Oct 30, 2024
This week's episode takes an in-depth look at the tragic murder/suicide that took place in Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978. Cult leader Jim Jones was responsible for not only controlling and manipulating his numerous dedicated followers, in the end, he forced nearly 1000 of them to commit suicide or be murdered.
In the wake...
Mar 25, 2022
This week's returning guest is ex-cult member, now sociologist and cult expert--Dr Janja Lalich, co-author along with fellow cult survivor Kala McLaren of the excellent book Escaping Utopia: Growing up in a Cult, Getting Out, and Starting Over.
In this episode, Dr Lalich and I take a deep dive into not just what makes...
Apr 19, 2021
This week's special bonus episode features an excellent conversation with Lisa and Gerette, two amazing women who started the igotout.org website.
Both cult survivors in their own right, each not only tell their stories of their time in their cults and also what led them to get out finally after spending years in the...
Feb 8, 2021
This special bonus episode features returning guest, sociologist and cult expert, Dr Janja Lalich.
I reached out to her once again to talk about the NXIVM cult and how specifically it worked from a cult psychology point of view. As someone who not only has been in a cult herself, but has also researched and written a...
Nov 29, 2019
Vi La Bianca is the co-host of the ACA's "Secular Sexuality" and "Talk Heathen" shows. But she wasn't always an atheist...as it turns out, Vi grew up in a fundamentalist family cult.
In this episode, Vi and I make use of established models of cults by experts, and apply it to her life growing up. How can she describe...