Episode 64: You're young and struggling to make ends meet. Then you get invited to live in the lap of luxury in a place far away... with no guarantee of your safety. Writer Jillian Lauren recounts the events from her book Some Girls: My Life in a Harem as the guest of the Prince of Brunei, including how she was first recruited, how what she went through was similar to the Bachelor and the Hunger Games, the level of sadism she experienced, and the backlash received from her family for writing the book. If you have your own story about cults, high-control groups, manipulation, or abuse of power, shoot us an email at trustmepod@gmail.com. FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: @trustmepodcast @oohlalola @vibehigherbitch OR TWITTER: @trustmecultpod @ohlalolaSee <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

Episode 64: You're young and struggling to make ends meet. Then you get invited to live in the lap of luxury in a place far away... with no guarantee of your safety. Writer Jillian Lauren recounts the events from her book Some Girls: My Life in a Harem as the guest of the Prince of Brunei, including how she was first recruited, how what she went through was similar to the Bachelor and the Hunger Games, the level of sadism she experienced, and the backlash received from her family for writing the book. If you have your own story about cults, high-control groups, manipulation, or abuse of power, shoot us an email at trustmepod@gmail.com. FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: @trustmepodcast @oohlalola @vibehigherbitch OR TWITTER: @trustmecultpod @ohlalola See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 64: You're young and struggling to make ends meet. Then you get invited to live in the lap of luxury in a place far away... with no guarantee of your safety. Writer Jillian Lauren recounts the events from her book Some Girls: My Life in a Harem as the guest of the Prince of Brunei, including how she was first recruited, how what she went through was similar to the Bachelor and the Hunger Games, the level of sadism she experienced, and the backlash received from her family for writing the book. If you have your own story about cults, high-control groups, manipulation, or abuse of power, shoot us an email at trustmepod@gmail.com. FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: @trustmepodcast @oohlalola @vibehigherbitch OR TWITTER: @trustmecultpod @ohlalolaSee <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener" rel="noopener noreferrer">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

Jillian Lauren, Part 1 - Life in a Harem

Trust Me is a weekly interview podcast about cults, extreme belief, and the fine line between devotion and delusion&mdash;told through firsthand accounts from the people who lived it.&nbsp;Hosted by two women who&rsquo;ve been in cults themselves, Lola Blanc and Meagan Elizabeth, the show&nbsp;features survivors from groups like Heaven&rsquo;s Gate, the Manson Family, NXIVM, OneTaste and more&ndash;sharing personal stories of how they got in, how they got out, and everything in between.
Each week, they invite&nbsp;these guests&nbsp;alongside experts who can dive deep into seductive leaders, the darker aspects of organized religion, and the subtler shades of groupthink and the psychology of influence. Trust Me explores it all with unfiltered honesty, dark humor, and a lot of heart.&nbsp;This isn&rsquo;t a sensationalized deep dive into cults&mdash;it&rsquo;s a compassionate, first-person exploration of what it means to believe, to belong, and to break free.&nbsp;At the end of the day, wanting to believe in something bigger than yourself is one of the most human instincts there is.

Comedy

Society & Culture

True Crime

Trust Me is a weekly interview podcast about cults, extreme belief, and the fine line between devotion and delusion—told through firsthand accounts from the people who lived it. Hosted by two women who’ve been in cults themselves, Lola Blanc and Meagan Elizabeth, the show features survivors from groups like Heaven’s Gate, the Manson Family, NXIVM, OneTaste and more–sharing personal stories of how they got in, how they got out, and everything in between. Each week, they invite these guests alongside experts who can dive deep into seductive leaders, the darker aspects of organized religion, and the subtler shades of groupthink and the psychology of influence. Trust Me explores it all with unfiltered honesty, dark humor, and a lot of heart. This isn’t a sensationalized deep dive into cults—it’s a compassionate, first-person exploration of what it means to believe, to belong, and to break free. At the end of the day, wanting to believe in something bigger than yourself is one of the most human instincts there is.

Trust Me is a weekly interview podcast about cults, extreme belief, and the fine line between devotion and delusion—told through firsthand accounts from the people who lived it.&nbsp;Hosted by two women who’ve been in cults themselves, Lola Blanc and Meagan Elizabeth, the show&nbsp;features survivors from groups like Heaven’s Gate, the Manson Family, NXIVM, OneTaste and more–sharing personal stories of how they got in, how they got out, and everything in between.
Each week, they invite&nbsp;these guests&nbsp;alongside experts who can dive deep into seductive leaders, the darker aspects of organized religion, and the subtler shades of groupthink and the psychology of influence. Trust Me explores it all with unfiltered honesty, dark humor, and a lot of heart.&nbsp;This isn’t a sensationalized deep dive into cults—it’s a compassionate, first-person exploration of what it means to believe, to belong, and to break free.&nbsp;At the end of the day, wanting to believe in something bigger than yourself is one of the most human instincts there is.

Share Jillian Lauren, Part 1 - Life in a Harem

Sign up to save your podcasts

Jillian Lauren, Part 1 - Life in a Harem

Jillian Lauren, Part 1 - Life in a Harem

More shows like Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation

Do You Need A Ride? with Chris Fairbanks and Karen Kilgariff

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

Let's Talk About Sects

Cults

This Podcast Will Kill You

IndoctriNation

Something Was Wrong

Ghosted! by Roz Hernandez

Buried Bones - a historical true crime podcast with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes

Adulting with Michelle Buteau and Jordan Carlos

I Said No Gifts! A comedy interview podcast with Bridger Winegar

Bananas - Funny news from around the world with Scotty Landes and Kurt Braunohler

Leaving Eden Podcast

Dear Movies, I Love You

Wicked Words - A True Crime Talk Show with Kate Winkler Dawson

That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast

The Opportunist

A Little Bit Culty

Life After MLM

Sounds Like A Cult

Was I In A Cult?

Waiting for Impact

Nobody Should Believe Me

Scamfluencers

Cults to Consciousness

Infamous

The Cult Next Door

Infamous International: The Pink Panthers Story

The Butterfly King

The Knife: A True Crime Podcast