
Karen Geier
Host of On Belief: A Podcast About Cults
Karen Geier is a writer from Toronto with bylines in The Guardian, Vice, New York Magazine, Medium's Premium Channels, Huffpost, Splitsider, SeriousEats, and many more.
Karen Geier has hosted 60 Episodes.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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. -
Episode 102: NXIVM With Guest Brock Wilbur
May 14th, 2019 | Season 1 | 1 hr 3 secs
allison mack, belief, coercion, cults, karen geier, keith raniere, nancy salzman, nxivm, religions, rick alan ross, sects, yoga
UNLOCKED FULL EPISODE.
Content Warning: Episode contains frank discussion of sexual and other forms of abuse.
Brock Wilbur joins me to discuss when he was inadvertently recruited by a division of NXIVM and how that lead him to investigate the cult.
Little did he know what he would encounter.
Brock discusses his unique insights into the trial of Keith Raniere.
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Episode 101: What IS a Cult? An Interview with Rick Alan Ross of the Cult Education Institute
April 19th, 2019 | Season 1 | 12 mins 49 secs
belief, coercion, cults, deprogramming, karen geier, moonies, nxivm, religions, rick alan ross, scientology, sects, yoga
In the first episode, Rick Alan Ross explains what cults are, how leaders entice and ensnare folks, what the profile is of a person who is susceptible to cults, and how friends and family can help those affected by harmful groups.