Welcome back fellow spiritually-homeless, skeptical seekers!

You're in for a treat. Why? Well, the Skeptical Shaman podcast is kicking off 2025 with a real bang: no more walking on eggshells, clenching our jaws, or tip-toeing through the metaphorical tulips of cognitive dissonance, coercive control, or mass formation psychosis!

Said another way? "Behold the field in which we grow our f*cks, for it is barren!"

To kick off this new season of the pod, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) interviews award-winning film maker and NXIVM cult survivor/ whistleblower Mark Vicente, prominently featured in the HBO documentary series 'The Vow'.

But Mark's not just a "cult survivor"-- he's actually a whole, dynamic human being that is currently leveraging his considerable talents as an author, speaker, and award-winning Writer/Director/Producer to create the film ‘Empathy Not Included’ (The Narcissist’s Playbook), a feature-length documentary exploring one of the most pervasive and often misunderstood mental pathologies in our culture: narcissism.

Shot in seven countries and viewed through the lens of four self-confessed, self-aware malignant narcissists who openly share the secrets of how they operate with uncensored candor, 'Empathy Not Included' follows their disturbing stories, juxtaposed with the growing body of wisdom from victims, survivors, scientists, and mental health professionals.

Previously, Mark unified his love of science, philosophy and film-making to create  the wildly successful independent film, “What the BLEEP do we Know?!”. He is also the host of the incredible podcast 'WTF is on my mind, with Mark Vicente"-- and the brain behind one of the funniest, sharpest Instagram accounts around.

Rachel's LINKS:
Rachel's Website: https://www.totemreadings.com
TOTEM Readings Substack: https://totemrach.substack.com
Rachel's Other Links: https://linktr.ee/totemrach
The TOTEM Flower Essence Deck: https://a.co/d/gw16LsG
The TOTEM Tarot Deck: https://www.amazon.com/TOTEM-Tarot-Deck-Rachel-White/dp/0578980126
The TOTEM Flower Essences: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TotemReadingsATX
TOTEM Spiritual Transformation Coaching: https://www.totemreadings.com/coaching
TOTEM Business of Woo Mentoring: https://www.totemreadings.com/business-of-woo

Mark's LINKS:
https://www.markvicente.com/
https://www.instagram.com/markvicente/
https://x.com/markvicente
https://www.empathynotincluded.com/
https://www.instagram.com/empathynotincluded/
Podcast: WTF is on my Mind?!
Youtube Channel

Please note: The views and opinions expressed on The Skeptical Shaman do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, protected class, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything. And remember: sticks and stones may break our bones, but words—or discussions of religious or spiritual topics-- will never hurt us.