The Retreat, Ep. 3: Jaqui’s Story

With elections just weeks away, and news of more foreign interference scandals in the European parliament, the reporting team gives an accounting of where the investigation and the suspects are to date.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It seemed like the Belgians had everything they needed to bring a case against the people involved with Qatargate, but the investigation hit a wall. Valentina and the reporting team speak to the prosecution side to find out why.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Through wiretap transcripts and surveillance footage, captured by Belgian intelligence, Valentina and the investigative reporting team learn just who is involved with this scandal and how it all worked.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Valentina learns of raids and arrests at the European parliament and a scandal unfolds. They talk to the face of the scandal, Eva Kaili, and hear about the day of the raids through her eyes.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing Power for Sale, a new season of Untold from the Financial Times. In Untold: Power for Sale, host Valentina Pop and a team of FT correspondents from all over Europe investigate what happened in the Qatargate scandal, where EU lawmakers were accused of accepting payments from Qatar to whitewash its image.Untold: Power for Sale airs May 29. Follow wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Madison Marriage hears of another death, one that happened five years before Jaqui’s. Was the Goenka network aware of the dangers of intensive meditation? Marriage asks what the organisation is doing, if anything, to protect people from harm.For support or more information about adverse meditation experiences, take a look at the Cheetah House website.If you are in need of urgent mental health support, please contact your local emergency services or reach out to a mental health helpline, such as the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the US, or Samaritans in the UK.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jaqui was 22 when she signed up to a 10-day Goenka retreat. It was the last known thing she did before she died. This is Jaqui’s story.For support or more information about adverse meditation experiences, take a look at the Cheetah House website.If you are in need of urgent mental health support, please contact your local emergency services or reach out to a mental health helpline, such as the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the US or Samaritans in the UK.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emily’s twin sister spirals after going on a Goenka retreat, and she’s not the only one. Madison Marriage hears multiple accounts of terror, hallucinations and psychosis. Was meditation just the catalyst that unleashed psychological problems? Or did this network of silent meditation retreats actually cause their suffering?For support or more information about adverse meditation experiences, take a look at the Cheetah House website.We also spoke to Miguel Farias and Jonny Say to corroborate claims in the podcast about adverse meditation experiences. You can find out more about Farias’s work here, and Say’s here.If you are in need of urgent mental health support, please contact your local emergency services or reach out to a mental health helpline, such as the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the US or Samaritans in the UK.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Madison Marriage receives an email from a desperate father named Stephen. Over the past five years, he says, his twin daughters have changed drastically. They were bright and outgoing, with exciting plans for their future. But over their early twenties, they became increasingly distressed, struggling to eat or sleep and disassociating from normal life. Stephen believes the root of his daughters’ problems is a particular network of intensive meditation retreats.For support or more information about adverse meditation experiences, take a look at the Cheetah House website.If you are in need of urgent mental health support, please contact your local emergency services or reach out to a mental health helpline, such as the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the US or Samaritans in the UK.Note: This podcast previously included a YouTube clip that described a Vipassana meditation retreat that was not linked to the Goenka network, as originally implied.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing Untold, a new podcast from the special investigations team at the Financial Times. In its first series, The Retreat, host Madison Marriage examines the world of the Goenka network, which promotes a type of intensive meditation known as Vipassana. Thousands of people go on Goenka retreats every year. People rave about them. But some people go to these meditation retreats, and they suffer. They might feel a deep sense of terror, or a break with reality. And on the other side, they’re not themselves anymore. Untold: The Retreat launches Jan. 24. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.