On Belief: A Podcast About Cults
Karen Geier
We all would like to think that we're immune to being persuaded, but were that true, advertising wouldn't work, the best candidates would always get elected, and our personal relationships would always be equitable.
On Belief examines why, with so much information available to us to dissuade us from joining harmful groups. I ask people who have had first hand experience with harmful groups and sects how they were seduced, how they were tricked, and how they got out.
Episode 318: Neurodiversity and Cults
In this episode, we discuss:
Why she found herself in a high demand group
How she felt targeted racially and because she was neurodivergent
How decision making played into why she stayed
What it was like to go from one group to another
And more...
Priscilla's website: https://whova.com/web/icsaa_202207/
The ICSA website: https://www.icsahome.com/
Episode 317: Unification Church
In this episode, we discuss:
* The basic beliefs of the Unification Church
* What it's like for kids
* What are the rules, and are they different by gender?
* What is the companion book to the Bible that the Unification Church uses?
* What are the political beliefs of the church?
* And more...
Episode 316: Cult City Tours
In this episode, we discuss:
How much real estate the church owns in Clearwater
What the Scientologists do there
What happens when David Miscavige comes to town
The influence the church has over local politics
What happens when they get heckled
And more...
Episode 315: Matthew Remski
Matthew shares his wealth of knowledge in this week's episode and we discuss what the heck "Conspirituality" is.
Find Matthew's podcast here: https://conspirituality.net/
And Matthew's website here: http://matthewremski.com/wordpress/
Episode 314: Janja Lalich
...
Episode 313: Bikram Yoga
In this episode, we discuss:
* What drew her to yoga
* What it costs to do the 2 month intensive
* What happens at the 2 month intensive
* Why vegans began to eat burgers
* Why white instructors spoke in put-on "Indian" accents
* And more...
Episode 312: The Salvation Army
In this episode, we discuss:
What are the core beliefs of the Salvation Army?
Is it really organized like a Military?
What are services like for kids?
What is the leadership path like?
What kinds of ceremonies are there?
Where does the Bell Ringer money go?
What's the Salvation Army stance on the LGBTQ+ community?
And more...
Episode 311: Growing up LDS
In this episode, we discuss:
What kinds of demands are put on children in the church from an early age
How activities were sex segregated
What rules her parents followed
What happens to children of divorce in the LDS church
What it's like to go to BYU
What it's like to question at BYU
All about the honor code
And more...
For more about The Modesty Talks, visit: https://themodestytalks.com/
Episode 310: Jehovahs Witnesses and Growing Up
My guest joins me to discuss:
Being born into the Witnesses
What Jehovah's Witnesses believe about parenting
What her mother believed about parenting
What an average week looks like for a Jehovah's Witness kid
What happens when your mom is disfellowshipped
And more...
Episode 309: Church of Christ
In this episode, we discuss:
How the Church of Christ differs from 'mainstream' Christianity
How her parents, wanting her to have some religious education, inadvertently changed her trajectory in life
What the main teachings of the church are
What happens when you have a chastity doctrine at a highschool with boarders
What the church camp experience is life
And more...
Episode 308: Conspiracy Theories
Subscribe to Right Richter here: https://tinyletter.com/rightrichter
Read Will on The Daily Beast: https://www.thedailybeast.com/author/will-sommer
Will Sommer has been covering conspiracy theories since the inception of Pizzagate. He joins me to discuss what drives people to believe seemingly incomprehensible conspiracy theories.
In this episode, we discuss:
What is the genesis of Pizzagate?
Why did people believe and amplify Pizzagate?
Why didn't Pizzagate end when Comet Pizza was shot up?
Wha
Episode 307: The Human Potential Movement
In this episode we discuss:
What was Esalen?
How did the Human Potential Movement begin?
What made the Human Potential Movement so appealing?
Which groups sprung out of that movement?
Which forms of untested therapy became popular from the movement?
And more...
Support On Belief: A Podcast About Cults
Episode 306: Gender Critical Movement
In this episode, we discuss:
What is the Gender Critical movement?
What are the fundamental beliefs vs what they claim the beliefs are?
Where did my guest find out about Gender Criticism?
Are most of the leaders of the Gender Critical movement trans?
Who are the celebrities who are involved in this movement?
Why the 'science' Gender Critical people cite is erroneous
And more...
Episode 305: Men's Rights Activists
In this episode, we discuss:
How someone finds MRAs online
Where the most active members hang out
What kind of moderation MRA forums have
Can you see people being radicalized in real time?
What drove my guest deeper
What family members and women told my guest when they were involved
When they started to question their views
And more...
Episode 304: Independent Fundamental Baptists
On this episode, we discuss:
What it's like growing up with a fire and brimstone church at the center of your life
What kinds of topics were taught in Sunday school
Evangelical home schooling
What a child understands about a sermon on homosexuality
What Bible camp is like
Why Bible College doesn't always make pastors
And more...
Episode 303: Zendik Farm
In this episode we discuss:
What is an intentional community?
What made Helen decide to join Zendik?
What was it like moving in?
What are the major beliefs of the group?
What was the Zendik approach to sex and dating?
How did the Farm make money?
What was the group's approach to working through trauma?
And more...Support On Belief: A Podcast About Cults
Episode 302: The Inner Matrix
Guest Katie Mount joins me to discuss her time both studying The Inner Matrix and joining the company, working for its founder.
In this episode, we discuss:
What brought her to study The Inner Matrix
What you study in their courses
Why she decided to join the organization
What she gave up to work for Joey Klein
Whether the office lived by the principles it espoused
Why some women in the office were treated differently than others
How she connected with other defectors
Episode 301: 60s Political Cults
In this episode, we explore 3 political cults: The Weather Underground, Ayn Rand's Determinists and The JOhn Birch Society
Episode 228: Conversion Therapy
In this episode, we discuss:
How Matt got involved in a Facebook group that 'supported' men who wanted to overcome Same Sex Attraction
How groups recruit vulnerable men to join bootcamps
What happens at bootcamps that promise to help you 'pray the gay away'
What kinds of activities and 'therapy' happen at Conversion Therapy bootcamp
Why he sat in a room staring at a candle
Whether Conversion Therapy works
What the risks of Conversion Therapy are
And more...
Matt's Article: https://www.dailyxtra
Episode 227: The Troubled Teen Industry
In this episode, we discuss:
What kinds of kids get sent to these institutions
What kinds of rules are there at these places
What kinds of punishments happen
How everyone is turned into a snitch
What kinds of regulations govern these places
What recourse kids have if sent there
And much more
Links from this episode:
Troubled Podcast
Troubled podcast on social media: @talktroubled
2007 Congressional Hearing on Child Neglect & Abuse in Residential Homes
2008 Congressional Hea
Episode 226: Robert Kelly
WARNING This episode contains frank discussion of emotional, physical and sexual abuse of minors
In this episode, we discuss:
How Jim became aware of the initial allegations against R Kelly
How R Kelly targeted his victims
How R Kelly controlled his victims
What we know about his co-conspirators
Does R Kelly know he's an abuser?
How "The Settlement Factory" kept R Kelly abusing people for years
And more...
Episode 225: Acts 29: Part 2
In this episode, we discuss:
Why Dana quickly learned it's not ok to question things
What happened when Dana chose a bible passage to discuss in group
What happened to a friend of hers who was asked to leave
What was the final straw for her
What she learned about the group after leaving
What life is like outside of the organization
And more...
Episode 224: Acts 29: Part 1
Dana was looking for a way to heal after a relationship break up. What she found was a high demand group with some questionable ideas about personal responsibility.
In this episode, we discuss:
What is Neo-Calvinism?
What does Acts 29 believe?
What is the Acts 29 lifestyle like?
What happens in study groups?
What made her begin to question her committment?
And more...
Episode 223: Toxic Workplaces
In this episode, we discuss:
Some of the unusual requests made of him in the interview
How forcing candidates to work for free set up a culture of precarcity
What happened when he negotiated his salary
What illegal thing he was asked to do
The strange veneration of the group's leader
And more...
Follow Jordan at @jordanuhl on twitter or join his podcast at theinsurgents.substack.com (https://theinsurgents.substack.com/)
Episode 222: ISKCON (Hare Krishnas) Part 2
In Part 2, We discuss:
What it's like to leave a group and a marriage at the same time
Leaving a group when you're not legally free to work inthe country where you live
How having a son made Eric re-evaluate his experiences
When he knew it was time to leave
How he got out
What he did once he was out
And more...
Episode 221: ISKCON (Hare Krishnas)
Eric joins me to discuss:
How his family beng involved in an LGAT might have primed him to join ISKCON later in life
What the belief system of ISKCON is
How restrictive the lifestyle can be
Why ISKCON is full of contradictions of practice vs doctrine
How love and marriage are handled
What the Devotee-Guru relationship looks like
And more...
Support On Belief: A Podcast About Cults
Episode 220: The LDS Church Part 2
In this episode, we discuss:
The ways in which the Church operates like Scientology
The pressure put on women
What makes Mormon marriages perilous
What sealing is
Why if you're sealed to a man, you had better hope you die first
And more...
Episode 219: The LDS Church
In this episode, Marie and I discuss:
What do Mormons actually believe?
What are the expectations put on every member of a Mormon Family?
How are Mormon sons and Mormon daughters raised differently?
What does courtship look like in the church?
What does the church actually teach about homosexuality?
What is life like for women at BYU?
And much more...
Support On Belief: A Podcast About Cults
Episode 218: Narcissists with W. Keith Campbell
In this episode, we discuss:
What preconditions cause Narcissism
How to tell if you're dealing with a Narcissist
Narcissists in the workplace
Narcisissts in relationships
Narcissists as parents
What makes Narcissists the perfect Cult leaders
How to protect yourself from Narcissists
And more...
Visit http://wkeithcampbell.com for more info
Episode 217: Glynn Washington on Heaven's Gate
Glynn Washington and I discuss:
Why he wanted to revisit Heaven's Gate
Why there are people who are sad they missed their chance to join the departed
What chilled him to his bone in the interview process
What it was like for him growing up in a cult
What it's like for an African American man to be in a cult with White Supremacist doctrine
What it was like to leave his cult
What he learned in covering Heaven's Gate decades later
And more...
Episode 216: XXXXXXX
The promise of Large Group Awareness Training is that it's a "bootcamp for the mind." You can get a lot of therapeutic benefit out of just a few highly intense days.
The problem is, LGATs have always been pure moneymaking operations with no credible therapeutic basis.
In this episode, Kate and I discuss:
How she got involved with XXXXXXX
What actually happens inside the seminars, day by day
Why people were sobbing in the bathrooms
Why the seminar tells you to call and make amends with relatives
Episode 215: Soka Gakkai International with Juana Castanheira PART TWO
Juana Castanheira, our survivor of SGI contacted me after her episode to ask to further articulate what processing out of a cult looks like.
In this episode, we discuss:
The shame and guilt of leaving
What happened when she tried to resign from her leadership position at SGI
Why she later worked again for SGI
Her experiences with MLMs
Her experiences with Transcendental Meditation and her sister being in the group
And much more... Special Guest: Juana Castanheira.
Episode 214: Jon Atack
In this episode, Jon Atack and I discuss:
How he got involved in Scientology
What training Scientologists get on recruitment
Why we don't train kids how to spot predators, narcissists, and psychopaths
What we should be teaching children
Why it seems like more people are joining cults
And more...
Episode 213: Overcoming Cult Trauma With Psychedelics
Chelsea Lockwood, author of this Medium Piece (https://humanparts.medium.com/how-i-overcame-cult-trauma-with-psychedelics-4342c03a074c?) Joins me to discuss her time in the Jehovah's Witnesses, leaving, and healing through Ayahuasca ceremonies.
In this episode, we discuss:
How aware children are made of the apocalyptic nature of the Jehovah's Witness beliefs
Corporal punishment in the Jehovah's Witnesses
What types of abuse she was privy to while a member
What it's like to be a child with extrem
Episode 212: Abusive Relationships with Donna Anderson
In this episode, we discuss:
How to identify a problematic partner
How sociopaths target and manipulate partners
Why love bombing is important to both cults and abusive partners
Whether we're as good at identifying liars as we thing
The similarities between cult leader behaviours and abusive partner behaviours
How to get out of a bad relationship
And more...
Support On Belief: A Podcast About Cults
Episode 211: New Kadampa Tradition
Dr Michelle Haslam (https://newkadampatraditionreport.org) Joins me to discuss how she was seduced by the idea of living in a peaceful intentional community, only to find out the group's main focus was expansion and encouraging cruelty.
In this episode, we discuss:
Who is (Was?) Kelsang Gyatso
The differences between New Kadampa Tradition and mainline Buddhism
The hypocritical belief system
What it's like to live on site
Why some say NKT encourages sadistic behaviour
How NKT is like NXIVM a
Episode 210: The Work
In this episode we discuss:
How the group was not prepared for kids attending outside schools
What kind of weekly schedule the members had
How the group handled questions about the doctrine
How Brother Julius disciplined followers
How the group was at the mercy of Brother Julius' whims
How Sarah got through it with the help of parties and teenage rebellion
And more... Special Guest: Sarah Ficca.
Episode 209: Tony Ortega
Tony Ortega Joins me for an extra long episode to discuss what it's like covering a group like Scientology for so long. In this episode, we discuss:
Why the Scientology/Nation of Islam alliance isn't so unusual
What kinds of retaliations the Church has made against him and those closest to him
What we know about the FBI's Trafficking case against the Church
Why the media was reticent to report on the Danny Masterson allegations
Are there still people in "The Hole?&qu
Episode 208: Transcendental Meditation (TM)
Aryeh Siegel was a member of Transcendental Meditation in the 1970s and early 1980s. In this episode, we discuss:
Why TM hides its religious origins
Why TM fought in court to not have a translation of the Puja made public
What the science is on the TM technique
How TM leverages celebrities, including Tom Hanks, Jerry Seinfeld, Oprah, and Ellen.
Why TM is making a big push for schools in low income districts
Whether you can be physically harmed doing TM
And much more...
TM Deception
Episode 207: Steve Hassan
Steven Hassan was once in the Unification Church, helping recruit and spread their thought reform. He was exit counselled and has since dedicated his life to the study of thought reform. He created the BITE model which explains how thought reform occurs and now counsels survivors and families on how to heal after leaving cults.
Steve joins me for an hour to discuss:
How the CIA went about trying to build a Manchurian Candidate in the 1960s
How Trump's parental ties and upbringin
Tara Yoga
My guest Guy joins me to tell me his insider knowledge of a group called Tara Yoga, which last year became the subject of a Guardian investigation into their Asia-based Ashrams where multiple allegations of rape surfaced.
Guy and I discuss:
How he became aware of the classes
How he found a community
How his community tried to start a study group and was rebuked
How Tara profits off of non consensual pornography
What happens at Tara's retreats
Why the Ashrams had masage parlors
And more...
Episode 205: Soka Gakkai International with Juana Castanheira
This week, former member of Soka Gakkai International, Juana Castanheira, joins me to talk about her time in the group.
We discuss:
How she and her brother were recruited
How she knew she was all in
What is the significance of the 'scroll?'
What demands were put on her as she rose through the ranks
Why she never once complained
When she decided to leave
And more... Special Guest: Juana Castanheira.
Episode 204: OneTaste With Ellen Huet and Ruwan Meepagala
Ellen Huet of Bloomberg Businessweek joins me to discuss her coverage of OneTaste: once a darling of Silicon Valley, now an organization with an ousted founder, cancelled classes, and looking to pivot.
Ruwan Meepagala joins me to discuss his time in the organization.
In this episode, we discuss:
Why women wanted to join OneTaste
Why the group deliberately marketed their courses to Silicon Valley
What Orgasmic Meditation is
What drew participants to work for the organization
What kinds of Quid P
Episode 203: Munchausen By Proxy With Dr. Marc Feldman and Judy Tienken
In this episode, we explore Munchausen By Proxy, a disease that, while not fully understood by doctors, is having a pop culture moment.
Dr. Marc Feldman, Psychiatrist and author of DYING TO BE ILL: TRUE STORIES OF MEDICAL DECEPTION (https://www.amazon.com/Dying-be-Ill-Marc-Feldman/dp/1138063835) joins me to discuss the clinical side of Munchausen By Proxy, while Judy Tienken joins me to explain her survivor story.
In this episode, we discuss:
* The profile of a Munchausen By Proxy perpetrator
*
Episode 202: Cult Therapy with Rachel Bernstein
In this episode Rachel Bernstein lifts the veil on what Cult Therapy is about.
We discuss:
* What types of services cult therapists provide
* Why she must observe subtle cues from her patients
* What families can do to cope with waiting for family members to leave
* How to be a supportive family member when a loved one does leave a cult
* What the unique challenges are for cult survivors
* How to access resources if you need a cult counsellor
* And more...
Visit Rachel Bernstein's website (http:
Episode 000: Cross Post: Hear the first episode of On Grief: a Podcast about Death Free Now
Please note: this episode is not intended to endorse the use of substances that are illegal.
In this episode, we explore what it is like to die. I discuss this with Neurosurgeon and Bestselling Author Dr. Eben Alexander (The Map of Heaven) who tells me about his Near Death Experience.
I also discuss how we can simulate a Near Death Experience through a drug called 5-MeO DMT ("The toad" or "Bufo") with Hilary Agro, a researcher and anthropologist who studies psychedelics, and I take 5-MeO DMT and
Episode 201: Hate Groups with David Neiwert
David Neiwert joins me to discuss White Supremacist Hate Groups and how their recruitment, control, and proliferation are cult-like. In this episode, we discuss:
How easy it is to recruit people with the internet
Why White Supremacists go for young people
How White Supremacist ideas spread
Why your child could be getting radicalized when they play games online
What the threat level of White Supremacist terror is
Whether White Supremacist terror can be contained
The role the mainstream media and
Episode 200: ***SPECIAL TEASER FOR ON GRIEF: A PODCAST ABOUT DEATH***
It's the one thing we're not supposed to talk about.
Each week on On Grief, I talk to people involved with death, the dying, or the grieving to discover what they know about death that we don't.
Coming this week with interviews with:
A mortician on what happens to your body when you're embalmed
An expert on the history of why we grieve the way we do
Caitlyn Doughty, author, Funeral Director and partner in The Order of the Good Death
And many, many more.
See you soon
Visit https://ongrief.firesid
Episode 118: Catherine Oxenberg on Cults and Families
Catherine Oxenberg candidly reveals details of her daughter's time spent in NXIVM and assisting the FBI in bringing down NXIVM cult leader Keith Raniere, who earlier this year was convicted on all counts after a jaw-dropping trial.
In this episode, we discuss:
Catherine's initial objection to ESP (the training that would become NXIVM)
What the 'therapy' part of NXIVM's training looked like
Why she eventually stopped taking classes
What happened when Catherine realized India was in over her head
Episode 117: De-Programming With Mia Donovan
Mia Donovan discusses with me:
What were the conditions that led to the discovery of De-Programming?
Who was Ted Patrick?
What were Ted's credentials
Ted began his career working on his own son
What techniques did Ted discover?
Why was Ted repeatedly sued and brought up on charges?
And more... Special Guest: Mia Donovan.
Episode 116: Jehovah's Witnesses Part 2 with Jerry Minor
Before Jerry Minor was a successful actor in Los Angeles, he was a boy growing up in the Jehovah's Witnesses. In this episode we discuss:
What it feels like to have one parent in the Witnesses and one parent outside
What kinds of pressures are put on Witness kids
How real the threats of the Apocalypse and Demons are
What he knew about the child abuse scandals that have plagued the witnesses
What he knew about Jehovah's Witnesses lobbying the government for consideration
And more...
Content warni
Episode 115: Jehovah's Witnesses Part 1 with Dawn Wilburn-Saboe
In this episode, guest Dawn Wilburn-Saboe explains what life was like in the witnesses, how traumatic and painful the process of disfellowshipment is, and what life is like on the other side.
We discuss:
How children are expected to contribute in services
How children are expected to live
What it's like to be 'the kid who has to sit in the hall for the national anthem'
What it's like to be a teen in the Witnesses
What it's like to have to answer to elders for normal sexual exploration
What it's
Episode 114: Quiverfull with Guest Heather Doney
In this episode, Heather Doney, raised in Quiverfull explains:
What homeschooling was like for her
The burdens and fears of children responsible for their younger (and infant) siblings
What kinds of strains are put on Quiverfull families
How boys and girls are raised differently
Why Quiverfull families eschew medicine, even when it can save a mother's life
And more... Special Guest: Heather Doney.
Episode 113: Quiverfull with Guest Kathryn Joyce
In this episode, Kathryn Joyce, author of Quiverfull: Inside The Christian Patriarchy Movement (https://www.amazon.com/Quiverfull-Inside-Christian-Patriarchy-Movement-ebook/dp/B0029Y76I4/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=quiverfull+kathryn+joyce&qid=1564500045&s=gateway&sr=8-1) (ASIN: B0029Y76I4)
Discusses what Quivefull followers actually believe. We discuss:
Where is church for Quiverfull families?
What is "Home Churching?"
Why is Homeschooling so important to these families?
Why Quiverfull families are dis
Episode 112: MLMs with Sasha Zazzi & Katie Young, Rachel Lloyd, and Fallon Morey
Multi Level Marketing might seem like a harmless hobby for stay at home moms, but make no mistake: they can ruin lives.
Learn how MLMs are like cults:
They profile people in hard spots in their lives
They promise an instant family
They control many aspects of your life
They will shun you if you question the leaders
And more... Special Guests: Fallon Morey, Katie Young, Rachel Lloyd, and Sasha Zazzi.
Episode 111: Cult Hopping & NXIVM Trial Update With Guest EJ Dickson
Guest EJ Dickson, who covered the NXIVM trial for Rolling Stone joins me to discuss the details of the trial and a phenomenon known as cult hopping, which she was made aware of from some people who testified at the NXIVM trial.
In this episode, we discuss:
The lurid nature of the testimony
Surprises revealed in court
Whether key figures are still supportive of Keith
Whether these verdicts are precedent-setting
How people cult hop
What makes a person cult hop
And more.
Episode 110: Falun Gong With Guest Ben Hurley
In this episode, Ben Hurley unmasks the Falun Gong and explains why it is so appealing to so many.
We discuss:
How a walk in the park set him on his journey
What the feeling of meditation is like for him
What the Falun Gong believe
What kind of leader Li Hongzhi was
How Shen Yun is the pretty face for Falun Gong
What happens when Shen Yun rolls into town
And more Special Guest: Ben Hurley.
Episode 109: FLDS with Guests Leona Bateman and Briell Decker Blanchart
Leona Bateman, founder of the Creekers Foundation, and Briell Decker Blanchart, board member of the Short Creek Dream Center join me to discuss their lives in and out of FLDS, and how they're helping others transition out.
In this episode, we discuss:
What courtship training is like
How marriages in FLDS are arranged
How questioning couples discuss their doubts with each other
What happens when you get engaged to Warren Jeffs
How people escape
What life is like after you leave the FLDS
And more.
Episode 108: FLDS with Guest Brenda Nicholson
Brenda Nicholson grew up in FLDS under Rulon Jeffs and eventually under the rule of Warren Jeffs.
While there are many shows about FLDS, Brenda gives us her unique story and insights into the inner workings of the FLDS and how she got out.
In this episode, we discuss:
How her family got into the FLDS movement
What it was like being a student of Warren Jeffs
How marriage in FLDS works
How the rules were enforced
What happened when a new rule was introduced
And more... Spe
Episode 107: Hillsong with Guests Lea Ceasrine, Rick Alan Ross, and Tanya Levin
Guests Lea Ceasrine, Rick Alan Ross, and Tanya Levin join me to discuss Millennial Mega Church of the stars, Hillsong.
In this episode, find out:
The church's strict Pentecostal origins
How a trip to America dramatically changed the focus of the church by its founders
How Hillsong solicits money
Where the money goes
What secrets are Hillsong leaders hoping will be contained within Australia's borders
And more... Special Guests: Lea Ceasrine, Rick Alan Ross, and Tanya Levin.
Episode 106: Large Group Awareness Training With Guests █████, ███████, & █████
Large Group Awareness Training is on the rise. We live in a time when decreasing religious adherence, a growing need for order and rules in one's life and a sense of complete entitlement have combined to make the allure of LGATs nearly irresistible.
I spoke with 3 ex members of Large Group Awareness training students about their experiences. They explained:
Why anyone would tell a group of strangers about the worst day of their lives
How meditation, team building exercises and attack therapy com
Episode 105: Messianic Jews with Guest Rabbi Michael Skobac
If you've ever wondered what Jews For Jesus or other groups in the Messianic Judaism extended universe actually believe.
In this episode, we discuss:
The origins of Messianic Judaism
How Messianic Jewish groups recruit
How Messianic Jewish groups appropriate Jewish symbols and give them a Christian spin
What Messianic Jewish groups actually believe
Is there harm to the Jewish community?
And more... Special Guest: Rabbi Michael Skobac.
Episode 104: Aum Shinrikyo with Guest Sarah Hightower
Content warning: Frank discussion of abuse and murder
You may vaguely remember the Tokyo Subway Sarin attack, but that's not where the Aum Shinrikyo story begins or ends.
Guest Sarah Hightower explains:
How Shoko Asahara was an opportunist and bully from childhood
How Asahara was a multiple time grifter before settling on creating a cult
The day-to-day lives of adherents
What Poa was
Why a failed bid to intall Aum members in Japanese Parliament spurred Asahara to pursue chemical and biological
Episode 103: The Family with Guest Chris Johnston
Content Warning: Frank discussion of child abuse
In this episode, Chris Johnston tells us:
Who was Anne Hamilton-Byrne?
How did she grow her cult out of a well-placed yoga studio?
How Anne took advantage of countercultre symbols like mysticism and LSD and used them to target rich conservatives
How Anne was able to grow her brood of children
How The Family evaded police and the homeschooling authorities
What happened to the children of The Family?
And more...
Buy Chris' book: https://www.amazon.
Episode 102: NXIVM With Guest Brock Wilbur
**A change has been made to this episode. Two sentences not materially important to the content of the episode have been removed to comply with a nastygram from a law firm representing a particularly litigious group which, while not directly referenced in the episode, are related to the group previously mentioned in this episode. The group in question is in no way affiliated with NXIVM.
We at On Belief would like to thank the intern at the law firm for their patronage in the $5 tier.*
Episode 101: What IS a Cult? An Interview with Rick Alan Ross of the Cult Education Institute
We delve into the mechanics of cults:
What are the specific warning signs of cults?
How do you know if your yoga class is a front for a cult?
What does cult recruitment look like now vs other points in history?
Which groups are the greatest threat to the most people today?
This week's episode is an interview with cult expert Rick Alan Ross of the Cult Education Institute. http://culteducation.com/
More in-depth notes and links for this episode are available at http://onbelief.com
Special Guest: