In 2013, Damon Lawner went from being a broke family man to a sex club kingpin when he founded SNCTM: the most elite sex club in the world. Damon created a place where billionaires and Hollywood celebs could explore their wildest sexual fantasies – but it ultimately turned his life upside down. Join host Karley Sciortino as she explores our most hidden desires – and uncovers the story of SNCTM.
Taye Diggs on Trauma, Ambition, and the Discomfort of Sitting Still [from Waking Up With Ryan]
Host Ryan Holiday interviews actor Taye Diggs about navigating ambition, trauma, and finding peace after a lifetime of striving.
11 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT
Introducing: Free Therapy with Ben & Kevin
Ben and Kevin interview leading therapists to unpack modern life's challenges, offering relatable insights into dating, mental health, and relationships.
11 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT
Introducing: Waking Up With Ryan
Coach Ryan Weiss interviews listeners on how the first five minutes of their day profoundly shape their entire experience.
25 Sept 2025TRANSCRIPT
Introducing: Incels
The podcast episode "Incels" explores the online subculture of involuntary celibates, examining their motivations, behaviors, and the potential for violence, offering insight into the psychological factors that perpetuate resentment and hate.
5 Jun 2025TRANSCRIPT
Introducing: Camp Shame
Host Kelsey Snelling introduces "Camp Shame," an eight-episode series investigating mistreatment and fatphobia at a weight loss camp, revealing the heavy price of shame.
13 Sept 2024TRANSCRIPT
Introducing: Forgive Me For I Have Followed
Hi Sanctum Unmasked Fans! Take a listen to the trailer of our newest show, Forgive Me For I Have Followed.
About the show: Join Jessica Acevedo, the Executive Producer of Netflix’s explosive docu-series, Dancing For The Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult, and Kailea Gray, marketing strategist and former 7M Films member, as they further expose the core of 7M Films and Shekinah Church.
Forgive Me For I Have Followed embarks on a gripping journey into the hidden truths behind this high control group. Through powerful in-depth interviews with former members and new, chilling first-hand accounts, the series will illuminate untold, necessary perspectives. Stories like Kailea’s happen far too often. This podcast will also feature individuals whose lives have been affected by other cults. This will be more than an exploration—it is a vital revelation aimed at ensuring these types of abuses never happen again.
Listen here (https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-forgive-me-for-i-have-fol-212082450/) (https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-sixteenth-minute-of-fame-172216473/) (https://www.iheart.com/podcast/139-better-offline-150284547/#:~:text=•%201%20min-,Better%20Offline%20is%20a%20weekly%20show%20exploring%20the%20tech%20industry%27s,for%20better%20or%20for%20worse.) (https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-call-chelsea-peretti-27911408/)and subscribe to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts!
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
8 May 2024TRANSCRIPT
Introducing: The Girlfriends: Our Lost Sister
In Season 1, The Girlfriends told the story of how a group of incredible women came together to bring down one bad ex-boyfriend and seek justice for the murder of Gail Katz.
But there’s one part of that story that’s still a mystery.
During the investigation into Gail’s case, a torso washed up on Staten Island and was misidentified as Gail. Nobody knows her name or what happened to her after she was ruled out from the case.
In Season 2, the amateur ladies detective club are back with a new mission: to uncover the identity of this woman and finally find Our Lost Sister.
Listen here (https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-girlfriends-our-lost-118226591/) and subscribe to The Girlfriends: Our Lost Sister on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts!
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
3 Apr 2024TRANSCRIPT
Introducing: Fallen Angels: A Story of California Corruption
Hi Sanctum Unmasked fans! We want to share a new podcast that we think you'll love - Fallen Angels: A Story of California Corruption.
About the show: Fallen Angels is a journalistic thriller — Chinatown meets Spotlight — one that takes us into the shadows of sunny LA. Over 10 thirty-minute episodes, we go deeper and deeper into the intermingled world of power and privilege. L.A. Times investigative reporter Paul Pringle is our host – but he doesn’t simply narrate this story. Like a classic L.A. Noir, as Paul and his team of reporting colleagues, who joined forces in secret from their bosses, investigate the story, they meet obstacles and stonewalling at every turn — from USC, from the city, and more troubling still, from their own organization.
Listen here (https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-fallen-angels-a-story-of-160652083/)and subscribe to Fallen Angels: A Story of California Corruption on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts!
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
1 Jun 2023
That's Called Growth
2013, the year Damon started SNCTM, was a decade ago – gag. And, at the time, this high-end sex club was new, exciting, and transgressive. Now, looking back, we examine the complicated legacy of SNCTM – from pleasure paradise to messy free-for-all – and the lasting impact it had on the people who worked and played there. After all that went down, where are Damon and Melissa today?
And we ask the question: is sexual freedom like… even possible? Plus: Karley goes to SNCTM – yay!
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
25 May 2023
Time to Leave the Party
After years at the helm of SNCTM, Damon faces a daunting question: where is the line between sexual experimentation and sexual compulsion? Disillusioned with the sex club and this world he’s built, Damon comes to the conclusion that what feels good, may not actually be good for him. And as he forces himself to confront his addictions, he realizes he needs to untangle his own identity from that of SNCTM’s… in order to set himself on a better path.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
18 May 2023
Are You Interested in an Arrangement?
Sex work was happening at SNCTM in various forms. The monthly party became known for its elaborate live sex shows, but there were other, more gray areas of exchange of sex for money happening, too. And as side hustles and “arrangements” became more popular, Damon found himself walking a fine line of morality, legality, and negotiating consent in an environment of wealth, excess and entitlement.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
11 May 2023
There's a Way Out
In this episode, we take a look back at Damon’s life before SNCTM — a story that is both spectacular and harrowing. Damon and his younger sister Hadria reflect on growing up in the Bay Area in the 1970s, in an environment laced with alcohol, drugs, neglect and abuse. These early experiences establish a sharp contrast between success and scarcity in Damon’s life as he dabbles in modeling, real estate, and starting a family – before finally losing everything and fleeing to Bali. And somehow, all of this leads him to launching “the most elite sex club in the world.”
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
4 May 2023
No Such Thing as a Free Orgy
Damon’s personal life is up in flames, but the club’s success is skyrocketing. Due to SNCTM’s wild popularity, Damon creates a more elite tier of Sanctum membership – called “Dominus” – which costs tens of thousands of dollars and involves a blood oath initiation ceremony. This brings a new level of wealth and status to the club – at least among the men. For women, their looks were their currency. And, as Damon finds out, money doesn’t mean happiness.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
27 Apr 2023
Everyone Else is Crazy and I'm Sane
Damon moves into a Tudor mansion in Holmby Hills—quickly dubbed The Sanctum Mansion—where he both lives and hosts the parties. Damon declares his newly discovered non-monogamous status to Melissa, which ultimately leads to their breakup. But what ended their relationship actually made others stronger. We explore how sex clubs like SNCTM can provide a release valve for the pressures of monogamous relationships – even with the jealousy and anxiety (and a skyrocketing lube budget). But in the search for sexual enlightenment, Damon’s reality doesn’t reflect what he had imagined.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
20 Apr 2023
Not the Only Pervert in Town
Damon starts hosting his raucous sex parties monthly, at various secret locations around LA. Two longtime SNCTM performers recall their early days at the club – including Damon’s unconventional hiring practices. As his luxury sex empire grows over SNCTM’s first two years, Damon becomes increasingly tempted by the world that he’s created – and it starts to get messy.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
13 Apr 2023
Welcome to the Sex Party!
Our story begins in 2013, with Damon Lawner penniless, jobless, and contemplating suicide. But then, one night, he watches Stanley Kubrick's film Eyes Wide Shut — ya know, with that iconic illuminati sex party scene — and he gets a spark of inspiration. He decides that his new mission in life is to launch a sex club for wealthy Hollywood elites interested in ritualistic sex. Obviously. But he has no idea what’s in store for him.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
30 Mar 2023
Introducing: Sanctum Unmasked
In 2013, Damon Lawner went from being a broke family man to a sex club kingpin when he founded SNCTM: the most elite sex club in the world. Damon created a place where billionaires and Hollywood celebs could explore their wildest sexual fantasies – but it ultimately turned his life upside down. Join host Karley Sciortino as she explores our most hidden desires – and uncovers the story of SNCTM.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
Inside a recent episode
Taye Diggs on Trauma, Ambition, and the Discomfort of Sitting Still [from Waking Up With Ryan]
Published 25 Sept 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] Trauma trains you out of trusting your body. Yes. Trauma trains you not to trust the natural process of emotional processing. Yes. So when you're an average person, what does your body tell you? Like intuition? I'm like, I can't be intuition. No way. It's because I was listening to my... And all this stuff was happening. I don't even... My body told me to do this. Well, that's because when you get beat up... It throws off your ability to trust yourself, to trust your body, to trust spirit, and to trust the world. And you have to then attack life with the assumption that I... have to drive this. […]
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