Speaking of Cults
A podcast about cults, coercive control and recovery. Formerly called the Sensibly Speaking podcast, in this weekly show host Chris Shelton interviews cult survivors, psychologists and other professionals and specialists about the topics of cult recruitment, retention and recovery. This also includes non-religious cults and extreme political movements including the more divisive elements of MAGA and left-wing culture war issues. There is nothing off-limits but we always try to be respectful of the people involved even if we do not respect the beliefs or actions involved.
Episodes
This week I welcome back therapist and author Rachel Bernstein to discuss her newly released workbook on cult recovery, titled Restart and Restore. We go over what this workbook is useful for and cult recovery in general and cover a surprising amount of territory for such a short show. Enjoy!
Rachel's website: https://rachelbernsteintherapy.com
Rachel's new book: https://www.amazon.com/Restart-Restore-Journal-Survivors-Manipulatio...
This week I welcome back Jennie Gage, creator of Life Take Two on YouTube and a former Mormon MAGA tradwife who has been helping explain that world to us. We cover a lot more territory this week and I think you'll find it very relevant to some of the social insanity that has overtaken the US in the last decade.
Jennie's channel: @lifetaketwo7662
This week I welcome back Jon Atack to help me dissect the Code of Honor, one of Scientology's earliest and most successful attempts to undermine people's sense of agency and morality. Enjoy!
Jon's channel: @jonatackfamilyfriends6176
This week I welcome Patty Moher, a former Scientologist staffer and kind of amazing person to talk to. We had a great chat about all things Scientology and I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did.
This week I welcome back Bryce Blankenangel and Shannon Grover for another deep dive into Mormon history and culture, this time digging into a truly horrifying piece of history known as the Meadows Mountain Massacre. This is a bit tough of a listen in places but I think a very good show and I appreciate my guests broad knowledge on this topic.
Glassbox podcast: https://glassboxpodcast.com
This week I welcome journalist Tony Ortega to discuss his career, his interest in Scientology and get his perspective on issues related to the church and its leadership. Enjoy!
Tony's Substack: https://tonyortega.substack.org
Unbreakable Miss Lovely: https://shorturl.at/lKYPw
This week I welcome back Jon Atack to discuss his new book about the common origins of Naziism and Scientology, and then go deep into the REM Model of Human Behavior which I created and how that explains so much of what Hubbard was about, as well as how to undo cultic manipulations. Enjoy!
This week I welcome Zach Elwood, host of the People Who Read People podcast and a very fun guest to discuss the entrepreneurship of influence that is quite popular on social media these days especially as personified by Chase Hughes. Zach discusses his history with NLP and we talk deeply about the consequences of these practices. Enjoy!
Zach's channel: @PeopleWhoReadPeoplepodcast
This week I welcome Jennie Gage, an ex-Mormon/MAGA/trad wife who has a story to tell about her upbringing in the Mormon world, how she was literally trafficked before escaping into abject poverty to rebuild her life from scratch. As part of this, we go deep into the MAGA/Evangelical mindset, since there are such whopping contradictions between what Christian Nationalists say and what they do that it's impossible for most people to ...
This week I welcome Bethany Leger, host of the Stop the Shunning podcast and a former member of the Jehovah's Witnesses. She has a few interesting twists in her childhood growing up in the JWs and we had a lot to discuss in recovering from the cult experience.
Bethany's channel: https://youtube.com/stoptheshunning
This week I welcome Michael Shemwell, host of the Shunned podcast and a former member of the Jehovah's Witnesses. We met while filming the Jubilee production about cults and here discuss our mutual experiences and the ups and downs of cult recovery. Michael's podcast: https://shunnedpodcast.com
This week I welcome back Pamela Nickel Williams, whose new memoir about her time growing up in and around Scientology has now been released. Pam has quite a story to tell and I hope you'll give it a look.
Pamela's Website: https://clearlyliesaretrue.com
This week I welcome back podcast favorite Jon Atack to discuss his brand-new book, "If Scientology Ruled the World: Nazi Occultists, Sex Magick, Space Aliens, and the Second Coming." This book is as wild as it sounds and uncovers some things I can almost guarantee you have never heard or seen before regarding the common origin story of the Nazi's Aryan race theory and Hubbard's ideas about body thetans and spiritual rehabilitation....
This week I welcome back Bryce Blankenagel and Shannon Grover to discuss events the Mormon Church would rather you don't know about. There's a lot and we only scratch the surface in this episode. Enjoy!
Bryce and Shannon's podcast: https://glassboxpodcast.com
Note: this podcast had an audio issue and had to be re-uploaded. Sorry for any confusion about that.
This week I welcome author Jane Borden, who recently published Cults Like US about the cult roots of American society and how these have perpetuated to this day in many of the moral and social values we take for granted or just don't think about too much. We have a lot of food for thought for you in this one. Enjoy!
Jane Borden's website: https://janeborden.com
This week I am revisiting the REM Model (TM) and discussing more real-world examples of how it might be used to help figure out or understand ourselves and other people and why we do some of the crazy stuff we do. Enjoy!
In this week's shorter-than-usual podcast, I give a full rundown on the indictment and trial of Sean Combs and why it was that he completely got away with years of domestic abuse and coercion. "Diddy" turned his business into a sex-trafficking criminal enterprise (allegedly) and there will be no justice for his victims because of how our laws and justice system operate. You'll understand why after you hear this.
Here is your explanation for why people act the way they do, why people join and stay in cults and why people will fight to the death for some of the most irrational and hateful beliefs and ideas. If you've ever run into anyone that you just couldn't understand, this podcast is going to help you finally figure that out. Enjoy!
This week I welcome Ewan Whyte, a man who grew up in an incredibly abusive Christian Nationalist group called the Community of Jesus and who was sent to Grenville College - a boarding school under the leadership of this cult. His story has a happier ending than most and he had difficulty talking about some aspects of his experience but I hope this podcast will still be informative of his experience and a cautionary tale about givin...
Imagine being born into slavery in Mexico as a female in a Mormon polygamist cult that treats all women like chattel, not good for anything but doing what they are told and making babies. That's what my guest, Pamela Jones, escaped from after being raised amongst seriously violent religious extremists (who are still operating their cult in Mexico and are richer than ever). As an adult, she got out with all nine of her children and ...
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