This page represents a compilation of articles and reflections on “Kool-Aid” as an image and as an expression.
Articles by survivors and former members include:
• Coming to terms with ‘Drinking the Kool-Aid’, by Kathy Barbour (2012)
• Eradicating an Expression, One Step at a Time, by Mickey Touchette (2011)
• Drinking the Kool-Aid, by Mike Carter (2003)
Other original articles on this site include:
• Challenging the Kool-Ad Reference, by Patrick O’Reilly (2014)
• Drinking in Images, by ieva swanson (2013)
• From the Heartland: The Kool Aid Cliché, by Conan Milner (2011)
• Metaphor b. 11/18/78, by Annie Dawid (2008)
• What Does Kool-Aid Really Mean?, by Phyllis Abel Gardner, Ph.D. (2008)
• And It Wasn’t Kool-Aid, by Phyllis Abel Gardner, Ph.D. (2006)
• “I’m not drinking it!”, by James Welborn (2006)
• Drinking the Kool-Aid: A Cultural Transformation of a Tragedy, by Rebecca Moore (2002)
Articles from other sources include:
• The Phrase ‘drank the Kool-Aid’ Is Completely Offensive. We Should Stop Saying It Immediately, by James Richardson, The Washington Post (2014)
• Go Easy on the Kool-Aid Expression, by Reg Henry, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (2013) (also here)
• Stop Saying ‘Drink the Kool-Aid’, by Chris Higgins, The Atlantic (2012)
• Hook, line and Kool-Aid, by John Pierce, Baptists Today (2012)
• Kool-Aid, Hemlock and Confucius by Rodney L. Taylor, Ph.D., The Huffington Post ( 2012)
• Would You Drink The Kool-Aid? by Pamela King Cable, Southern Fried Woman (2012)
• Don’t ‘drink the Kool-Aid’, by Meghan Daum, The Los Angeles Times (2011)
In addition, the jonestown report made note every year in 13 editions between 2007 and 2019 of the numerous articles, op-ed pieces, and commentaries that specifically mention the use of the phrase, even if it isn’t the focus of the entire piece. Even though the report suspended the annual listing beginning in 2020, the references continue on a near daily basis in online media sources.
Those collections appear at:
• Drinking the Kool-Aid, 2019
• Peoples Temple in the News, 2017
• Drinking the Kool-Aid, 2016
• Commentaries on “Drinking the Kool-Aid” (2015)
• Peoples Temple in the News, 2014
• Drinking the Kool-Aid: 2013 Edition
• Drinking the Kool-Aid: An Introduction (2012)
Drinking the Kool-Aid: A (Partial) 2012 Directory
• Drinking the Kool-Aid: An Introduction (2011)
Drinking the Kool-Aid: A Commentary and a Cartoon
• Drinking the Kool-Aid: An Introduction (2010)
Drinking the Kool-Aid: A (Partial) 2010 Directory
• Drinking the Kool-Aid: An Introduction (2009)
Drinking the Kool-Aid: A (Partial) 2009 Directory
• Drinking the Kool-Aid: A (Partial) 2008 Directory
• A Summary of “Drinking the Kool-Aid” (2007)
• Drinking the Kool-Aid: A (Partial) 2006 Directory
Finally, in 2013, Chelsea Blundon wrote Don’t Drink The Kool-aid, which described as “A poem from a child [in Jonestown].” Because it captures much of the ambiguity of the phrase, it is included here.