On Belief: A Podcast About Cults

Episode 118: Catherine Oxenberg on Cults and Families

September 3rd, 2019  |  Season 1  |  15 mins 46 secs

allison mack, belief, catherine oxenberg, coercion, cults, karen geier, keith raniere, nancy saltzman, nxivm, religions, rick alan ross, sects, yoga

FEED NOW FIXED
Catherine Oxenberg, author of Captive: A Mother's Crusade to Save Her Daughter from a Terrifying Cult joins me to discuss her ordeal extracting her daughter India from NXIVM and her experiences helping bring Keith Raniere to justice.

Episode 117: De-Programming With Mia Donovan

August 27th, 2019  |  Season 1  |  16 mins 22 secs

brainwashing, cults, deprogramming, mia donovan, ted patrick

Director of Deprogrammed, Mia Donovan, joins me to talk about the Godfather of De-programming, Ted Patrick, who 'De-programmed' her step-brother when he was 14 years old.

Episode 116: Jehovah's Witnesses Part 2 with Jerry Minor

August 20th, 2019  |  Season 1  |  16 mins 1 sec

apostate, ex-jw, jehovah, jehovah's witnesses

Jerry Minor (SNL, Mr. Show, Arrested Development) joins me today to discuss his time in the witnesses and the rather unusual way he got out.

Episode 115: Jehovah's Witnesses Part 1 with Dawn Wilburn-Saboe

August 13th, 2019  |  Season 1  |  15 mins 28 secs

apostate, ex-jw, jehovah, jehovah's witnesses

If your only exposure to the Jehovah's Witnesses has been at your door when they've been recruiting, you might not know about the rather extreme belief system Witnesses are forced to adhere to under threat of Disfellowshipment. My guest today describes her live inside and out of the Witnesses.

Episode 114: Quiverfull with Guest Heather Doney

August 6th, 2019  |  Season 1  |  15 mins 46 secs

bible, biblical patriarchy, christians, evangelicals, fundamentalism, fundies, heather doney, quiverfull

Heather Doney was raised in the Quiverfull belief system while living in New Orleans and peeking out her backyard at the sights of Mardi Gras.

Episode 113: Quiverfull with Guest Kathryn Joyce

July 30th, 2019  |  Season 1  |  15 mins 36 secs

bible, biblical patriarchy, christians, evangelicals, fundamentalism, fundies, kathryn joyce, quiverfull

Quiverfull is more than just 'the fundies next door with a lot of kids.' The world view, based heavily on Biblical Patriarchy, is a high demand lifestyle for women and girls, and that sometimes has dire consequences.

Episode 112: MLMs with Sasha Zazzi & Katie Young, Rachel Lloyd, and Fallon Morey

July 23rd, 2019  |  Season 1  |  15 mins 45 secs

amway, katie young, lularoe, mlm, mlmfail, multi level marketing, quixtar, sasha zazzi

"Hey Hun, are you interested in a business opportunity?"
If you've ever had a random message from an old friend on Facebook, this episode is for you.

Episode 111: Cult Hopping & NXIVM Trial Update With Guest EJ Dickson

July 16th, 2019  |  Season 1  |  49 mins 31 secs

allison mack, belief, coercion, cults, ej dickson, karen geier, keith raniere, nancy salzman, nxivm, religions, rick alan ross, sects, yoga

EJ Dickson covered the NXIVM trial for Rolling Stone and discovered a phenomenon among those who leave cults: some of them move to other cults.

Episode 110: Falun Gong With Guest Ben Hurley

July 9th, 2019  |  Season 1  |  17 mins 20 secs

china, chinese government, falun dafa, falun gong, li honghzhi, organ harvesting, qiqong, self immolation, tai chi, terrorism

Ben Hurley was once a devout Falun Gong practitioner who worked for the sect's media arm The Epoch Times. Find out what drew him in and why he ultimately left.

Episode 109: FLDS with Guests Leona Bateman and Briell Decker Blanchart

July 2nd, 2019  |  Season 1  |  17 mins 11 secs

exmormon, flds, latter day saints, lds, lyle jeffs, mormons, rulon jeffs, short creek, utah, warren jeffs

Leona Bateman and Briell Decker Blanchart discuss what life is like for them out of the FLDS and how they've dedicated their lives to making the exit easier for others.

Episode 108: FLDS with Guest Brenda Nicholson

June 25th, 2019  |  Season 1  |  19 mins 57 secs

exmormon, flds, latter day saints, lds, lyle jeffs, mormons, rulon jeffs, short creek, utah, warren jeffs

Content warning: Contains discussion of suicide

Guest Brenda Nicholson joins us to discuss her time in and out of FLDS

Episode 107: Hillsong with Guests Lea Ceasrine, Rick Alan Ross, and Tanya Levin

June 18th, 2019  |  Season 1  |  15 mins 34 secs

bobbie houston, brian houston, carl lentz, child abuse, chris pratt, frank houston, fundamentalism, gay rights, hillsong, justin bieber, pentecostalism, vanessa hudgens

You may know Hillsong for its celebrity followers, or for the Instagram presence of its tattooed preacher Carl Lentz, but what you may not know about Hillsong is it has a very chequered past.

Episode 106: Large Group Awareness Training With Guests █████, ███████, & █████

June 11th, 2019  |  Season 1  |  21 mins 2 secs

alan smithee, belief, coercion, cults, group therapy, jane doe, karen geier, marty flipman, meditation, religions, sects, team building, yoga

What is Large Group Awareness Training? It's a form of group "therapy" that promises it can cure almost anything going wrong in your life. It's so ubiquitous, some major corporations pay for their staff to take the courses.

Episode 105: Messianic Jews with Guest Rabbi Michael Skobac

June 4th, 2019  |  Season 1  |  16 mins 11 secs

christianity, christians, evangelical, evangelism, fundamentalists, jeshua, jesus, jewish, jews, judaism, karen geier, rabbi michael skobac

Rabbi Michael Skobac from Jews for Judaism (https://jewsforjudaism.org/staff/rabbi-michael-skobac/) joins me to discuss what the heck Messianic Judaism means

Episode 104: Aum Shinrikyo with Guest Sarah Hightower

May 28th, 2019  |  Season 1  |  16 mins 37 secs

aum shinrikyo, biological weapons, chemical weapons, cults, dirty bombs, karen geier, poisoning, religions, sarah hightower, sarin, sects, shoko asahara, terrorism, yoga

The story of the Aum affair may seem like a uniquely Japanese event, but the reality is that it could have happened anywhere. Sarah Hightower joins us to explain why.

Episode 103: The Family with Guest Chris Johnston

May 21st, 2019  |  Season 1  |  50 mins 27 secs

belief, child abuse, chris johnston, coercion, cults, deprogramming, karen geier, lsd, metaphysicd, religions, scientology, sects, yoga

UNLOCKED EPISODE TO COMMEMORATE ANNE HAMILTON-BYRNE'S DEATH
Chris Johnston, journalist and author of the book The Family joins us to discuss this dark chapter in Australian history.