This year, the Communal Studies Association awarded Mating in Captivity the 2020 Timothy Miller Outstanding Book Award—and sent me a beautiful wooden plaque, handcrafted in Amana, Iowa, which now hangs to the left of my desk on my (wooden) studio wall. In addition, they asked me to record an acceptance speech, to be aired at their virtual conference in early October; I gladly complied—and chose to explain why I insist (even in academic settings where people don’t do such things) on using the word “cult.” Enjoy!