Carol Merchasin is the newly appointed President of the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA). Drawing on decades of experience in law, investigations, and survivor advocacy, Carol has led inquiries into allegations of misconduct within prominent spiritual and religious organisations and has worked extensively with survivors of coercive control and abuse. Through her legal practice, public education efforts, and leadership at ICSA, she has become a leading voice on cultic abuse, human trafficking, labour exploitation, and the protection of vulnerable individuals within high-control environments.

In this interview episode, we chatted about the role of ICSA, where Carol sees the organisation going next, what's upcoming at the 2026 ICSA Conference in July, and some of the trends and shifts the organisation is seeing with coercive groups, holding them to account, and the media landscape.

Links

• International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) — official website
• ICSA Conference 2026 — 1-4 July, San Diego USA

Credits:

Produced by Sarah Steel

Music by Joe Gould

You can support Let's Talk About Sects here. If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, you can find support with or donate to Cult Information and Family Support if you’re in Australia (via cifs.org.au), and you can find resources outside of Australia with the International Cultic Studies Association (via internationalculticstudies.org). If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention website at iasp.info. Find Sarah's audiobook Do As I Say here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hoyt Richards spent over two decades in Eternal Values, after first meeting the man who called himself Frederick von Mierers on a beach at the age of 16. Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult, out now on HBO Max with episodes releasing weekly, explores Hoyts’ journey alongside other actors and models of the era, and Hoyt has spent the years since his exit dedicated to educating people about the red flags to watch out for so that they don’t ever have to go through the experience that he did.

When Hoyt finally left Eternal Values, at the age of 37 and years after Freddie himself had died, it wasn’t because he had realised it was a cult; he had hit rock bottom, felt like he wasn’t up to the group’s work and was letting everyone down. Until he reconnected with fellow former member, actor and filmmaker Dar Dixon, and they started examining their experiences more deeply together, he really didn’t know exactly what had happened to him – even though cult accusations had been brought against the group for years.

Links

• Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult — HBO Max
• Hoyt Richards — official website, including Hoyt's cult education work
• East Side Alien — by Marie Brenner, Vanity Fair, March 1990
• Hoyt Richards IMDB profile

Credits:

Produced by Sarah Steel

Music by Joe Gould

You can support Let's Talk About Sects here. If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, you can find support with or donate to Cult Information and Family Support if you’re in Australia (via www.cifs.org.au), and you can find resources outside of Australia with the International Cultic Studies Association (via www.icsahome.com). If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention website at www.iasp.info. Find Sarah's audiobook Do As I Say here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When we talk about cults, we tend to picture the ones that make headlines: isolated compounds, charismatic leaders, dramatic exits. But what about the church down the street? The one with the worship band and the small groups and the Instagram presence? In this episode, Sam Sellers and Elise Heerde, co-founders of the Religious Trauma Collective, talk about what happens when coercive control operates inside institutions that look, from the outside, like ordinary community. We also touch on evangelical support for Trump in the USA, and how Australia is not immune from those who would like to see a theocracy here.

Links

• Religious Trauma Collective — official website
• RTC Annual Online Event — running 19-21 June 2026
• Sam Sellers — Anchored Counselling Services
• Elise Heerde — official website

Credits:

Produced by Sarah Steel

Music by Joe Gould

You can support Let's Talk About Sects here. If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, you can find support with or donate to Cult Information and Family Support if you’re in Australia (via www.cifs.org.au), and you can find resources outside of Australia with the International Cultic Studies Association (via www.icsahome.com). Find Sarah's audiobook Do As I Say here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sphinx Spiritual takes instruction from a council of entities that includes Leonardo da Vinci, Lady Di, Sir Francis Bacon, Mahatma Ghandi, an alien called Zootor, and married Mornington Peninsula couple Ian and Pearl Rogers. Forum posts dating back to 2012 allege that the organisation is run as a cult. And the operation goes back long before this – but it’s only now that former members have started speaking out.

Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.

If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.

Credits:

Written and hosted by Sarah Steel

Music by Joe Gould

Links:

• Legislative Assembly Victoria Clerk of the Papers — Notices of Questions, Volume 4, Session 1988-92
• Legislative Assembly Victoria Clerk of the Papers — Notices of Questions, Volume 3, Session 1988-91
• ‘To strike a balance’: A History of Victoria’s Workers’ Compensation Scheme, 1985–2010 — by Marianna Stylianou, Monash University, June 2011
• WorkCare funds $2m lawsuit against ABC — by Paul Robinson, The Age, 17 November 1991
• Lengthy defamation case draws to close — by Paul Robinson, The Age, 22 March 1992
• ROUX AND OTHERS v AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING COMMISSION [1992] 2 VR 577 — BYRNE J., 13 Mar 1992, Victorian Reports
• Public Service ‘spy’ wins compo claim — by Gay Alcorn, The Age, 2 December 1990
• Who are the Council? - more than 7 Historical icons! — Sphinx Spiritual YouTube channel, 31 March 2023
• Inside the Sphinx Spiritual School — A Current Affair, 16 February 2026
• Inside the controversial spiritual school run by former detectives — by Sam Cucchiara, A Current Affair, 16 February 2026
• The 11 Spiritual Values - Revealed! — Sphinx Spiritual YouTube channel, 17 February 2023
• The Wisdom of Crazy Horse — Ian Rogers’ blog with posts dating back to April 2012, visited April 2026
• sphinxspiritual.com.au Ian and Pearl Rogers — Cult Education Institute forum posts dating from 22 September 2012
• Spiritual LoveMatch — various archived versions of the Sphinx Spiritual dating platform website between 2015 and 2018
• Pythagoras Investing — archived versions of the official website
• Stock Nostradamus — archived versions of the official website
• Everything you must know about Sphinx Spiritual School of Learning — by Amelia Swan & Brooke Grebert-Craig, Herald Sun, 4 January 2026
• Former student of Sphinx Spiritual School of Learning speaks after leaving controversial sect — by Brooke Grebert-Craig & Amelia Swan, Herald Sun, 5 January 2026
• The mystical Mornington Peninsula sect drawing in wealthy, single women — by Brooke Grebert-Craig & Amelia Swan, Herald Sun, 4 January 2026
• FYI - THIS IS VERY RARE! If you want to see a true High Maintenance relationship at work - look at Ian & Pearl! — Sphinx Spiritual Facebook post attributed to Ian Rogers, 21 May 2016
• Anyone come across the Sphinx Spiritual cult? — Reddit thread dating back to 13 January 2022
• A warning about a widespread, local "Spiritual School". — Reddit thread dating from 2 November 2025
• Posts by Jamie123 — Cult Education Institute forum posts about Sphinx Spiritual dating from 24 March 2024
• Sphinx Spiritual Surgery — Sphinx Spiritual School of Learning Facebook video, 4 July 2025
• Spiritual Surgery — Sphinx Spiritual School of Learning page about the modality, visited April 2026
• Parenting Spiritually: In support of your child — by Ian & Pearl Rogers, 2013

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A spiritual school in Victoria teaches that we each have a spiritual guide who we can rely on to help us through life, and that the couple who run the school – Ian and Pearl Rogers – sit on a council alongside entities who have lived many lifetimes before this one. Students are lucky enough to gain access to incredible knowledge through this council, which boasts Leonardo Da Vinci, Mahatma Gandhi, and Lady Di amongst its members. But forum posts dating back to 2012 allege that Sphinx Spiritual has been operating as a cult for many years. It’s only now that former members have started speaking out.

Part 2 is already available to Patreon supporters, and will be released on the main feed on Wednesday 27 May.

Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.

If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.

Credits:

Written and hosted by Sarah Steel

Music by Joe Gould

Links:

• Legislative Assembly Victoria Clerk of the Papers — Notices of Questions, Volume 4, Session 1988-92
• Legislative Assembly Victoria Clerk of the Papers — Notices of Questions, Volume 3, Session 1988-91
• ‘To strike a balance’: A History of Victoria’s Workers’ Compensation Scheme, 1985–2010 — by Marianna Stylianou, Monash University, June 2011
• WorkCare funds $2m lawsuit against ABC — by Paul Robinson, The Age, 17 November 1991
• Lengthy defamation case draws to close — by Paul Robinson, The Age, 22 March 1992
• ROUX AND OTHERS v AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING COMMISSION [1992] 2 VR 577 — BYRNE J., 13 Mar 1992, Victorian Reports
• Public Service ‘spy’ wins compo claim — by Gay Alcorn, The Age, 2 December 1990
• Who are the Council? - more than 7 Historical icons! — Sphinx Spiritual YouTube channel, 31 March 2023
• Inside the Sphinx Spiritual School — A Current Affair, 16 February 2026
• Inside the controversial spiritual school run by former detectives — by Sam Cucchiara, A Current Affair, 16 February 2026
• The 11 Spiritual Values - Revealed! — Sphinx Spiritual YouTube channel, 17 February 2023
• The Wisdom of Crazy Horse — Ian Rogers’ blog with posts dating back to April 2012, visited April 2026
• sphinxspiritual.com.au Ian and Pearl Rogers — Cult Education Institute forum posts dating from 22 September 2012
• Spiritual LoveMatch — various archived versions of the Sphinx Spiritual dating platform website between 2015 and 2018
• Pythagoras Investing — archived versions of the official website
• Stock Nostradamus — archived versions of the official website
• Everything you must know about Sphinx Spiritual School of Learning — by Amelia Swan & Brooke Grebert-Craig, Herald Sun, 4 January 2026
• Former student of Sphinx Spiritual School of Learning speaks after leaving controversial sect — by Brooke Grebert-Craig & Amelia Swan, Herald Sun, 5 January 2026
• The mystical Mornington Peninsula sect drawing in wealthy, single women — by Brooke Grebert-Craig & Amelia Swan, Herald Sun, 4 January 2026
• FYI - THIS IS VERY RARE! If you want to see a true High Maintenance relationship at work - look at Ian & Pearl! — Sphinx Spiritual Facebook post attributed to Ian Rogers, 21 May 2016
• Anyone come across the Sphinx Spiritual cult? — Reddit thread dating back to 13 January 2022
• A warning about a widespread, local "Spiritual School". — Reddit thread dating from 2 November 2025
• Posts by Jamie123 — Cult Education Institute forum posts about Sphinx Spiritual dating from 24 March 2024
• Sphinx Spiritual Surgery — Sphinx Spiritual School of Learning Facebook video, 4 July 2025
• Spiritual Surgery — Sphinx Spiritual School of Learning page about the modality, visited April 2026
• Parenting Spiritually: In support of your child — by Ian & Pearl Rogers, 2013

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps, or ACMTC, is a hardline fringe religious cult that was led by a former hippie who went by the name Deborah Green. In The Oracle’s Daughter, author Harrison Hill tells the story of the group through the experiences of three women: Deborah, the self-proclaimed oracle; Maura, who nursed Deborah’s ailing brother and became one of her first followers; and Sarah, the oracle’s daughter of the title.

The group’s practices included harsh punishments of children and extreme forms of exorcism, and its crimes included kidnapping and abuse. Through his book, Harrison examines the dwindling gap between the fringe and the mainstream in the United States, and shows how we may be much more vulnerable to extremism than we think.

Links

• The Oracle's Daughter — by Harrison Hill, Scribner, April 2026
• The Oracle’s Daughter: Sarah Green escaped her mother’s cult 22 years ago. She still thinks about those she left behind. — by Harrison Hill, The Cut, 8 June 2021
• harrisonhill.me — Harrison's website

Credits:

Produced by Sarah Steel

Music by Joe Gould

You can support Let's Talk About Sects here. If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, you can find support with or donate to Cult Information and Family Support if you’re in Australia (via www.cifs.org.au), and you can find resources outside of Australia with the International Cultic Studies Association (via www.icsahome.com). Find Sarah's audiobook Do As I Say here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The ABC’s internationally award-winning podcast Expanse, exploring big stories from across Australia, looked at the mysterious case of the Nannup Four for its sixth season. Host Dominique Bayens investigated the 2007 disappearance of Chantelle and Leela McDougall, Tony Popic, and a man known as Simon Kadwill from the town of Nannup in Western Australia. Simon was actually a name taken on by a man called Gary Felton who led a doomsday group called The Truth Fellowship. Dominique spoke with Let’s Talk About Sects about the series in March, and is back to give us an update and a way that listeners may be able to help the families and loved ones left behind.

Links

• Help find the Nannup Four — Barry McIntosh's fundraiser
• Last chance for answers in Nannup Four cold case as police admit search error — by Dominique Bayens, ABC News, 21 April 2026
• Expanse: The Nannup Four — Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2026

You can support Let's Talk About Sects here. Find Sarah's audiobook Do As I Say here. If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, you can find support with or donate to Cult Information and Family Support if you’re in Australia (via www.cifs.org.au), and you can find resources outside of Australia with the International Cultic Studies Association (via www.icsahome.com). If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention website at www.iasp.info.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fai West was just 10 years old when she was first introduced to the teachings of Soulaire Allerai and the Soulful Journey. A few years later, as a teenager in high school, she found herself living in Soulaire’s basement, sleep deprived from attending multiple late-night classes and channelings of an omniscient being known as ‘G’, and learning about her own presence in a future dimension called The 99.

Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.

If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.

If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

Credits:

Written and hosted by Sarah Steel

Music by Joe Gould

Links:

• Being: The Soulful Journey  — by Soulaire Allerai, FriesenPress, December 2023
• Being: Transformation Begins With… — by Lynn Young, Master Path Publishing, March 2007
• Soulful Journey — website, accessed February 2026
• Living Faith Spiritual Community — ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer listing, accessed February 2026\
• Getting Real with Soulaire — Podbay episode shownotes, accessed February 2026
• An Interview with Lynn Young (Master Soulaire) — by Tim Miejan, Edge Magazine, 1 October 2008
• Lynn Young, Interview — by Tim Miejan, Edge Magazine, 1 October 2007
• soulaireallerai.com — archived website from 28 February 2021
• Inspiring Conversations with Soulaire Allerai of Bad Rooster Food Truck — Voyage Minnesota, 24 March 2022
• Soulful Journey® Wellness Center — archived website page from 12 August 2025
• Family, former followers, claim food truck finances a Minnetonka cult — by Tom Lyden, FOX 9, 28 August 2022
• Bad Rooster Responds: It’s because of our success — by Tom Lyden, FOX 9, 30 August 2022
• Bad Rooster LLC and Soulaire Allerai vs Kelly Ring Abedi and Angela Marie Hummelgard — Minnesota Judicial Branch Court Records Online, document search conducted for Case Number: 27-CV-22-10996 and documents viewed March 2026
• Minnetonka food truck co-owner sues two sisters over cult accusations — by Kim Hyatt, The Minnesota Star Tribune, 28 July 2022
• Families accuse Minnesota food truck of funding New Age ‘cult’ that ‘brainwashes’ members — by Josh Marcus, The Independent (UK), 1 September 2022
• Judge dismisses 'cult' lawsuit filed by food trucks — by Tom Lyden, FOX 9, 21 July 2023
• ‘Abuse, Fear, and Gaslighting’: Ex-Members on Life in Food Truck Owner’s ‘Cult-Like’ Group — by Kate Briquelet, The Daily Beast, 14 September 2022
• Community Highlights: Meet Soulaire Allerai of Bad Rooster Food Truck — Voyage Minnesota, 18 December 2025
• Kelly Abedi’s Facebook post — about Bad Rooster from 7 July 2022 that she continues to update with developments
• Living Faith Instagram — accessed February/March 2026
• The Soulful Journey Instagram — accessed February/March 2026
• Bad Rooster Instagram — accessed February/March 2026
• Living Faith Spiritual Community website — accessed February/March 2026
• Soulful Journey Facebook page — accessed February 2026
• Bad Rooster Truck Facebook page — accessed February 2026
• Bad Rooster website — accessed February/March 2026
• Popular Food Truck Accused of Luring Women Into a ‘Cult’ — by Kate Briquelet, Daily Beast, 5 September 2022
• 'The Journey Comes First': More family members make claims against Bad Rooster — by Tom Lyden, FOX 9, 13 September 2022
• Meet Soulaire Allerai — Canvas Rebel, 2 September 2025
• Minnetonka food truck owner asks judge to stop sisters from making public cult accusations — by Kim Hyatt, The Minnesota Star Tribune, 24 September 2022

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The sentences just came down for OneTaste’s founder Nicole Daedone and her second-in-command Rachel Cherwitz – if you're unfamiliar with OneTaste you can listen to Let's Talk About Sects' deep dive in November 2020. From that episode, you may remember Ruwan Meepagala. When he spoke with LTAS five years ago, Ruwan had already been working on his memoir, which he finished writing and released last year. It’s called ORGSM: A Memoir. The sentencing was the perfect opportunity to revisit Ruwan's story and find out how his perspective has shifted over the intervening years.

Credits:

Written and hosted by Sarah Steel

Music by Joe Gould

Links

• Founder of ‘orgasmic meditation’ company gets nine years in prison in forced labor conspiracy — Associated Press, The Guardian, 31 March 2026
• ORGSM: A Memoir — by Ruwan Meepagala, Subversalist Publishing, October 2025
• Ruwando.com — Ruwan Meepagala's website

You can support Let's Talk About Sects here. If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, you can find support with or donate to Cult Information and Family Support if you’re in Australia (via www.cifs.org.au), and you can find resources outside of Australia with the International Cultic Studies Association (via www.icsahome.com). Find Sarah's audiobook Do As I Say here. With thanks to Money Saver Home Loans, supporting partner for this episode of Let's Talk About Sects.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Expanse is the ABC’s internationally award-winning podcast exploring big stories from across Australia, and it’s sixth season sees host Dominique Bayens investigate the unsettling circumstances surrounding the 2007 disappearance of four people from the town of Nannup in Western Australia: Chantelle and Leila McDougall, Tony Popic, and a man known as Simon Kadwill. Simon espoused a doomsday belief system in online forums and through his book, Servers of the Divine Plan. And when it came to his relationship with the much younger Chantelle, many close to her had noticed his controlling behaviours.

Links

• Expanse: The Nannup Four — Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2026
• The curious case of the Nannup Four — by Dominique Bayens for the Expanse podcast, ABC, 7 March 2026

You can support Let's Talk About Sects here. If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, you can find support with or donate to Cult Information and Family Support if you’re in Australia (via www.cifs.org.au), and you can find resources outside of Australia with the International Cultic Studies Association (via www.icsahome.com). Find Sarah's audiobook Do As I Say here. With thanks to Money Saver Home Loans, supporting partner for this episode of Let's Talk About Sects.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.