The podcast that matches guests up with their book soulmates, using exclusively dating app questions.
…
continue reading
Let's Talk About Sects is an award-winning monthly podcast focusing on a different cult each episode. Sarah takes a storytelling, deep dive approach, looking at the history of a sect's leaders, the recruitment of members, their experiences, psychological aspects, and notable incidents during its existence. You can support us on Patreon, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available now. “A fascinating and well-researched look into cults and th ...
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Cults & Healthcare Neglect
1:00:37
1:00:37
Riproduci in seguito
Riproduci in seguito
Liste
Like
Like aggiunto
1:00:37
Dr Caroline Ansley is the founder of Centrepoint Restoration Project, a website that serves as a connection point, archive of information and safe landing space for former children of New Zealand’s notorious Centrepoint cult – with which Caroline has personal experience. She is also a General Practitioner, with over 20 years' clinical experience in…
…
continue reading
Today, we're setting up Ellpetha Tsivicos, a Cypriot-American artist, performer, director, author, filmmaker, and singer, who says her home is on stage. Her production company, One Whale’s Tale, creates maximalist work that blends music, dance, film, food and narrative storytelling — turning plays into multidisciplinary performances. Two recent boo…
…
continue reading
Today, we're setting up Sarah Cady. Sarah is a nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopist at a university, who also is a partial owner of a plant store. She recently read and loved The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter and The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow. She’s a big fan of farmers market shopping on a Saturday morning, and ending th…
…
continue reading
Today, we're setting up Victoria Leandra, an award winning journalist who covers food, identity, travel and music for places like HuffPost, VICE, and more. She’s also a content creator and podcaster, well known for her El ADN podcast, listed as one of Spotify’s favorite podcasts of 2022. She considers herself romantic, but likes the random kindness…
…
continue reading
You may recall the name ‘Esther Rockett’ from episode 2, season 3 of this podcast, which was all about Universal Medicine – Serge Benhayon’s esoteric healing cult in the Northern Rivers region of NSW. Esther has been blogging about the more alarming elements of Serge’s ‘modalities’ since 2012, and he sued her for defamation in 2015. The case went t…
…
continue reading
Today, we're setting up Gurki Basra. Gurki is a thought leader with an MBA from UT Austin and currently enrolled in Pepperdine’s psychology masters program. She has worked in the fashion and retail industry, having worked at Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus, and numerous other companies as a jewelry buyer. She writes the newsletter Happily Ever Sing…
…
continue reading
We're setting up Seth Rubin, a queer, trans, and nonbinary Los Angeles-based comedian and writer. Seth’s writing has been published in The New Yorker, The Onion, Reductress, McSweeney’s, and more. They currently write full-time for Jackbox Games and they were named one of Gold Comedy’s 22 Comedians to Watch in 2022. With a PhD in geology up their s…
…
continue reading
Tore Klevjer has been involved with the volunteer charity organisation Cult Information and Family Support (CIFS) since its very formation almost three decades ago, in 1996. Avid listeners of this podcast will know that the end of every episode mentions CIFS. We’re lucky in Australia to have this incredibly dedicated group of volunteers who support…
…
continue reading
For our first episode of Season Three, we're setting up Julio Alvarez, creator of the Let’s Go with Julio podcast and founder of Out in Tech, the largest LGBTQ+ tech networking community in the world. After working at several Silicon Valley companies, Julio struck out on his own to become a coach and speaker. Julio recently read and enjoyed The Gar…
…
continue reading
Cecilia Peck and Inbal B. Lessner are the director/producer/editor team behind the award-winning Escaping Twin Flames, a three-part documentary series for Netflix about Twin Flames Universe – a cult you may remember from season 5. This powerhouse duo has turned their talents to investigating high-control groups over their last couple of projects, w…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Interview Episode: LGATs with John Hunter PhD
1:34:28
1:34:28
Riproduci in seguito
Riproduci in seguito
Liste
Like
Like aggiunto
1:34:28
For his 2017 PhD, John Hunter put forward a hypothesis that offers insights into both the “transformational” experiences associated with large group awareness training (LGAT) participation and the common claims of psychological harm and problematic behaviour associated with participation. Dr Hunter presented his work at the 2023 International Culti…
…
continue reading
A little update from Sarah about what to expect with Let's Talk About Sects now that we're winding up the sixth season of the show. Don't worry, we're not going anywhere! But there are a few small changes to make sure that this project remains sustainable. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/ltaspod https://www.ltaspod.com/supporters Subscrib…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
The Retreat: a Divine Madness Update
1:34:25
1:34:25
Riproduci in seguito
Riproduci in seguito
Liste
Like
Like aggiunto
1:34:25
In the last episode of season 5, we looked into a Boulder, Colorado community then known as Divine Madness and led by Marc Tizer, usually referred to as 'Yo'. Its members were recognised for some amazing results in ultramarathons. At the time of researching that episode, updates about the current status of the group were hard to come by. Deru Youma…
…
continue reading
Journalist Emma Lehman is the creator of the independent podcast Gooned, which dives into the Troubled Teen Industry or TTI – a network of for-profit congregate care facilities for youth ranging from wilderness programs to therapeutic boarding schools. In the podcast, Emma interviews survivors, parents, staff members, experts and activists. Across …
…
continue reading
Harry Palmer created Avatar after his presidency of the Church of Scientology's Elmira Mission ended in the mid-1980s, as a result of legal proceedings around trademark infringement. Avatar says that it aims to create an 'enlightened planetary consciousness' or EPC through its courses, which are expensive and numerous. Former students say they have…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Interview Episode: Thomas Parsons
1:15:57
1:15:57
Riproduci in seguito
Riproduci in seguito
Liste
Like
Like aggiunto
1:15:57
Thomas Parsons joined the Twelve Tribes community in Hiddenite, North Carolina in April 2019, and left in November 2021. With Hiddenite being the unofficial headquarters of the organisation, he had direct contact with a number of senior leaders of the Tribes. Following last week’s live episode release, this conversation with Thomas provides an inte…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Woodford Folk Festival Live Show: The Twelve Tribes
1:15:22
1:15:22
Riproduci in seguito
Riproduci in seguito
Liste
Like
Like aggiunto
1:15:22
This episode was recorded live at Woodford Folk Festival on 1 January 2024. Many people in the audience would have come across the Twelve Tribes previously at that very festival, as they used to build a big Common Ground cafe by the lake where tens of thousands of festival-goers ate and drank over the years. Numerous wonderful people have devoted t…
…
continue reading
Matson Browning is a law enforcement officer who, along with his wife Tawni, spent years undercover infiltrating various hate groups to research and report on the rise of hate crimes and white supremacy in the United States. Together they wrote the book The Hate Next Door: Undercover Within the New Face of White Supremacy, which was published in Ju…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Interview Episode: Chabad and Zionism
1:24:43
1:24:43
Riproduci in seguito
Riproduci in seguito
Liste
Like
Like aggiunto
1:24:43
Yaakov Aharon and Shula Kirovsky’s lives in Sydney’s famous beach suburb of Bondi were lived largely separate from mainstream society, within the Chassidic sect of Chabad. Their families’ lifestyles were a world away from the fashionable bikini and boardshorts-wearing demographics usually associated with the area. Though Yaakov disconnected himself…
…
continue reading
Rachel Bernstein is an LA-based therapist who has specialized in cult intervention and re-acclimation for over 30 years. She serves on the advisory board of the International Cultic Studies Association and has worked with the Department of Justice providing support to cult survivors. Over the years she has made many media appearances as a cult expe…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Xenos / Dwell – Part 2
1:03:59
1:03:59
Riproduci in seguito
Riproduci in seguito
Liste
Like
Like aggiunto
1:03:59
Xenos was originally set up as a leaderless group that rejected the structures and trappings of mainstream churches. Springing forth from the Jesus Movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, it focused on meeting in people’s homes and embracing members from the youth counter-cultures. So why does the church’s own website admit to a history that in…
…
continue reading
Xenos was originally set up as a leaderless group that rejected the structures and trappings of mainstream churches. Springing forth from the Jesus Movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, it focused on meeting in people’s homes and embracing members from the youth counter-cultures. So why does the church’s own website admit to a history that in…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Theatre of All Possibilities / Odyssey Study Group
1:02:25
1:02:25
Riproduci in seguito
Riproduci in seguito
Liste
Like
Like aggiunto
1:02:25
In many ways, this theatre troupe and Fourth Way school became the most secretive this podcast has looked into yet. Most members didn’t know each other’s jobs, marital status, or even surnames. They didn’t see each other outside of what they referred to as ‘the work’, they didn’t know the classes they were going to each week had anything to do with…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
International Cult Awareness Month: Andrew Pledger and BJU
1:59:33
1:59:33
Riproduci in seguito
Riproduci in seguito
Liste
Like
Like aggiunto
1:59:33
Andrew Pledger was raised in the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement, and after completing his homeschool education, attended Bob Jones University. He is the creator of the limited podcast Surviving Bob Jones University: A Christian Cult. His podcast explores the school’s history, the psychology of fundamentalism, the criteria for cults, and s…
…
continue reading
Sarah is a cult survivor, domestic violence survivor, and a survivor of trafficking and modern slavery. She wouldn’t have been able to name these things as she was experiencing them, or even for some time in the aftermath. Like many cult survivors, Sarah can draw a line between the coercive behaviours that she experienced in the high-demand organis…
…
continue reading
Carol Merchasin spent many years as an employment lawyer. She has also been a partner in the Philadelphia office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and director of Morgan Lewis Resources. She has conducted dozens of workplace investigations and taught investigative techniques to human resource professionals at many Fortune 50 companies. She has since joine…
…
continue reading
Lisa Kendall spent the ages of 9-19 in The Move of God, Sam Fife's apocalyptic cult. Today, she devotes her time to working on policy changes that will help former cult members and children in high-demand organisations. For International Cult Awareness Month 2023, she updates us about her work with Counter Cult Coalition and the work of others in t…
…
continue reading
Guinevere Turner grew up in The Lyman Family, a group she now understands was a cult, but at the time was the only family she knew. Guinevere has recently released her memoir When the World Didn't End. In it, she recounts her childhood experiences, including the abusive family situation she found herself in when she was pulled out of the cult. She …
…
continue reading