Was I In A Cult?

In this week’s episode, Hannah takes us from her Jehovah’s Witness upbringing to a wild journey through the world of an extreme vegan cult. What started as a passion for animal welfare escalated into living on a full fledged animal sanctuary, becoming the hub for Vegan’s of Geelong, and spiraling into breaking and entering in the name of “liberation.” Fueled by conspiracies and paranoia, Hannah’s new “family” pushed the boundaries ...

Today’s guest, Meagan, host of the "Trust Me" podcast, shares her journey growing up in the secretive Christian cult known as the Two-by-Twos. From a childhood dictated by oppressive rules that governed her every move, she reveals how this “hidden” religion shaped her life. With wit and raw honesty, Meagan recounts the manipulation and isolation she endured, and how she finally found the strength to break free. 

And shortly af...

They say when you dream, dream big. And teenage Alex did just that. With an accent to die fahhh, this East Bostonian shares his story of joining an acting class with the promise of stardom, only to eventually realize, he was in a manipulative cult.  Under the influence of a charismatic coach, Alex and his fellow students were pushed to the brink—endless rehearsals, emotional abuse, and mind games that blurred the line between ambit...

Dr. Nadine Macaluso joins us today to discuss our first of its kind on this show… a cult of one. Who exactly was her cult leader? None other than “The Wolf of Wall Street,” her ex-husband, Jordan Belfort.  In the movie adaptation of Jordan’s book, “The Wolf of Wall Street,” Dr. Nadine was portrayed by Margot Robbie and had no say in how her life was portrayed. Well, today Dr. Nadine is here to share the truth behind her picture per...

**NOTE: This episode originally ran in 2021**

As an actor and writer, Guinevere Turner understands more than most, that some stories just can't be contrived. Because sometimes life is far stranger than fiction. As is the case with Guinevere's upbringing. Not your typical getting out story, it would take years for Guinevere to understand that, no, she didn't grow up on a hippie commune in the 1970s and 80s... she grew up in a cult.&...

Today, we're excited to bring you a special episode from our friend Andrea Dunlop of the “Nobody Should Believe Me” podcast.Last week, Andrea joined us to share her personal story about how Munchausen by Proxy tore her family apart, and the response was overwhelming. We know many of you were left with questions and a desire to dive deeper into this rare and troubling condition. That’s why we wanted to share Andrea’s own podcast, wh...

When your sister, whom you love, fabricates a pregnancy with twins, it’s alarming. But when you eventually come to discover that your sister is the culprit of Munchausen by Proxy, life as you know it will never be the same.

Today, Andrea Dunlop, a novelist and podcaster of the successful podcast, “Nobody Should Believe Me” joins us to share her personal experience with her sister’s Munchausen by Proxy abuse and delves into her fam...

**NOTE: This episode originally ran in 2022**

CONTENT WARNING: This episode discusses sexual assault. 

Arianna was a recent college graduate with dreams of one day opening her own marketing company. So when a LinkedIn opportunity for a social media marketing assistant fell into her lap, it felt too good to be true. Soon, she would be brushing shoulders with millionaires, in hopes that some of their mojo would rub off. After a...

After finding her passion in Bikram Yoga while in her 20s, Jennifer Boeder aspires to become a Bikram teacher and plops down $5000 to sign up for the two-month teacher training. 

But after only a few days of being trapped in a smelly, windowless warehouse and getting yelled at by sycophantic trainers, she starts to see the truth. Turns out the "great and powerful guru," Bikram Choudhury, is less great and powerful, and more t...

A couple weeks ago we published an episode featuring Ashleigh Teeter, who was ostracized from her family because of her cult leader father. Today we feature her youngest brother's story of growing up in that house long after Ashleigh was gone. 14 years her junior, Mattie was just a young boy when her sister was deemed demonic by his father. And for almost 25 years the siblings never spoke to each other. Today we welcome Mattie to s...

**NOTE: This episode originally ran in 2022**

She's a hustler, baby. And she just wants you to know. Roberta Blevins was taught to be a self-starter. Inspired by her self-made father, she knew that if you put your mind to it, anything can happen. And it's true. Anything can happen. But that's the problem with anything. Anything sometimes includes MLM's. Multi-level marketing (schemes). This is a story of a dynamite go-getter and ho...

Today's episode dives into the extraordinary story of Ashleigh Teeter, who grew up in the World Wide Church of God... a cult in its own right. But when the church splits due to a new leader’s ideas, Ashleigh’s world gets turned upside down. She witnesses her own father become a cult leader, and then get ostracized from her nuclear family for almost 25 years. Why? Listen to find out.

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Ashleigh hosts her own podcast about her...

WARNING: This episode discuss sexual assault.

A girl with a dream, Amanda was recruited from high school into what she thought would be the path to fulfilling that dream. But a superior's abuse of power forced her life in a different direction. This is a powerful and important story shared from an often underrepresented perspective: a woman in the US military. Told with grace, strength, humility, and humor, it is an absolute pleas...

Welcome to PART 2 of Jessica Hopper’s journey into and out of a pole dancing cult. This episode takes us to the peak of the cult, including protégés, unpaid labor, surreal bookclubs, emotional breakdowns, and coercion retreats. The leader, Sheila, is quite “pole"-arizing, to say the least. Jessica’s breaking point, comes at an unexpected but important time in history, and leads to her eventually breaking free. A wonderfully articul...

Meet the very funny and very bold Jessica Hopper, as she dives into her bizarre and unexpected journey into a pole dancing cult. Yes, a pole dancing cult at a studio called S-Factor in Los Angeles, CA. What began as a fun pole dancing class turned into an intense, all-consuming experience. Jessica shares her story of quitting her job, enduring rigorous and costly training, and grappling with the beginnings of the cult-like culture ...

WARNING: This episode contains graphic discussions of abuse and self-harm. 

Raised by a single mother in the Muslim community, Samir Ahmed was sent to a Tablighi Jamaat-focused madrasa at age 11, a religious boarding school for boys under 15. With good intentions and pressure from the community, his mother hoped this would keep her son away from drugs and knocking up girls. What transpires is one of the most harrowing stories...

Today we pay homage to Memorial Day by uncovering the bizarre and captivating tale of the John Frum Movement. Yes, that’s ‘from’ with a ‘u’, homies. 

We dive into the South Pacific volcanic island of Tanna, where WWII soldiers inspired a cult devoted to a mystical American GI promising endless cargo. Yup, infinite Spam. Think of it as Amazon Prime meets religious zeal. Join Tyler & Liz as they explore this fascinating slic...

SHOWNOTES: 

"A ballet cult?” We asked the same thing. But today’s brave guest, Summer Smith, shares what happens when the world of pliés and pirouettes meets dogmatic devotion. Raised in a strict religious family and molded by the intense world of competitive ballet, Summer's journey takes a surprising twist when she joins Ballet 58, a seemingly innocuous Christian ballet company in Chicago. Soon devotions blend with dance ro...