This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/culty and get on your way to being your best self.
In part one of this 2-parter, we feature Scientology defector and whistleblower Claire Headley who spent 30 years in the church isolated from her family and basically any outside influence. Headley was born and bred in Engl ... Show More
Apr 16
ALBX: Catching up: Book Update and Listener Voicemails
Buckle up, cultiverse: it’s our catch-up bonus round, where we give you a little bit extra. In this episode, we bask in the glow of your Amazon book reviews (please, keep ‘em coming!) and eavesdrop on the spicy, kooky, and downright cathartic voicemails waiting in our inbox from ... Show More
29m 10s
Apr 13
The Art of Influence: Mind Games’ Alice Hines on NLP and High-Control Manipulation
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.In this episode, we welcome back Alice Hines, co-host of the Mind Games podcast, and dig into her reporting on neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), NXIVM, and the slippery gremlin bridge between self-help, persuasion, and manipulation. Alice ... Show More
1h 2m
Apr 9
The Oracle’s Daughter: Harrison Hill on the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps (Part 2)
In Part 2 with Harrison Hill, we go deeper into his book, The Oracle’s Daughter, and the wonderfully unhinged rise of the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps (ACMTC), which started out as Free Love Ministries and then took a hard left into full-blown extremity. Harris ... Show More
40m 32s
Oct 2022
Tom Cruise and an Explosive Scientology Book
Matt is joined by Mike Rinder, former senior executive of the Church of Scientology. They discuss the moment he decided to leave Scientology, Tom Cruise’s current standing in the church, the impact of 'Top Gun: Maverick,' the internet’s damning influence on the future of Scientol ... Show More
33m 42s
Nov 2022
I am NOT Joining Scientology
<p>As promised to finish up cult month/October, we are bringing back last week’s anonymous guest and Scientology survivor for a part 2 continuation of last week's episode! and this time, we are focusing on some of the negative aspects of it.</p><p>Today, on Almost Adulting, we’re ... Show More
33m 8s
Oct 2022
Cults: Manipulation Tactics, Celebrity Involvement, Escape w/ Lola Blanc + Meaghan Elizabeth
Joining the Deux U classroom this week are Cult survivors Lola Blanc and Meaghan Elizabeth. On their podcast, Trust Me, they talk to fellow survivors, former and current believers, experts, and everyone in between to try to get to the bottom of how extreme belief happens, who's s ... Show More
1h 5m
Jan 2024
413. Raised by Thetans in a Galactic Gulag | Aaron Smith-Levin
Dr. Jordan B. Peterson speaks with former-Scientologist and podcaster Aaron Smith-Levin. They explore his upbringing within the “church,” how Scientology entices new members, the basis for Dianetics in Freudian psychology, the religiously inspired twist only found behind multiple ... Show More
1h 28m
Jun 2023
What is a Cult? With Dr. Janja Lalich
Dr. Janja Lalich, the world’s foremost expert on cults, reveals the four principles all cults share, how she survived ten years in a brutal cultic system and how these groups continue to abuse while evading authorities. Dr. Janja also shares an important warning on how to identif ... Show More
1h 39m
Feb 2023
The Cult of Child Stars
Selena Gomez, Drew Barrymore, and Daniel Radcliffe are all survivors of today's "cult," and so is our guest, Mara Wilson, star of 1990s cinematic classics like Matilda and Mrs. Doubtfire. Mara was only five years old when she started appearing in major commercials, and the next t ... Show More
54m 58s