2 episodes at a time. You’ll want to finish it all in 1 day (I know I did).
The power of relentless group influencing + a selfish “religious leader” with evil intentions proves to be a horrific combination.
Mostly narrated by 2 individuals (a woman whose devoted her career to the Jonestown Massacre after her 2 sisters and nephew died there, and a man who was one of the few people who escaped the island) adds different viewpoints to this riveting yet heartbreaking podcast.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A good start

A well-done introduction to this terrible tragedy. I appreciated the first hand point of view cordings source but by the time I was finished I felt like there was a lot more information I needed to know.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Remembering that day

I can't imagine how hard it was to have to recount what happened in Jonestown, but I thank Tim for sharing it with us.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very well made

Loved it easy to listen not too long and so very devastating and heart breaking... Gonna be 41 years ago later this week...

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

compelling

I thought I knew about Jonestown but I found this a very compelling perspective on the story. very chilling.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great listen

the only thing I found annoying about this or negative in any way, was the fact that it was broken into far too many chapters. It would have been nice to have a good straight flow going. However it was extremely educational and also grabbed you right by the gut. heartbreaking absolutely heartbreaking what happened.

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