A Little Bit Culty
Rásarupplýsingar
A Little Bit Culty
Think you might be in a cult? Want to know the signs? Join Sarah Edmondson and Anthony “Nippy” Ames to talk about things that are..a little bit culty. Or in their case: a whole bunch of culty. As whistleblowers documented in the critically-acclaimed HBO series “The Vow,” Sarah and Nippy have a lot t...
Nýlegir þættir
285 þættir
Amanda Montell: Cultish and Coded Language, Revisited (Part 2)
Amanda Montell returns for round two, diving into what she's learned since Cultish dropped: Instagram comment wars as tribal battlegrounds, "platformi...
Amanda Montell: Cultish and Coded Language, Revisited (Part 1)
Amanda Montell—author, linguist, and our reigning three-time champion guest—returns in studio to talk about the newly released paperback edition of Cu...
A Little Bit Extra: Post-Thanksgiving Word Salad and Listener Voicemails
We’re back for A Little Bit Extra Thursday filled with Thanksgiving word salads and gallows humor. We chat about the last few truly bonkers weeks, sha...
Anthia Gillick on OneTaste: Strokes, Sex, and Shame
When does sexual empowerment cross the line into cult control? Following Ellen Huet’s OneTaste expose, we sat with Anthia Gillick—former OneTaste “ins...
Real Housewife and Bad Mormon: Heather Gay on Surviving Mormonism (Part 2)
We’re back with the second half of our conversation with the unstoppable Heather Gay: housewife, truth-teller, and newly minted slayer of Mormon silen...
Real Housewife and Bad Mormon: Heather Gay on Surviving Mormonism (Part 1)
Heather Gay, Real Housewife, “Bad Mormon,” and faith deconstruction trailblazer, joined us to talk about her journey from devout church girl to outspo...
Empire of Orgasm: Ellen Huet on the Different Strokes of OneTaste (Part 2)
We dive even deeper in Part two with Ellen Huet to unpack what drove OneTaste’s inner circle, its culty sales playbook, and the strange tangle of powe...
Empire of Orgasm: Ellen Huet on the Different Strokes of OneTaste (Part 1)
This episode is sponsored by Betterhelp.
What happens when the pursuit of female pleasure blurs into high-pressure sales, psycholo...
My Cult Your Cult: Sean Prophet on the Church Universal and Triumphant (Part 2)
What actually happens when the world doesn’t end, the “shelf” breaks, and the self-proclaimed prince of a doomsday empire is left standing amid the fa...
My Cult Your Cult: Sean Prophet on the Church Universal and Triumphant (Part 1)
What’s it like to grow up the so-called “prince” inside one of America’s most notorious new religious movements—where your mother is a celebrated chan...
Checkmate: Chess Master Danny Rensch on Leaving the Church of Immortal Consciousness (Part 2)
What happens when your purpose gets weaponized, relationships are rewritten by group doctrine, and chess becomes both sanctuary and battleground? In t...
Checkmate: Chess Master Danny Rensch on Leaving the Church of Immortal Consciousness (Part 1)
This episode is sponsored by Betterhelp.
How do you go from barefoot kid to international chess master and co-founder of Chess.com...
Dr. Ingrid Clayton and Fawn Stars: The Hidden Cost of People Pleasing (Part 2)
How do you actually stop fawning, and what does healing look like in real life? In Part 2 of our convo with Dr. Ingrid Clayton, we dove into boundarie...
Dr. Ingrid Clayton and Fawn Stars: The Hidden Cost of People Pleasing (Part 1)
What if the thing you’ve been calling “people-pleasing” is actually your nervous system doing a full-blown survival routine? In this episode, we welco...
Joshua Paddison: Unraveling America’s First Sex Cult Scandal (Part 2)
Think cult scandal is just a modern phenomenon? Think again. In Part 2, historian Joshua Paddison unpacks America’s original sex cult, Fountain Grove—...
Joshua Paddison: Unraveling America’s First Sex Cult Scandal (Part 1)
This episode is sponsored by Betterhelp.
Today’s guest is Joshua Paddison, a US historian, author, and bona fide expert in the wil...
A Little Bit Extra: Diddy’s Sentence, Sarma’s Salads, & Listener Voicemails
In this A Little Bit Extra ep, Sarah dishes all about her recent trip to New York City—think walks on The High Line, big shroom feels, and some seriou...
"Holy Disruptor" Amy Duggar King: Healing Beyond the Spotlight
What’s it like to survive chaos at home, culty control next door, and a national TV spotlight that labels you “crazy cousin”—all before breakfast? In...
Inside Cult Intervention: Lessons from Joe Szimhart (Part 2)
In the second part of this conversation, Joe Szimhart delves into the intricate preparations and challenges of conducting cult interventions. He discu...
Inside Cult Intervention: Lessons from Joe Szimhart (Part 1)
In this gripping episode of 'A Little Bit Culty,' hosts welcome Joe Szimhart, a veteran cult interventionist with over 40 years of experience. Joe del...
Child Labor, Tom Cruise, and Space Erotica: Marc Headley on Escaping Scientology (Part 2)
In this follow-up episode, Marc Headley shares his extraordinary experiences within Scientology and the Sea Organization. He recounts being recruited...
Child Labor, Tom Cruise, and Space Erotica: Marc Headley on Escaping Scientology (Part 1)
This episode is a conversation between a former member of the Sea Organization, an elite group within the Church of Scientology, and a host, Marc Head...
Who's Your Granddaddy? Stefan Kolesar on Amway and World Wide Group (Part 2)
Ready for the breaking point? In Part 2, we continue Stefan Kolesar’s deep dive into the world of Amway—where all those red flags on the shelf finally...
Who's Your Granddaddy? Stefan Kolesar on Amway and World Wide Group (Part 1)
What happens when the “American Dream” turns out to be more like the “Amway Nightmare”? On this episode of A Little Bit Culty, we sit down with Stefan...
Inside the Pyramid: Bridget Read on the History & Hype of MLMs (Part 2)
In Part 2 with Bridget Read, we explore the complexities and legal nuances that allow multi-level marketing (MLM) companies to operate as legitimate b...
Inside the Pyramid: Bridget Read on the History & Hype of MLMs (Part 1)
In Part 1 of this much-anticipated interview, journalist and New York Magazine reporter Bridget Read discusses the pervasive and nuanced issues surrou...
A Little Bit Extra: Fanny Packs, Volleyball, and Hazing
Buckle up, cultiverse: it’s our bonus round, where we give you a little bit extra. In this episode, we eavesdrop on the spicy, kooky, and downright ca...
The Dark Side of Influence: Chico Felitti on Kat Torres
What does it take to unravel the sinister side of internet fame—and how do influencers become a little bit culty? In this episode, we sit down with Bu...
You're Not My Daddy: Veena Dinavahi Survives “The True Happiness Company” (Part 2)
In part two of our revealing conversation with Veena Dinavahi, we dig deeper into the tangled web of coercion, isolation, and control she experienced...
You're Not My Daddy: Veena Dinavahi Survives “The True Happiness Company” (Part 1)
What happens when the story you thought you were living collides with a reality you can’t ignore? Kicking off Season 8 of A Little Bit Culty, we sit d...
Welcome to Season 8 of A Little Bit Culty!
Hey culty listeners! Season 8 is loading…and we’re not even gonna pretend this is chill. It’s BIG. Like, two-new-episodes-every-week big. Fresh culty...
Bron & Denai Johnson on Life Inside NXIVM’s Vancouver Center (Part 2)
In Part 2, the Hot Johnsons go from self-help wins to DOS-level WTF real quick. Denai opens up about what happened when DOS came knocking, from the fi...
True Crime Meets Cults: Derrick Levasseur on Solving the “University of Cosmic Intelligence” Mystery
This week on A Little Bit Culty, we’re stepping into the crossover world of cults and true crime with Derrick Levasseur—former undercover detective, p...
Protecting Kids from Cults and Traffickers with Robin Boyle-Laisure (Part 2)
This episode is sponsored in part by Betterhelp.
In Part 2 of our conversation with Professor Robin Boyle-Laisure—St. John’s University School o...
Introducing: CONSPIRACY THEORIES, CULTS, AND CRIMES
From Jonestown to Heaven’s Gate, to the Octopus Murders and the Waco Siege, the world is
full of deception, manipulation, and destruction. Liste...
Protecting Kids from Cults and Traffickers with Robin Boyle-Laisure (Part 1)
This episode is sponsored in part by Betterhelp.
What happens when a street-corner “religious” pitch nearly ropes in a teenage girl—only for her...
Bonus Drop: Bron & Denai Johnson on Life Inside NXIVM’s Vancouver Center (Part 1)
This conversation with former NXIVM members Bron and Denai Johnson was such a hit when we first dropped it here last year that we’re doing it again (a...
God Said Obey: Katherine Spearing on the Brainwashing Power of Spiritual Abuse
Katherine Spearing is back—and she’s not pulling any punches. A trauma recovery practitioner and founder of Tears of Eden, Kat grew up in the Christia...
From Veil to Voice: Jasmin Faulk’s Rebellion Against Fundamentalist Islam (Part 2)
In Part 2 of our conversation, Jasmin opens up about life after escaping Saudi Arabia—landing in Wyoming, rediscovering autonomy, and slowly unlearnin...
From Veil to Voice: Jasmin Faulk’s Rebellion Against Fundamentalist Islam (Part 1)
This week’s guest is Jasmin Faulk, an author and advocate who risked everything to reclaim her freedom. Born to a Saudi father and Italian mother, Jas...