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 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 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 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.

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.

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.