On Belief: A Podcast About Cults

Episode 208: Transcendental Meditation (TM)

November 5th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  15 mins 40 secs

Aryeh Siegel, author of Transcendental Deception (0999661507) joins me to describe his time in the TM movement and why you should not allow your school to welcome TM practitioners.

Episode 207: Steve Hassan

October 29th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  59 mins 48 secs

UNLOCKED FULL EPISODE

Cult Survivor and Cult Expert Steve Hassan joins me for a full hour to discuss his latest book The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control ( ISBN 1982127333) and why we should be more concerned about Manchurian Candidates in the future.

Episode 206: Tara Yoga

October 22nd, 2019  |  Season 2  |  15 mins 22 secs

CONTENT WARNING: CONTAINS FRANK DISCUSSION OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Not many people think by signing up for Yoga classes, they could be putting themselves at risk of joining a high demand group, but the story of Tara Yoga is one of bait and switch from the word go.

Episode 205: Soka Gakkai International with Juana Castanheira

October 15th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 5 mins

Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. It's a chant you may have heard, and you may have thought it was part of regular Buddhist practice. It's actually a chant that's the cornerstone of a group called Soka Gakkai International

Episode 204: OneTaste With Ellen Huet and Ruwan Meepagala

October 8th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  15 mins 30 secs

OneTaste started with a simple but powerful mission: to teach women to receive pleasure without any hang ups or need to reciprocate. What ended up happening to many who joined the organization has left them wondering if their consent was ever fully given.

Episode 203: Munchausen By Proxy With Dr. Marc Feldman and Judy Tienken

October 1st, 2019  |  Season 2  |  14 mins 57 secs

Coercive thought control doesn't just happen in cults or cult-like groups. In cases like Munchausen By Proxy, it's complete, abusive control by a mother over her children.

Episode 202: Cult Therapy with Rachel Bernstein

September 24th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  15 mins 13 secs

Most people think De-Programming is the only method to work with ex-cult members, but Rachel Bernstein, a licensed family therapist, specializes in therapy for family members and survivors of cults.

Episode 000: Cross Post: Hear the first episode of On Grief: a Podcast about Death Free Now

September 19th, 2019  |  Season 0  |  51 mins 32 secs

UNLOCKED FULL EPISODE* For more free episodes, visit Patreon.com/ongriefpod

To understand death, we have to ask people who have been there what it's like. I asked Dr. Eben Alexander, a Neurosurgeon and Near Death Experiencer to tell me what happened to him.

I also induce a Near Death Experience with the help of a substance called 5-MeO DMT.

Episode 201: Hate Groups with David Neiwert

September 17th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  56 mins 47 secs

david neiwert, hate groups, militias, patriots, white supremacy

SEASON 2 PREMIERE
Season 2 of On Belief will look at other ways that control and coercive thought reform are deployed.

This week, David Neiwert, Author of Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump (ISBN 1786634236) Joins me to discuss White Supremacist Hate Groups and their similarities to cults

Episode 200: ***SPECIAL TEASER FOR ON GRIEF: A PODCAST ABOUT DEATH***

September 17th, 2019  |  1 min

Launching this week: On Grief: A Podcast about Death

Find out more about my next project

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.