Cult Chat

This week we invite Dr Steven Hassan to join us to discuss the cult apologist movement. Dr Hassan is the author of the BITE Model of Authoritarian Control and the Influence Continuum. In this fascinating conversation we unpack the history behind this propaganda movement, why survivor voices are not welcome in their narratives, and examine why high profile cult apologists like Professor Eileen Barker might be given a platform to spe...

What do cults and extremist terrorist organisations have in common? How are recruitment methods similar, and what are some of the vulnerabilities that such groups exploit in order to attract and retain conscripts? These are some of the questions which Caz and Dr Cyrus Abbasian, London-based psychiatrist, discuss as they explore this topic, covering neurodivergence, mental illness and coercive control in healthcare decision-making, ...

*Trigger Warning* What exactly is needed for an organisation to be safe for a child? Willow Duffy, co-founder and CEO of Safeguarding Children, answers these questions and more, in a conversation which explores what can be done when an organisation not only fails to have the rights of children at its centre, but instead actively promotes processes which harm children. Is a policy enough when the culture is destructive to a child’s ...

Gloriavale again! We come back to talk about the other reason that the closed West Coast community is in the news again - this time because the Overseeing Shepherd - the community’s leader, Howard Temple - has just been convicted of indecent assault of numerous girls and women at Gloriavale. Our hosts discuss the culture that allowed his public behaviour to become normal, the impossibility of speaking up as a victim in this communi...

Gloriavale is all over the news again, and for the wrong reasons. This week our hosts talk about the recent Education Review Office report which revealed that the Gloriavale School has failed yet again to meet the basic requirements expected to function as an education provider. Liz explains the background to this report and asks the question, at what point is there enough evidence that this school cannot provide the necessary ingr...

This week we have a bonus episode - part 2 of our conversational expose about the International Cultic Studies Association Conference which Caz went to in Montreal in July. We wrap up our conversation by talking about emerging evidence on child abuse in cults, the relationship between sacred values and the extreme actions a person is willing to take for their group, male experience of cultic abuse, collective narcissism and healing...

You'll love this pot luck episode! Caz has just returned from the International Cultic Studies Association conference in Montreal, Canada. We’re joined in this episode with ‘friend of the show’ Maria Esguerra who also went to the conference. Maria and Caz fill Lindy and Liz in on their learnings from the conference, covering topics such as neurodiversity, financial abuse, cult apologists, the power of social media for cult surv...

It is difficult to truly leave a cult if someone you love remains in the group. In this chat Liz, Lindy and Caz talk about the difficult line that former members often have to navigate after leaving because they still have people in their lives who remain in the group. Join us as we discuss setting clear boundaries and keeping yourself safe, understanding what it is you want from the ongoing contact, and the lifeline ongoing contac...

Did you wake up one day to the realisation that your child has joined a cult? Are you struggling to know what to do? In today’s episode we discuss the challenges of having a cult controlling your relationship with your child, and trying to navigate the best path forward. Parent Renee Spencer talks to Lindy about the journey to understanding what happened and her efforts to reclaim an authentic relationship with her daughter after s...

Today our Cult Chat hosts share what listeners have told them are the best things about life after leaving a cult. From finding space to be who you truly are, to getting the chance to make mistakes, and to being allowed to have the full range of human emotions, this episode digs right down into the wonderful things that leavers can experience once they set out on their new post-cult lives. Be prepared to be moved to tears in this h...

In this second of three episodes on leaving, Lindy is joined by Liz Sallows, Canadian psychotherapist and grief expert. Liz and Lindy discuss the unexpected (and often unrecognised) sadness which accompany the freedoms of leaving a cult. There is a lot to grieve - loss of a community, loss of an ideal, loss of everything you have known and love. We will hear about ambiguous loss, the importance of rest after leaving, and why going ...

Theophila Pratt, author of “Unveiled - A Story of Surviving Gloriavale” joins the team for our first of three episodes about leaving cults. This compelling conversation explores the immediate  challenges, discusses identity construction, and the difficulties of finding people to help along the way. Theo and our hosts explore these topics and more, with a focus on those born and raised in a cult, inviting those thinking of leaving t...

There’s a lot going on in the cultiverse! We thought it time for an update on the culty happenings in our neck of the woods. In this episode you'll hear more than you want to know about chickens, rats, and mice, and heaps about cults. From news from the Olive Leaf Network, to Caz's connections with professionals & researchers, to Liz sharing culty tree metaphors with professionals on the West Coast. This episode has eve...

In this second of two chats Maria and Caz talk about bad information, and the critical role of education in teaching discernment between good information and bad. Maria shares about coming to understand how the cult used psychological processes to control members, and how often distrust of establishments persists in the minds of cult survivors after leaving. The duo chat about trauma, and the role of safe spaces, and candidly share...

Maria was born into one of history's most harmful cults, the Children of God. Maria joins us in the first of two chats to detail what the group was like from the perspective of a child. Maria brings her knowledge and expertise as a psychologist to the conversation, sharing both the harms that children experienced in the group, and also the results of a 2024 study which she authored which details the serious consequences in adul...

Join us for a moving conversation with Tristan Phipps and Dr Kyle Eggleton, who share about the Two by Twos in NZ. This organisation is currently under FBI investigation for child abuses, which has prompted NZ survivors to speak up. Our guests talk to us about the hierarchy & control of the church, the social context which has made systemic child sexual abuse possible, and the work they are doing as advocates in a movement that...

We loved Andre so much we got him back for a third episode! This time he tells us about his PhD on waking up from indoctrination in the Jehovah Witnesses. In this fascinating interview you’ll find out all about the role of doubt (even in the most fervent believer), the trigger event which leads to the effort to resolve the doubt, and if that isn’t resolved… the turning point which leads to waking up. This episode will give you the ...

Dr Andre Jackson returns in this episode to finish his chat with Liz about the JWs, their doctrines and the methods they use to control members. Together the two examine different methods of control utilized by the JWs, particularly  information control, use of propaganda, and justifications for misleading people for the benefit of the organisation. At the end of this episode Liz is joined by Lindy and Caz to dissect the interview,...