My name is Edward Michael Francis. I'm the founder of CineMarch Media, an independent, ad-free media operation based in New Mexico, and the host of two podcasts: Marxists at the Movies, where I look at film, TV, music, and pop culture through a Marxist, queer and/or feminist critical lens, and CultFroggy, where I examine high-control group dynamics across institutions — from religion to education to the marching arts. No corporate backing, no advertisers, no filter. Alongside

by Edward Michael Francis (they/them/theirs) An excerpt from their upcoming memoir, 7 Rooms: One Family Inside a Cult www.cinemarchmedia.com/books The Church of the Open Road We were a camping family the way some families are a church family — religiously, ritualistically, without much debate about whether we'd keep doing it. Every summer, the Jayco pop-up trailer got hitched to the back of whatever van we were driving that decade, and we would disappear into America for a w