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On the show
Recent episodes
Amway: "Sleep is for Sissies... and Diamonds'
Aug 24, 2026
Unknown duration
A Single-Family Cult: "Beyond The Front Door"
Aug 17, 2026
Unknown duration
Gloriavale: "Gloria Fail" (UPDATE)
Aug 10, 2026
Unknown duration
UFO-Tantric-Doomsday-Alien-Fairy-Angel-Sex Cult - Pt2: "Jump Ship"
Aug 3, 2026
Unknown duration
UFO-Tantric-Doomsday-Alien-Fairy-Angel-Sex Cult - Pt1: "Whatever Floats Your Pleasure Boat"
Jul 27, 2026
Unknown duration
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| Date | Episode | Description | Length | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8/24/26 |  Amway: "Sleep is for Sissies... and Diamonds' | At 21, Stephanie Vaughn wanted to make some extra money. Then she won a "raffle" at her gym for a free case of energy drinks. Lucky her, that free case won her entry into one of the biggest and most influential MLMs in the world... AMWAY. And the Amway lead her to the LTD, the Amway-affiliated training organization Stephanie says would eventually take over nearly every part of her life. For nine years, Stephanie chased the promise of becoming a "Diamond": financial freedom, early retirement, and the life she was told was waiting for her if she just worked hard enough. Instead she endured control on every level, including how much she slept, when she could visit family and even... who she was allowed to love. FOLLOW STEPHANIE Instagram: @steph.vaughan TikTok: @steph.vaughan FOLLOW US Instagram & TikTok: @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Patreon: patreon.com/wasiinacult HAVE A CULTY STORY? [email protected] SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! They keep the show free! BOLL & BRANCH — Buttery-soft organic cotton sheets that sleep cool and get softer every wash. 15% OFF + free shipping · code CULT https://bollandbranch.com/cult ZENNI — Cute, affordable prescription glasses & sunnies you'll want in every style. 15% OFF + free shipping ($65+) · code PODCAST15 https://zenni.com/podcast LARINECO — Craveable chewing gum that actually makes your teeth stronger. 50% OFF · code WASIINACULT https://buylarine.com/wasiinacult SMILESET — A straighter smile from your couch, for a fraction of the cost of braces. Extra DISCOUNT! (under $1,200) smileset.com/wasiinacult QUINCE — Designer-quality cashmere and more at prices that feel like a steal. Free shipping + 365-day returns https://quince.com/cult | — | ||||||
| 8/17/26 | A Single-Family Cult: "Beyond The Front Door" | Every cult calls itself a family. Audrey's actually was one. For Audrey, there was no guru, no religious doctrine, and the only members were her ten other siblings. And the leader? Her parents, particularly her mother. But from the outside, they looked pretty "normal": a big family living in an ordinary Idaho subdivision, houses close together, neighbors on all sides. Except not one of them was ever allowed to have a friend. And eventually, they weren't allowed to have interactions with anyone outside the family. As the isolation tightened, Audrey got older and increasingly aware that the outside world looked nothing like the one she'd been taught to fear. At 18, she finally made it to community college, where little tastes of independence began to crack open everything she'd been raised to believe. And eventually, one small act of defiance would force her to make an enormous choice: follow her parents rules, or lose her family. When Audrey finally left in 2020, she thought the separation from her siblings would be temporary. Six years later, nine of them are still living in the family home, cut off from their big sister. So now Audrey has stopped waiting. She's taking matters into her own hands, finding increasingly creative, and at times risky, ways to remind her siblings that she's still out there... that there is life beyond the front door. A big, messy, beautiful world they've barely been allowed to see. And when they're ready to walk into it, their big sis will be there, waiting with open arms. _________________ FOLLOW AUDREY Follow her story as it unfolds → TikTok @audreyinreallife FOLLOW US For more culty content — Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) → patreon.com/wasiinacult HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 8/10/26 | Gloriavale: "Gloria Fail" (UPDATE) | **NOTE: This episode originally aired in 2024, but a LOT has happened inside this cult since then. None of it surprising, all of it sick, and we'll fill you in on all of it. Jason Christian was born into Gloriavale — a self-proclaimed utopic Christian community of more than 500 people on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. His grandfather, Hopeful Christian, was the leader. Shut out from the outside world and forced to work on the farm at the age of six, Jason was primed to live a life without actual freedom, as this group of true believers was all he knew. But when it was time for him to marry a woman in the community that was chosen for him, Jason made a different choice. ____________________________ FOLLOW US Instagram → @wasiinacult TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Ad-free episodes, bonus content, behind-the-scenes conversations, and our forever gratitude. HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 8/3/26 | UFO-Tantric-Doomsday-Alien-Fairy-Angel-Sex Cult - Pt2: "Jump Ship" | Everyone gathered on the deck the day Yo promised the mothership was finally coming. They waited… but alas, it never came. In PART 2, the magical fairy tale capsizes. Laurien becomes one of Yo's chosen women, and soon finds out exactly what that costs. And when she finally tries to leave, they abandon her at a foreign train station with a stolen passport, no money, and 25 cents for a phone call. She got out. But getting out wasn't the end. Decades later, the experience still leaves her caught somewhere between grief and longing, showing us all just how powerful belief can be. Especially when it's backlit by yachts, beautiful people and the glistening sea. The group, by the way, is still going strong, but mostly on land now, in an apartment complex in Ibiza. Cult paella anyone?? ____________________________ FOLLOW LAURIEN Her book, The Golden Shawl → Brave New Books FOLLOW US Instagram → @wasiinacult TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Ad-free episodes, bonus content, behind-the-scenes conversations, and our forever gratitude. HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 7/27/26 | UFO-Tantric-Doomsday-Alien-Fairy-Angel-Sex Cult - Pt1: "Whatever Floats Your Pleasure Boat" | Laurien had already been in one cult before she was old enough to understand what a cult was. At 22, she was invited onto a fleet of white "pleasure" yachts traveling the rivers of Europe, not knowing the warm, beautiful, angelic fairies gazing deep into her eyes would become her new family. And then she met the 60-year-old Frenchman leading this pleasure cruise who called himself "Yo." Yo claimed he channeled messages from extraterrestrials, and taught that beauty was the path to enlightenment, which was rich coming from a man with a belly, an open blouse and ridiculous facial hair. The rules? No meat, no coffee, no alcohol, and no sex. Unless, of course... it was with him (how original). In PART 1, Laurien takes us inside a French UFO-tantric-doomsday-alien-fairy-angel sex cult. A cult she knows was filled with abuse and coercion, and yet still sees as one of the greatest adventures of her life. ____________________________- FOLLOW LAURIEN Her book, The Golden Shawl → Brave New Books FOLLOW US Instagram → @wasiinacult TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Ad-free episodes, bonus content, behind-the-scenes conversations, and our forever gratitude. HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 7/20/26 | "The Fleetwood Mac Star Who Vanished Into a Cult" | Before Stevie Nicks. Before Lindsey Buckingham. Before Rumours. There was another Fleetwood Mac. And one of its lead singers was a young guitarist named Jeremy Spencer. This week, we goes deep into a strange, dark, and almost unbelievable chapter of rock-and-roll history involving early Fleetwood Mac, Los Angeles in the '70s… And, of course, a cult. Oh, and F-you, Uncle Jerry. —————————————————— FOLLOW US Instagram → @wasiinacult TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Ad-free episodes, bonus content, behind-the-scenes conversations, and our forever gratitude. HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 7/13/26 | International Socialists (Amsterdam): "How Come We're Socialists But We're Not Social?" | In 2007, at 19-years-old, Hella had a boss who molested her at work, and no one to turn to. Then one day, walking through her university square in Amsterdam, she met a group of people full of conviction. Passionate about the injustices in the world. And passionate about doing something about it. They were a far-left political group. A Trotskyist splinter organization called the International Socialists (aka Internationale Socialisten). They knew who was to blame (the capitalists). And they knew what it would take to fix it... ...a goddamn revolution. 14 years later, after giving them her money, her twenties, and her autonomy… after the tragic death of a fellow female comrade… Hella woke up to something she couldn't unsee: The exact thing she'd been fighting against was running rampant inside the group that claimed to be against it. __________________________________________________________________ FIND HELLA You can find Hella on Facebook (Hella Baan). She said if you'd like to send her an email, go for it! [email protected] HELLA'S WRITINGS DURING HER TIME IN THE GROUP Hella's article archive at socialisme.nu (in Dutch) — the articles she published as a comrade, a rare window into her voice from inside the organization REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini The Guardian's 2013 coverage of the SWP / Comrade Delta case -- Shiv Malik and Nick Cohen's reporting on the Martin Smith rape allegations and the party's internal cover-up Monty Python's "Splitters!" scene -- the People's Front of Judea vs. the Judean People's Front Monty Python's "meeting" scene -- where the People's Front of Judea proves you can have all the feminist rhetoric in the world and still be an all-boys club IF YOU WANT TO GO DEEPER "The SWP Crisis: Some Reflections" -- a widely-cited insider account of the 2013 crisis at the SWP, written as it was happening "Apology Not Accepted" -- a 2024 follow-up from ex-members proving the pattern Hella describes is alive and well today The Party is Always Right: The Untold Story of Gerry Healy and British Trotskyism by Aidan Beatty -- the definitive account of the abuse and authoritarianism inside one of the most infamous British Trotskyist groups, and the lineage Hella's organization descends from FOLLOW US Instagram → @wasiinacult TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Ad-free episodes, bonus content, behind-the-scenes conversations, and our forever gratitude. HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 7/6/26 | Hoyt Richards: After the Beauties | Hoyt Richards, a "Was I in a Cult?" legend, is back. After our original three-part series, Hoyt returns to talk about Bring Me The Beauties, the new HBO documentary about his life inside, and eventual escape from, the cult known as Eternal Values. It's a conversation about what happens after your story is out there for all the world to see. What the doc captured, what still haunts him, and how love, family, and hard-won accountability helped bring him back to himself. And just when you thought Hoyt's story had reached its final frame, it may not be done with the screen just yet… Today, Hoyt is an actor, writer, and producer, who works to support cult survivors and families affected by high-control groups. FIND HOYT: Website (speaking, blog & cult-recovery resources): https://www.hoytrichards.com Instagram: @hoytrichardsofficial Watch his new HBO docuseries "Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult" — directed by Chris Smith (Fyre, Bad Vegan, American Movie), streaming now on HBO Max. ___________________________________ FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 6/29/26 | [ENCORE] Eternal Values - Pt3: "To Thine Own Self" | A dear friend of the show, Hoyt Richards, who we had on the show back in 2023, has a new HBO docuseries "Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult" featuring his story. We caught up with Hoyt to discuss everything. But before we air that, we're going to re-releasing our original three-parter we did on his incredible story. Before the footage, before the headlines, before the world could see the jawline for themselves, Hoyt shared his story with us. Listen here, watch the doc, and come back next week for our brand-new interview with Hoyt about what it's like to have a hit documentary about your very personal life out there for the world to see. THIS IS PART 3 ... The final part of Hoyt Richards' incredible journey into and out of a UFO doomsday cult. The damning Vanity Fair article throws Hoyt's family into chaos as they attempt to intervene. And right when you think he might finally be getting out, his fellow brothers go to extreme lengths to keep their financial backer from leaving. And it works. Until it finally doesn't. Thank you again, Hoyt. He is a brave and inspirational human, and we loved having him on the show. FIND HOYT: Website (speaking, blog & cult-recovery resources): https://www.hoytrichards.com Instagram: @hoytrichardsofficial Watch his new HBO docuseries "Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult" — directed by Chris Smith (Fyre, Bad Vegan, American Movie), streaming now on HBO Max.___________________________________ FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 6/29/26 | [ENCORE] Eternal Values - Pt2: "Vanity Un-Fair" | A dear friend of the show, Hoyt Richards, who we had on the show back in 2023, has a new HBO docuseries "Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult" featuring his story. We caught up with Hoyt to discuss everything. But before we air that, we're going to re-releasing our original three-parter we did on his incredible story. Before the footage, before the headlines, before the world could see the jawline for themselves, Hoyt shared his story with us. Listen here, watch the doc, and come back next week for our brand-new interview with Hoyt about what it's like to have a hit documentary about your very personal life out there for the world to see. THIS IS PART 2 ... The now quasi-famous group takes it to the next level. They get a name, a book, a show, a hit song, and a distant star doomsday getaway. Hoyt, meanwhile, becomes his own star, modeling for millions but returning home to sleep on the floor. All is going well (or so they think) until the group puts a well-known phrase to the test. Is there really no such thing as bad press? FIND HOYT: Website (speaking, blog & cult-recovery resources): https://www.hoytrichards.com Instagram: @hoytrichardsofficial Watch his new HBO docuseries "Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult" — directed by Chris Smith (Fyre, Bad Vegan, American Movie), streaming now on HBO Max.___________________________________ FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
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| 6/29/26 | [ENCORE] Eternal Values - Pt1: "A Man From Nantucket" | A dear friend of the show, Hoyt Richards, who we had on the show back in 2023, has a new HBO docuseries "Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult" featuring his story. We caught up with Hoyt to discuss everything. But before we air that, we're going to re-releasing our original three-parter we did on his incredible story. Before the footage, before the headlines, before the world could see the jawline for themselves, Hoyt shared his story with us. Listen here, watch the doc, and come back next week for our brand-new interview with Hoyt about what it's like to have a hit documentary about your very personal life out there for the world to see. THIS IS PART 1 ... It was 1978, and the effortlessly handsome Hoyt Richards was a 16-year-old football talent summering in Nantucket. Chasing girls and free beer was about all on this young boy's mind. So when he meets a man on the beach who was rumored to throw great parties, Hoyt thinks nothing of it. Little did Hoyt know & he had just come face-to-face with a budding cult leader that would take his life in a direction he never could've dreamed. FIND HOYT: Website (speaking, blog & cult-recovery resources): https://www.hoytrichards.com Instagram: @hoytrichardsofficial Watch his new HBO docuseries "Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult" — directed by Chris Smith (Fyre, Bad Vegan, American Movie), streaming now on HBO Max.___________________________________ FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 6/22/26 | The Organization: "Magic is Real" | As Cassie on Skins and Gilly on "Game of Thrones," Hannah Murray spent years stepping into other people's pain, other people's stories, other people's worlds. But after shooting a brutal scene for a film that left her body wrecked, Hannah went looking for relief. A trainer suggested a healer. And that healer became the doorway into a world that promised magic, ancient wisdom, secret knowledge, and above all, a way to finally heal the pain Hannah had been carrying around for years. And as these things so often go, at first it worked. Until it really, really didn't. Hannah is a dream guest. Thoughtful, funny, self-aware, and deeply honest. Her memoir, "The Make-Believe: A Memoir of Magic and Madness," tells the full story, and it is as gripping as it is beautifully written. _________________________ Hannah's Memoir: "The Make-Believe: A Memoir of Magic and Madness," is out June 23 in the U.S. and available now in the UK. FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Tyler's documentary "An Honest Liar" available now for all members! And get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 6/15/26 | Hare Krishna—Pt2: "Thank You For Not Drowning Me in a Bucket" | *CONTENT WARNING: *This episode contains discussions of child marriage, sexual assault, domestic abuse, homelessness, parental abandonment, and religious trauma. Please take care while listening.* Married off by her mother at thirteen. Abandoned in India. Sent back to America at sixteen with a one-way ticket and a hundred dollars. Part 2 picks up where the unthinkable left off, and follows Vilas through what comes after, which turns out to be harder, stranger, and more devastating than anyone could prepare for. But also braver, more defiant, and darkly funny. This is a story about what happens when no one is coming to save you. About strangers who showed more decency than your own family. About becoming a mother while still needing one. About breaking every cycle you were raised inside. And about why, in 2026, child marriage is still legal in most of the United States. Today, Vilas uses her experience to advocate for children and raise awareness about the lasting impact of child marriage and childhood trauma. This is the final chapter to her remarkable story of resilience and reclamation. A true badass, she is. _____ FIND VILAS: Website: vilaswright.com Instagram: @vilaswright / Facebook: @vilas.wright END CHILD MARRIAGE — GET INVOLVED: Unchained at Last — Advocacy and direct services to end forced and child marriage Tahirih Justice Center — Legal services protecting those fleeing gender-based violence Equality Now — Global action to end legal inequality for women and girls AHA Foundation — Protecting women and girls from forced marriage and honor violence ___________________________________ FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 6/8/26 | Hare Krishna—Pt1: "Who Gives This Child Away?" | *CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains discussions of child abuse, child sexual abuse, rape, child marriage, neglect, religious trauma, and family trauma. Please take care while listening.* Born into the Hare Krishna Movement aka ISKCON, Vilas was supposed to be part of a "pure" new generation of devotees. Instead, she was sent away at three years old, raised in boarding schools and temples across the world, taught that suffering was holy, comfort was indulgent, family attachment was weakness, and obedience was the only way back to God. From Los Angeles to Iran to India, Vilas's childhood was shaped by silence, neglect, impossible rules, and adults who kept choosing devotion over protection. Part 1 takes us behind the chanting, robes, and airport flowers into the devastating cost of growing up inside a movement that promised divine love, while denying a child the human kind. FIND VILAS: Instagram: @vilaswright / Facebook: @vilas.wright ___________________________________ FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 6/1/26 | OneTaste: "Empire of Orgasm" | NOTE: This episode discusses sex, sexual exploitation, coercion, and sexual abuse. What happens when female empowerment, Silicon Valley startup culture, spiritual enlightenment, and clitoral stroking walk into a fluorescent-lit conference room? You get OneTaste. In this episode, we sit down with Bloomberg investigative journalist Ellen Huet, author of Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult, to unpack the rise and fall of OneTaste, the orgasmic meditation company founded by Nicole Daedone that promised connection, healing, and transformation through a 15-minute partnered orgasm practice called OM (Orgasmic Meditation). But behind the language of liberation and "turn-on" were allegations of sexual coercion, financial exploitation, sexual abuse, forced labor, and a belief system that taught members their discomfort was just something to push through on the path to enlightenment. Ellen walks us through how her 2018 investigation helped expose the darker side of the company, the criminal case that followed, and why OneTaste's story is not just about sex. It's about power, belonging, manipulation, and the very human longing to be seen. FIND ELLEN: Instagram: @ehuet Book: Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult Bloomberg: bloomberg.com/authors/ASmGayS_jTQ/ellen-huet__ ___________________________________ FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 5/18/26 | Swartzentruber Amish — PT2: "Promoted to Wearer of Jeans" | CONTENT WARNING: This episode discusses sexual assault. Not in graphic detail, but please listen accordingly. For 19 years, Lizzie Ens lived in one of the most conservative Amish sects in America: the Swartzentruber Amish. Last week you learned about her upbringing and all facets of living a life off the grid with no electricity, no indoor plumbing, and very little autonomy over her own life. In Part 2, the horse-and-buggy postcard version of Amish life disappears fast. Lizzie takes us inside the bizarre dating ritual called "bundling," and into the darker corners of the community — sexual assault, shunning, suppression, and the impossible weight of knowing that leaving means leaving everything behind. Including her twin sister. Eventually, she realizes something terrifying: if she doesn't escape now… she may never escape at all. What follows is one of the wildest escape stories we've ever covered. __________________________________ RESOURCES: RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) Bailing Out Benji __________________________________ FIND LIZZIE: Instagram: @lizzieens_wellness / TikTok: @lizzieh_wellness Book: Amish Renegade: The Anthropology of an Amish Girl Turned Global CEO Website: undietyou.com _____________________________________ FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 5/11/26 | Swartzentruber Amish — PT1: "Promoted to Housework" | Many people picture a peaceful, technology-free life of butter churning, candle making, and horse-drawn buggies. But for today's guest, the reality behind the plain dresses and pastoral image was far more restrictive, and far more dangerous. Lizzie grew up in one of the strictest Amish sects in the country: the Swartzentruber Amish. No electricity. No indoor plumbing. No music. No photographs. No Rumspringa. And absolutely no preparation for life outside the community. In this first part of a two-part conversation, Lizzie shares what it was like growing up under intense control, the rigid rules imposed on women, and how isolation and fear kept members obedient. She also opens up about the early cracks in her belief system—and the impossible choices that eventually led her to attempt an escape. __________________________________ FIND LIZZIE: Instagram: @lizzieens_wellness / TikTok: @lizzieh_wellness Book: Amish Renegade: The Anthropology of an Amish Girl Turned Global CEO Website: undietyou.com _____________________________________ FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 5/4/26 | Christian Patriarchy: "The OG 'Trad Wife'" | Four hours into a hostage situation between a man and a woman, the man walks out the door. In that moment, the woman's primal instinct kicks in: "Grab your kids and RUN." Later, she learns that action may have saved her life. He wasn't just leaving. He was going to get a gun. And the man? It was her husband. At 33-years-old, Tia Levings walked away from the Christian Patriarchy system that dictated her body, her voice, and her life for 13 years. If there were ever a guest who embodies the entire ethos of this show, it's Tia Levings. A badass is an understatement. Now a New York Times bestselling author of "A Well-Trained Wife" and featured in "Shiny Happy People," Tia joins us to unpack: 'Trad wives' and how this movement is far from just churned butter on Instagram. The wedding night she finally has language for. The daughter she lost. How, and more importantly why, the Christian Patriarchy movement has surged over the past decade. And her new book. "I Belong to Me." The survival guide she wishes she had access to when she first got out. It's now our #1 recommendation for anyone leaving a high-control group. A non-judgmental, non-preachy, non-guru self-help book? Who knew?! Tia is brilliant, funny, and unflinchingly honest. And if you leave with one thing, let it be her words: "If you can't speak in your power, you can't f*ck in your power." NOTE to our Patreon subscribers: You can watch the full, unedited two-and-a-half-hour interview with Tia now on our Patreon. Thank you for being on this journey with us. FIND TIA: Website: tialevings.com Socials @TiaLevingsWriter: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook Substack: tialevings.substack.com — where she does real-time religious deconstruction TIA'S BOOKS: "I Belong to Me: A Survivor's Guide to Recovery and Hope After Religious Trauma" "A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy" (now in paperback) FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 4/13/26 | Shen Yun/Falun Gong is Still a Cult! Pt2 [UPDATE] | **PLEASE NOTE: This episode originally aired in Oct 2024. Since, there have been quite a few updates to both the cult and story. Tune into the episode to hear more.** ____ In Part 2 of Angela's story, the realities of Falun Gong's grip on her family deepen. Angela reflects on the emotional toll of a cult that prioritized spiritual salvation over physical health—even as her mother's condition worsens. But escaping isn't easy when your family remains deep in the cult's ideologies… Angela's journey out of this cult is filled with heartbreaking revelations and the resilience that defines a true "surthirver." _____ FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 4/13/26 | SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT & Shen Yun/Falun Gong is Still a Cult! Pt1 [UPDATE] | **PLEASE NOTE: This episode originally aired in Oct 2024. Since, there have been quite a few updates to both the cult and story. Tune into the episode to hear more.** ____ When her mother fell sick, young Angela had no idea that she would spend her childhood growing up in a dangerous cult. Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual movement-slash-religion-slash-cult, known for its Shen Yun dancers and its ties to 'The Epoch Times' entangled her family in its facade of meditation and enlightenment. In this two-part episode, Angela recounts her experience in a world where karma is not just a bitch, but a force that can dictate life and death… with suffering seen as a path to salvation and modern medicine demonized as an obstacle to spiritual purity. And just when you think it can't get any wilder, the Capitol Insurrection storms into the story… This is Part 1 of Angela's powerful story. _____ FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 3/30/26 | Jehovah's Witnesses: "Michael Jackson Was Just 'Michael' to Me" | As a young teenager, Darls Centola was searching for something steady in a chaotic world. What she found was the Jehovah's Witnesses—a religion that felt warm, structured, and safe. What she didn't expect to find… was him. Not the King of Pop. Not the global icon. Not Michael Jackson. Just Michael. A shy, curious, thoughtful teenage boy looking to her for religious guidance. What unfolds is almost impossibly pure. Two kids hiding behind their school not to smoke pot, but to talk about faith and opening orphanages one day—all while trying (and failing) to suppress feelings they aren't allowed to feel. Because inside their dogma, a crush isn't just a crush. It could get you killed at Armageddon. And as their bond deepens... so does the control. Until the belief system that brought them together… is the very thing that tears them apart. This isn't a story about fame. It's not a takedown. And it's not a defense. It's about first love. And a deeply human, intimate look at a version of someone the world thinks it already understands, set against the very real, very damaging impact of cult abuse. And the uncomfortable truth that both light and darkness can exist at the same time. ______________ Today, Darls Centola is a licensed clinical social worker, educator and EMDR consultant with a focus on the impact of spiritual abuse and high control systems. She has written a memoir about the innocent and heartbreaking time in her life inside a cult with teenage Michael Jackson from the POV of that young girl. A time that didn't just change her life... but may have quietly shaped his too. Purchase Darls' memoir here: "Finding Truth with Michael: A Memoir of Friendship, Faith and First Love" Find Darls' workbook and other resources on her website: findingtruthwithmichael.com FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 3/23/26 | Online Vampire Cult - Pt2: "404: Vampire Not Found" | If Part 1 was the seduction… this is the unraveling. By now, Celeste is fully in - the "true believer" phase we like to call it. The relationships feel real. The stakes feel real. And the consequences for questioning it? Also very real. Because inside this world, there are rules. Rewards for loyalty. Punishments for doubt. And what once felt magical begins to shift. The cracks start to show. And Celeste is forced to confront a terrifying possibility: What if none of this is real? What follows is a slow, psychological tug-of-war between belief and reality - until one discovery changes everything. After all, the most shocking part wasn't that there were vampires on the internet. It was who was pretending to be them. ______ FOLLOW CELESTE → Instagram @celestemott | Tiktok @celestemoth FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 3/23/26 | Online Vampire Cult - Pt1: "Armand Has Entered The Chat" | At 16, Celeste Mott was alone, grieving, and searching - for meaning, for connection, for something that felt bigger than her small, suburban life. And then she found them. An online world inspired by Anne Rice. Dark. Seductive. Intelligent. A place where vampires weren't just characters… they were real. Or at least—that's what they lead her to believe. This was the early 2000s internet— before social media, before real names, before anyone was asking who's actually behind the screen. Message boards. Chat rooms. Total anonymity. The perfect environment for something to take hold… unnoticed. What begins as a message board for Anne Rice fans, transforms into something far darker. Something that on the surface, sounds completely unbelievable. Except not when you know how cults operate. Because this wasn't just fandom. This was belonging. This was identity. This was… a promise. And like every good cult—it knew exactly what she needed to hear. This is Part 1 of 2. ______ FOLLOW CELESTE → Instagram @celestemott | Tiktok @celestemoth FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 3/9/26 | Boys Christian League: "Training Boys for God's Army" | Michelle Dowd was born into a cult that was literally training boys to fight in God's army when the apocalypse came. It started in sunny Pasadena, California when her grandfather - a former Boy Scout leader - decided the Scouts weren't strict enough and built his own organization. Boys were recruited young, drilled like soldiers, and raised to believe they were preparing for the end of the world. Michelle grew up inside the group known as "The Field," running miles before breakfast, enduring military-style obedience drills, selling candy to fund the movement, and eventually living for years on a remote mountain with basically no formal education. What eventually happened is almost unbelievable: a secret college application, a full scholarship, and a cult survivor with no formal education… to becoming a professor teaching critical thinking. Michelle Dowd is now a writer and the author of Forager: Field Notes for Surviving a Family Cult. _____________________________________ MICHELLE DOWD LINKS → Instagram @michelledowdz | Subscribe to Michelle's FREE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Listen to Michelle's book "Forager" on SPOTIFY FOR FREE Pick up a copy of Forager: Field Notes for Surviving a Family Cult" Michelle's NYT Modern Love essay: "Love in a Time of Low Expectations" *** Tyler's mascot book mention: Where Are the Fighting Giraffes? by David Winder FOLLOW US For more culty content - follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
| 3/2/26 | OneTaste: "Was I in a Sex Cult?" | Star Stone walked into a fluorescent-lit room on Market Street in San Francisco where a man who looked like Mark Zuckerberg stroked a woman's clitoris in business casual while thirty people watched. "This is it. This is what I need," she thought. It wasn't. See, Star didn't join a cult (newsflash, no one does). She joined a sex-positive, orgasm-as-spiritual-practice kind of movement founded by a woman, for women. It was called OneTaste. It promised female empowerment. But what it delivered was sexual trauma. Thanks, Nicole Daedone! Star Stone shares her story with the kind of honesty and dark humor that made us fall in love with her immediately. This isn't trauma porn - this is what happens when groups take your desire for connection, belonging, and sexual empowerment and weaponize it. Star was a joy to have on the show. Be sure to check out her solo comedy show, "Cl*t Cult," premiering this April at New York Fringe. And don't worry... she promised to come back and tell us everything that happened at "the Land" after her show premieres. _____________________________________ GET TICKETS TO CL*T CULT April 2–10 at the Wild Project, East Village, NYC FOLLOW STAR For more from Star → Instagram @starstonespeaks | FOLLOW US For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected] | — | ||||||
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