CULT: Skull & Bones

CULT: Skull & Bones

July 8, 2026 · 41 min · Episode 86

About this episode

This episode explores the secretive Yale society Skull and Bones and its influence on American power structures.

Behind a windowless brownstone on the Yale campus known only as "the Tomb," fifteen students are tapped each year to enter one of the most powerful and secretive brotherhoods in American history. Its alumni have included three U.S. presidents, CIA directors, Supreme Court justices, and titans of finance and media. Founded at Yale in 1832, Skull and Bones has operated by a strict code of silence ever since. Members swear lifelong oaths, perform rituals in private, and confide their deepest secrets to one another before carrying those secrets into government, business, and intelligence. In this episode of Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes, Vanessa Richardson examines how a single Yale society built a network that quietly shaped the American century, and why critics argue the line between an elite club and something far more controlling can be thinner than it looks. Head over to our Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes YouTube channel to WATCH our video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@Conspiracytheoriescultscrimes If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes to never miss a case! To hear episodes ad-free and released a day early…

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