A Little Bit Culty

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. 

In this episode, we’re joined by international journalist Anke Richter for a conversation about her decade-long investigation into sex cults and her own brush with ISTA, a shamanic ‘school’ from the US with a base in New Zealand. Anke’s recently published book CULT TRIP covers her labyrinthine investigation into how and why cults attract, entrap and destroy otherwi...

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. 

For Andrew LeCompte, his study of A Course in Miracles (ACIM) started off like the proverbial ‘good thing’ of so many cult survivor stories. He eventually taught ACIM in Mexico, Spain, Hawaii, and Canada–working as something like a NXIVM-era Mark Vicente for his teacher. He initially had amazing experiences and believed he was on track to finding the ‘Love of God.’...

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. 

Hello there cult awareness content nerds: We see you. We honor you. And let’s be honest: We are you. In this episode we (finally!) sit down with OG anti-cult crusader Rick Alan Ross for a chat about NXIVM,  what it’s like to be sued simultaneously by Keith Raniere and Werner Erhard, and the ongoing audacity of the whole weird world of  LGATs. This ALBC guest is a...

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. 

It’s part two of our chat with Anne Peterson, and we’re picking up again right at the part of the story where things really go sideways for her inside the Landmark ecosystem. She shares what it was like flying in Werner Erhard’s inner circle working as something of an Olivia Pope for the company’s high falutin’ events, and the moment that her dream gig turned into ...

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. 

Landmark has been the most requested topic from our listeners since day one of this podcast. When we got eyes on Anne Peterson’s new memoir about her 15+ year journey inside its ecosystem, we knew our listeners would be pissed at us if we didn’t get her on our microphone, ASAP.  ‘‘Is This a Cult?: Confronting the Line Between Transformation and Exploitation’ (avail...

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/culty and get on your way to being your best self.

Erika Cheung arrived at the Theranos corporate headquarters at just 22 years old as a newly minted college grad. At the time, the idealistic chemist and biologist saw Elizabeth Holmes just as so many others did: As a visionary on the verge of completely disrupting the he...

This epiosde is sponsored by Better Help.

We always jump at the chance to talk to Dr. Ramani. This time she arrives at A Little Bit Culty fresh from publishing her newest book: It’s Not You: Identifying And Healing From Narcissistic People. (We read the advanced copy and it blew our minds.) Dr. Ramani wants you to know that thriving after—or even during—a narcissistic relationship can be challenging, but i...

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.

We get emails and messages from people every day who are looking for guidance on what to do when someone they love is in a cult, so we called in an expert. Here’s our chat with Rachel Bernstein, LMFT, of the mighty helpful and always bingeable IndoctriNation podcast. Is this technically a crossove...

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/culty and get on your way to being your best self.

And…we’re back for part two of our conversation with Claire Headley, a defiant Scientology whistleblower who still owes the shadowy organization a billion minus 30 years on her contract. (Don’t hold your breath, David Miscavige.) Born and bred in England’s Scientology boar...

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/culty and get on your way to being your best self.

In part one of this 2-parter, we feature Scientology defector and whistleblower Claire Headley who spent 30 years in the church isolated from her family and basically any outside influence. Headley was born and bred in England’s Scientology boarding schools, was shipped to...

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/culty and get on your way to being your best self.

If you’re not already familiar with the culty cluster known as ‘School’,  it was an ultra-secret Manhattan organization run by late actress and forever eccentric Sharon Gans. The shadowy group did its dark magic in the form of secret study groups, arranged marriages, and s...

This episode is sponsored by Better Help. 

Tom Krumins was one of the brave whistleblowers who came forward to shine a light on the scandal of abuse and predation within the Boy Scouts of America. You can see his story in the recent Netflix doc, ‘Scout’s Honor: The Secret Files of the Boy Scouts of America,’ and we’re guessing you’ll be as moved and inspired by him as we were. In this episode we sit down w...

This episode is sponsored by Better Help.

But maybe it should also be sponsored by a company that manufactures blood pressure cuffs, because the “Let Us Prey: A Ministry of Scandals” docuseries had us all kinds of pissed off. If you haven’t seen it yet, the doc wades into the darkness and depravity within the Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) movement and takes no prisoners. Sidenote: Fuck you, IFB predators and e...

This episode is sponsored by Better Help.

Today we welcome Wise Jezebel and former fundie Dr. Laura Anderson to the ALBC huddle. She’s a psychotherapist, podcaster, and smarty-pants content creator specializing in helping people come back from the sneaky scars of high control religion. She’s also the author of the next book you need to read. Seriously. We cannot recommend it enough and it’s called: When Religion Hurts...

Today’s episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. 

Buckle up ALBC babies, we’re about to go all over the map through Hollywood, the music industry, Australia, and a couple decades of cult-hopping. In fact, it’s so epic that (picture this) we are holding an invisible boombox over our heads outside your window while blaring Peter Gabriel, asking you to listen. Got the picture? Okay cool: Because we’re chatting wit...

Today’s episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. 

Nikieta Lambert’s life was derailed by the International Churches of Christ (ICOC) – a culty Evangelical tentacle of Christianity promising nothing short of a fiery eternity in hell for choosing any other lifepath. In this episode, Nikieta discusses how they converted her. She describes the grooming and gaslighting. And she reveals which scriptures they use to k...

Today’s episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. 

We made you a mixtape of some of our fave segments from our full episodes with Daniel Shaw, LCSW,  Dr. Ramani, and Dr. Natalie Feinblatt. Think of this as our Chicken Soup for the Culty Soul power-medley. We’ve got Dan Shaw dropping knowledge on why traumatizing narcissists are so…traumatizing. We’ve got Dr. Ramani on how to recover from narcissistic abuse. And ...