Journalist and author Claire Hoffman joins Painful Lessons to explore faith, scandal, and survival. From growing up in the Transcendental Meditation movement to writing Sister Sinner, Claire shares the incredible true story of Amy Semple McPherson, the most famous woman in 1920s America—who vanished into the ocean and reappeared in the desert 35 days later.
She and host Tyler Ramsey also dive into spirituality, modern cult dynamics, Claire’s investigation into abuse in media empires, and her deeply personal moments around death, doubt, and redemption.
🔸 Topics covered:
Surviving a spiritual movement
Writing Sister Sinner
The disappearance of Amy Semple McPherson
Religion and media in Los Angeles
Trauma, belief, and transformation
Final moments with Claire's father
Dangers of binary morality
#ClaireHoffman #GirlsGoneWild #JoeFrancis #SisterSinner #AmySempleMcPherson #PainfulLessonsPodcast #ReligiousScandals #TMmovement #CultSurvivor #JournalismMatters #UntoldHistory #AuthorInterview
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!