WTF is on my Mind?!
Author, Speaker, Whistleblower and award-winning Director Mark Vicente was behind the sleeper hit “What The Bleep Do We Know?!” Several books have been written about the film’s remarkable grassroots marketing campaign, which led to its unprecedented success. Mark was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1965. Taking his first photograph at age four, he quickly discovered his passion for being behind the camera. After attending film and drama school in South Africa, he began working his way up the ranks of the camera department, from Assistant to Operator to Cinematographer. His first big break came as Director of Photography on the musical “SARAFINA,” starring Whoopi Goldberg. In 1992, he set his sights on Hollywood and relocated to Los Angeles to shoot his first studio picture for Disney; “FATHERHOOD,” starring Patrick Swayze and Halle Berry. At the age of 26, he became one of the youngest cinematographers to shoot a big-budget studio picture. Over the next few decades, he went on to shoot an additional 14 feature films and numerous documentaries, music videos and commercials. Mark soon found there were in him, untold stories he desperately wanted to express as a Director. He was driven by the conviction that tales of greatness, nobility and introspection could be exciting and financially successful. Perhaps because of the very obvious race and class iniquities in South Africa, he found himself propelled to question certain fundamental assumptions at a very young age. Beliefs about human behavior, cosmology, religion, existentialism and mysticism. Along the way, he stumbled into a few situations where leaders with malignant pathologies (masquerading as saintly philosophers) spoke the talk of self-improvement but did untold damage to their followers... and him. Looking back, he can now say he has been in at least two cults. His last foray into personal growth and his defection from NXIVM was chronicled in the HBO series “The Vow”. Mark and a few plucky whistleblowers exposed the criminal activities of the organization, resulting in multiple arrests and indictments. He doesn’t consider himself a cult expert, but by his own admission, “I’m an expert in being screwed over, waking up, and knowing how to spot them.” He’s got a pretty salty approach to most things and is fascinated by the myriad patterns in the human psychodynamic that create the best and the worst in civilization. Join Mark as he unpacks a whole range of topics to do with: Psychology, Consciousness, Morality, Narcissistic Abuse, Spirituality, Cults, Propaganda, Science, Filmmaking, and Philosophy.You never quite know what you’re going to get, as it really does depend on… WTF is on his mind?!
Episodes
We pick up where we left off in Part 1.
A kitchen in Ecuador. Two women looking at each other across an island with empty eyes. What follows is five months of Jade Alectra's life across four countries: Panama, Mexico, Costa Rica, the Yucatan - and through experiences that are among the most disturbing in this entire series.
In Part Two, Jade describes the second r*pe, a meditation played loud, a voice tellin...
Jade Alectra was a D1 athlete, a yoga teacher with 75,000 followers, a feature in Oprah Magazine, and a meditation practice she had built from scratch. None of that protected her.
In this episode, Jade begins the story of how she was recruited into Bentinho Massaro's inner circle - not through his teachings, but through the women around him. What follows is one of the most detailed accounts of pre-grooming, love-bombi...
This is part of my ongoing deep-dive investigation into the world of Bentinho Massaro - a Dutch spiritual influencer with millions of followers and a story that goes far beyond what's visible on his carefully curated social media. I've been documenting this for over four years. This is Keilan Part Two.
In Part One, we watched Keilan McNeil get pulled in. In Part Two, we go inside the machine.
This episode cov...
A note before you listen: this episode was recorded before I left for the Netherlands. I just spent seven days there shooting with the Three Amigos, Jacqueline Graham, Keilan McNeil, Jade Alectra and Ivo van Woerden, along with a number of other people who are essential to telling this story. A lot is coming.
But first, this.
Ivo van Woerden is a Dutch journalist who has spent the better part of five years investi...
For over four years I've been documenting the world of Bentinho Massaro - a Dutch spiritual influencer with millions of followers and a very dark story behind the public image. This is my deep dive investigation. We've heard from Jacqueline Graham in Episodes 1 and 2. Now it's time to hear from Keilan McNeil.
Keilan's entry point into Bentinho's world is completely different from Jacqueline's....
In Part One, we met Jacqueline Graham, a Canadian mother of three, a lifelong spiritual seeker, and the woman who would become Bentinho Massaro's girlfriend. We watched her get drawn in: the love bombing, the pedestaling, the first cruelties, the money handed over in Panama. This episode is about what happened after she decided to go all in.
"All In" covers the full arc of Jacqueline's time inside: the ...
I've seen this before. Not something like this. Not a similar version of this. This. The same playbook. The same psychological architecture. Just a different face.
For the video version of this podcast, head over to Youtube.
My name is Mark Vicente. I'm a filmmaker and a former member of NXIVM, the cult run by Keith Raniere, who is currently serving 120 years in federal prison. I was one of the whistleblowers who ...
THIS IS PART 2. In Part 1, I sat down with Margot Lane and Mara Moon - two former bandmates of Corey Feldman's Corey's Angels - to hear how they were drawn in: the love bombing, the false promises, the body shaming, and the slow erosion of their boundaries. If you haven't seen Part 1 yet, go there first.
Part 2 is where things escalate. On tour, the abuse ramps up: sleep deprivation, no bed, drug use, coerc...
In this first part of a two-part episode, I sit down with Margot Lane and Mara Moon; two former bandmates of Corey Feldman who were part of his group, 'Corey's Angels'. Both women were subjects of the documentary film Corey Feldman vs. The World, directed by Marcie Hume, whom I interviewed in a previous episode.
Margot and Mara share how they were each drawn into Feldman's world, lured by promises of a...
Africa Brooke and I did an Instagram Live right after the Epstein files dropped, and we didn't hold back. Africa is one of my closest friends, one of the most honest thinkers I know, and someone who has never been afraid to ask the questions most people would rather avoid.
We talked about evil... why good people struggle to recognize it, why they keep making excuses for it, and what it costs us when we do. We talked a...
She watches up to fourteen documentaries a week! Not for school. Not for work. Because she’s obsessed.
In this episode of WTF Is On My Mind?, I sit down with Christie Boschman, known online as That Documentary Girl. Her platform has grown to over 4.5 million followers because she does one thing exceptionally well. She talks about documentaries with real passion.
But this is not just a conversation about movies.
If you’re deeply committed to ideological purity or easily offended by nuance, this episode may be uncomfortable. And honestly, that might be the point. But if you’re a freethinker; someone who values truth over trend and curiosity over conformity, you’re going to have a great time.
Dr. Chloe Carmichael is a clinical psychologist and the bestselling author of Nervous Energy: Harness the Power of Your Anxiety. Her new book,...
Psychological abuse, narcissistic abuse, and gaslighting can completely distort your sense of reality and self-trust.
In this episode, I talk with Dr. Jaime Zuckerman about what survivors actually experience after emotional and psychological abuse—and how they begin to heal.
https://www.drjaimezuckerman.com/
We focus on reclaiming identity, rebuilding trust, and why “just get over it” is one of the most damaging th...
I just watched the documentary Corey Feldman vs. the World and—holy S H I T. It’s hard to describe the experience. It’s messy, mesmerizing, disturbing, and somehow still deeply human.
So I had to talk to the woman behind the lens.
In this episode, I sit down with filmmaker Marcie Hume, who spent nearly a decade embedded in Corey Feldman’s chaotic world — documenting a surreal mix of abuse allegations, musical ambi...
Carina Eriksson is an international matchmaker and dating consultant with over 20 years of experience. She runs Atlas International, a boutique firm helping accomplished individuals build meaningful relationships through her signature approach called "relational agility." Carina is also one of my mentoring clients, and our conversations have opened my eyes to so much about the divide between men and women.
In thi...
I was at the gym when I looked up at the TV and saw my local weather duo doing their usual performative dance—fake smiles, scripted banter, corporate personas. That's when it hit me: this isn't just bad television, it's cult-like behavior.
To De-Cult your news feed, sign up for GROUND NEWS using my affiliate link. 40% off the normal price. https://ground.news/checkout/all?fpr=mark93
In this solo epi...
In this episode, I delve into one of the most controversial and misunderstood programs in modern history: MK Ultra. Joined by Richard Grannon and screenwriter Adam Simon, we explore the reality versus the fiction of government mind control experiments, the psychology of brainwashing, and how these techniques have evolved into something far more insidious—mass manipulation through social media and modern media.
We break dow...
To De-Cult your news feed, sign up for GROUND NEWS using my affiliate link. 40% off the normal price. https://ground.news/checkout/all?fpr=mark93
After spending over 10 years in a cult, I became obsessed with recognizing the patterns. And now? I see them everywhere—especially in our political tribes.
Everyone's busy calling the other side a cult while refusing to examine their own behavior. In this episode of WTF is on...
To De-Cult your news feed, sign up for GROUND NEWS using my affiliate link. 40% off the normal price. https://ground.news/checkout/all?fpr=mark93
In this episode of WTF is on My Mind, I sit down with author and dark psychology educator Richard Grannon to explore something that’s been gnawing at my Patreon community: the disturbing rise of post-cult interviews where former NXIVM insiders speak as though they’re remorseful, but their ...
What does it really take to stop repeating toxic patterns? To finally choose yourself after trauma, addiction, and emotional chaos?
In this episode of WTF is on My Mind?!, I sit down with Jared Mello — aka The Wizard of Radical Self-Respect — to unpack the brutal, beautiful road to reclaiming yourself after abuse, addiction, and entanglement with toxic systems and people.
Find Jared Mello Online:
- YouTube: @jaredmello
- Website: https...
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