Today we cover the docuseries THE VOW on HBO, the story of the whistleblowers who left the cult group NXIVM, started by “the smartest man in the world” Keith Raniere.

After a decade as a leader in NXIVM, Sarah Edmondson finds herself blindfolded and branded as part of an inner ring of women called DOS. Grooming women and controlling their weight Sarah is blackmailed with "collateral" and is desperate to take back her life. Along with Mark Vicente, their spouses, and actress Catherine Oxenberg, the small group of defectors sets about dismantling NXIVM with all the information they share.

Directed by Jehane Noujaim (Control Room, The Square) and Karim Amer (The Square, The Great Hack), this film relies on insiders revealing their own stories along with hours of archival footage. 

We are covering episodes 1 through 5, which are wild, and there will be spoilers in our conversation.

Johnny Pemberton is a comedian, actor, writer, mildly knowledgeable gardener, reggae enthusiast, and friend to both insects and mammals.

Johnny is the voice of ‘Peanut’ on the Disney XD show “PICKLE AND PEANUT”. He can be seen in the films “21 JUMP STREET” “22 JUMP STREET” “NEIGHBORS 2” “THE WATCH” “ANT MAN” “BAND OF ROBBERS” “THE 4th” “ACTION POINT” “TONE DEAF” and Armando Ianucci’s Oscar nominated film "IN THE LOOP". He plays 'Bo' on NBC’s "Superstore", 'Max' on season 4 of FXX's "You're the Worst", and 'Alangulon' on the FOX series “Son of Zorn”.

Johnny is a nationally touring comedian and host of the vanguard podcast “LIVE to TAPE” on Starburns Audio. He was born and raised in Rochester Minnesota. He lives in Los Angeles.

Follow Johnny on:

Twitter: @johnnypemberton

Instagram: @Johnny_pemberton

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