Let's Talk About Sects

Hoyt Richards spent over two decades in Eternal Values, after first meeting the man who called himself Frederick von Mierers on a beach at the age of 16. Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult, out now on HBO Max with episodes releasing weekly, explores Hoyts’ journey alongside other actors and models of the era, and Hoyt has spent the years since his exit dedicated to educating people about the red flags to watch out for so tha...

When we talk about cults, we tend to picture the ones that make headlines: isolated compounds, charismatic leaders, dramatic exits. But what about the church down the street? The one with the worship band and the small groups and the Instagram presence? In this episode, Sam Sellers and Elise Heerde, co-founders of the Religious Trauma Collective, talk about what happens when coercive control operates inside institutions that look, ...

Sphinx Spiritual takes instruction from a council of entities that includes Leonardo da Vinci, Lady Di, Sir Francis Bacon, Mahatma Ghandi, an alien called Zootor, and married Mornington Peninsula couple Ian and Pearl Rogers. Forum posts dating back to 2012 allege that the organisation is run as a cult. And the operation goes back long before this – but it’s only now that former members have started speaking out.

A spiritual school in Victoria teaches that we each have a spiritual guide who we can rely on to help us through life, and that the couple who run the school – Ian and Pearl Rogers – sit on a council alongside entities who have lived many lifetimes before this one. Students are lucky enough to gain access to incredible knowledge through this council, which boasts Leonardo Da Vinci, Mahatma Gandhi, and Lady Di amongst it...

The Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps, or ACMTC, is a hardline fringe religious cult that was led by a former hippie who went by the name Deborah Green. In The Oracle’s Daughter, author Harrison Hill tells the story of the group through the experiences of three women: Deborah, the self-proclaimed oracle; Maura, who nursed Deborah’s ailing brother and became one of her first followers; and Sarah, the oracle...

The ABC’s internationally award-winning podcast Expanse, exploring big stories from across Australia, looked at the mysterious case of the Nannup Four for its sixth season. Host Dominique Bayens investigated the 2007 disappearance of Chantelle and Leela McDougall, Tony Popic, and a man known as Simon Kadwill from the town of Nannup in Western Australia. Simon was actually a name taken on by a man called Gary Felton who led a ...

Fai West was just 10 years old when she was first introduced to the teachings of Soulaire Allerai and the Soulful Journey. A few years later, as a teenager in high school, she found herself living in Soulaire’s basement, sleep deprived from attending multiple late-night classes and channelings of an omniscient being known as ‘G’, and learning about her own presence in a future dimension called The 99.

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The sentences just came down for OneTaste’s founder Nicole Daedone and her second-in-command Rachel Cherwitz – if you're unfamiliar with OneTaste you can listen to Let's Talk About Sects' deep dive in November 2020. From that episode, you may remember Ruwan Meepagala. When he spoke with LTAS five years ago, Ruwan had already been working on his memoir, which he finished writing and released last year. It’s called ...

Expanse is the ABC’s internationally award-winning podcast exploring big stories from across Australia, and it’s sixth season sees host Dominique Bayens investigate the unsettling circumstances surrounding the 2007 disappearance of four people from the town of Nannup in Western Australia: Chantelle and Leila McDougall, Tony Popic, and a man known as Simon Kadwill. Simon espoused a doomsday belief system in online forums...

Harry Robert Bruner was brought into Sri Chinmoy as a child, joining the organisation run by Chinmoy Kumar Ghose at the age of 12. Chinmoy claimed he lifted weights totalling 7063¾ pounds (or over 3,200kg) with one arm on 30 January 1987. He also faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct with female devotees. Harry left at the age of 30, and wrote and performed a solo show about this experiences in Sri Chinmoy called ‘N...

Allison after NXIVM tells the story of Allison Mack: former Smallville actress, high-ranking NXIVM member, and convicted felon. With exclusive access following her release from prison, the series traces her astonishing path from Smallville fame to NXIVM’s inner circle – and her effort to rebuild a life in the wreckage.

Host, writer and executive producer Natalie Robehmed spoke with Sarah about the new podcast series,...

Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult is Ellen Huet’s excellent new book, described as “a cautionary tale of sex and salvation for the wellness generation: how orgasmic meditation turned into a cult.” Let's Talk About Sects dived into OneTaste back in November 2020, and a lot has happened since then, including arrests, trials, and guilty verdicts. So it was the perfect time to speak wit...

Danny Rensch grew up in the Church of Immortal Consciousness, a cult he usually refers to as ‘the Collective’. Started by Steven and Trina Kamp, the group followed the teachings of a Dr Pahlvon Duran, whose spirit first visited Trina when she was 9. In trances, she would convey the teachings of Dr Duran, whose last lifetime was lived as an Englishman in the 15th century. The group lived communally dispersed across basic...

From Jonestown to Heaven’s Gate, to the Octopus Murders and the Waco Siege, the world is full of deception, manipulation, and destruction. Listen to Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes every Wednesday as we explore the real people at the centre of the world’s most shocking secrets and nefarious organizations. Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes is a Crime House Original powered by PAVE Studios. Follow the show now...

The Logos Foundation was often described as ‘mysterious’ in media coverage, but became a part of the religious right that published full page newspaper advertisements encouraging the electorate to vote on ‘moral’ issues at Queensland state elections in the late 1980s. LTAS looked into the organisation in Season 5, and you can listen to that episode here.

'Fynn' (not their real name) was born into the Logo...

Clare Heath-McIvor is the daughter of the leader of the City Builders Church, an organisation that she and others who know it feel confident fits the definition of a cult. Her marriage was arranged within the church to Patrick McIvor, a man who had survived gay conversion therapy. Since leaving, the now-happily-separated pair have become involved in a number of social justice issues, including the current Victorian Parliamentary In...

In 2011, an 18-year-old Liz Cameron joined a Bible study group she only knew as ‘Sarang Church’. Over the coming months, she lost more and more of her life and identity to the group that eventually revealed it was part of a larger South Korean organisation called Providence or JMS – which she was told not to google. Liz managed to find her way out of her indoctrination with the help of her family, and has just rel...

The Parliament of Victoria has launched an Inquiry into the recruitment methods and impacts of cults and organised fringe groups, which is open for submissions until 31 July 2025. If you or anyone you know has been involved with a cult that has a presence in Victoria, Australia, you're highly encouraged to make a submission. There’s also an anonymous questionnaire option available for those who might not wish to make a full s...

Falun Gong is familiar to many as a spiritual exercise movement, and a sect that has been persecuted by the People’s Republic of China. In Sydney you'll often see practitioners demonstrating by Town Hall with flyers sharing stories of organ harvesting of wrongfully imprisoned members. But former devotees have come forward with stories of coercion and abuse, alleging that in one thing the CCP is correct: Falun Gong is a social...