Matson Browning is a law enforcement officer who, along with his wife Tawni, spent years undercover infiltrating various hate groups to research and report on the rise of hate crimes and white supremacy in the United States. Together they wrote the book The Hate Next Door: Undercover Within the New Face of White Supremacy, which was published in July 2023.

What others dismissed as fringe groups, Matson quickly recognised as large and interconnected organisations permeating every facet of American society, effectively spreading their dangerous and repugnant rhetoric at unprecedented speeds. Now, with the violent polarisation in our communities and an increase in hate crimes, the threat posed by these toxic organisations feels as acute as ever.

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

Links:

• Matt & Tawni Browning — Matson and Tawni's website
• The Hate Next Door: Undercover Within the New Face of White Supremacy  — by Matson & Tawni Browning, Sourcebooks, 2023

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, and you can find resources outside of Australia at 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 iasp.info.

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

Yaakov Aharon and Shula Kirovsky’s lives in Sydney’s famous beach suburb of Bondi were lived largely separate from mainstream society, within the Chassidic sect of Chabad. Their families’ lifestyles were a world away from the fashionable bikini and boardshorts-wearing demographics usually associated with the area. Though Yaakov disconnected himself from the sect’s beliefs while he was still quite young, as a teenager he remained keen to join the Israel Defence Forces. Shula disengaged from her religious upbringing at the age of 19, when she was told it was time for her to get married.

Today, both Shula and Yaakov are involved with the Tzedek Collective, an anti-Zionist Jewish group currently attending Sydney’s pro-Palestine rallies every Sunday in Hyde Park and calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. For this episode, they share a selection of their experiences, including some of the things that changed their perspectives from the ideology they were brought up to believe in.

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

Links:

• Tzedek Collective — website, Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram
• The Shock Doctrine — by Naomi Klein, Penguin Books, 2007

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Rachel Bernstein is an LA-based therapist who has specialized in cult intervention and re-acclimation for over 30 years. She serves on the advisory board of the International Cultic Studies Association and has worked with the Department of Justice providing support to cult survivors. Over the years she has made many media appearances as a cult expert and is also the host of IndoctriNATION, a weekly podcast covering cults, manipulators, and protecting yourself from systems of control, where she has interviewed hundreds of cult survivors, journalists, and experts.

In this episode, Rachel speaks about some of her therapeutic approaches to those who are in cults or have exited them and offers some advice to loved ones on how they may be able to reach someone who has become enmeshed in one of these organisations.

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

Links:

• IndoctriNATION podcast — Rachel Bernstein's podcast
• Rachel Bernstein Therapy — Rachel's website which includes webinars and video lectures
• Now I Know — by Rachel Bernstein, Mascot Books, 2015
• Unique Ways to Reach Out to Loved Ones in Cultic Groups — by Rachel Bernstein, ICSA Today Vol. 12, No. 1, 2021

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, and you can find resources outside of Australia at 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 iasp.info.

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

Xenos was originally set up as a leaderless group that rejected the structures and trappings of mainstream churches. Springing forth from the Jesus Movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, it focused on meeting in people’s homes and embracing members from the youth counter-cultures. So why does the church’s own website admit to a history that involves cult-like behaviour? And how did it come to face allegations of manipulation and control that have been made by people who joined and left in completely different decades?

Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 6 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

• History of Dwell — Dwell website, accessed September 2023
• Coming Home: The Jesus People Movement In the Midwest And Their Attempts To Escape Fundamentalism — by Benjamin Williamson, Doctoral dissertation, University of Dayton, 2021
• An Organic Deception: The Xenos / Dwell Heresy Briefly Examined — by Reverend Rafael D Martinez, Director, Spiritwatch Ministries, undated, accessed September 2023
• Spiritwatch Response — by Dennis McCallum, Dwell website, undated, accessed September 2023
• Xenos critics say church is controlling — by Danae King, The Columbus Dispatch, 26 November 2018
• Dwell Community Church, Xenos Christian Fellowship: exploring how well-meaning individuals cause significant abuse through religious dogmatism — by Katie M. Reinaker, March 2022
• Inside the Megachurch That Has Ex-Members Screaming Cult — by Emily Shugerman, The Daily Beast, 21 May 2022
• Dwell's Response to The Daily Beast — by James M. Rochford, Dwell website, accessed September 2023
• ‘It’s really tragic’: Former members speak out against Columbus church — by Jamie Ostroff, NBC4, 21 February 2022

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

Xenos was originally set up as a leaderless group that rejected the structures and trappings of mainstream churches. Springing forth from the Jesus Movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, it focused on meeting in people’s homes and embracing members from the youth counter-cultures. So why does the church’s own website admit to a history that involves cult-like behaviour? And how did it come to face allegations of manipulation and control that have been made by people who joined and left in completely different decades?

Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 6 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

• History of Dwell — Dwell website, accessed September 2023
• Coming Home: The Jesus People Movement In the Midwest And Their Attempts To Escape Fundamentalism — by Benjamin Williamson, Doctoral dissertation, University of Dayton, 2021
• An Organic Deception: The Xenos / Dwell Heresy Briefly Examined — by Reverend Rafael D Martinez, Director, Spiritwatch Ministries, undated, accessed September 2023
• Spiritwatch Response — by Dennis McCallum, Dwell website, undated, accessed September 2023
• Xenos critics say church is controlling — by Danae King, The Columbus Dispatch, 26 November 2018
• Dwell Community Church, Xenos Christian Fellowship: exploring how well-meaning individuals cause significant abuse through religious dogmatism — by Katie M. Reinaker, March 2022
• Inside the Megachurch That Has Ex-Members Screaming Cult — by Emily Shugerman, The Daily Beast, 21 May 2022
• Dwell's Response to The Daily Beast — by James M. Rochford, Dwell website, accessed September 2023
• ‘It’s really tragic’: Former members speak out against Columbus church — by Jamie Ostroff, NBC4, 21 February 2022

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

In many ways, this theatre troupe and Fourth Way school became the most secretive this podcast has looked into yet. Most members didn’t know each other’s jobs, marital status, or even surnames. They didn’t see each other outside of what they referred to as ‘the work’, they didn’t know the classes they were going to each week had anything to do with the teachings of Russian philosophers, and they didn’t tell anyone outside what it was they were attending two nights each week.

Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now, and you can order Joe Gould's LTAS soundtrack album here.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 6 of Let's Talk About Sects. Head here to enter our competition to win a pair of ATH-SQ1TW Wireless Earbuds!

Links:

• Theater group, cult or stage? — by Jack Brooks, The San Francisco Progress, 22 December 1978
• Strange School — by Michael Taylor and Bernard Weiner, The San Francisco Chronicle, 23 December 1978
• ‘Theater of All Possibilities’ deserves a second look — by Jack Brooks, The San Francisco Progress, 10 January 1979
• My Life in a Cult — by Spencer L. Schneider, The East Hampton Star Magazine, 16 December 2019
• Manhattan Cult Story — Spencer Schneider’s blog ‘Exposing the Sharon Gans Cult’
• Manhattan Cult Story: My Unbelievable True Story of Sex, Crimes, Chaos, and Survival — by Spencer Schneider, Arcade Publishing, 2022
• Seeing Into the Heart of Things — Bette Leahy’s blog about OSG
• The Gentle Souls Revolution — Esther Friedman’s blog about ‘The School’
• The Gentle Souls Revolution — by Esther Friedman, GSR Healing Arts, 2023
• A Safety Guide For Gentle Souls w/Esther Friedman — IndoctriNation podcast with Rachel Bernstein, 30 August 2022

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

Andrew Pledger was raised in the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement, and after completing his homeschool education, attended Bob Jones University. He is the creator of the limited podcast Surviving Bob Jones University: A Christian Cult. His podcast explores the school’s history, the psychology of fundamentalism, the criteria for cults, and survivors’ experiences.

Full episode page here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, 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, 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.

Links:

• Surviving Bob Jones University: A Christian Cult — Andrew Pledger's podcast
• Andrew's Linktree
• Religious Trauma is Trauma — a fine art photo series by Andrew Pledger
• IndoctriNation podcast — with Rachel Bernstein

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

Sarah is a cult survivor, domestic violence survivor, and a survivor of trafficking and modern slavery. She wouldn’t have been able to name these things as she was experiencing them, or even for some time in the aftermath. Like many cult survivors, Sarah can draw a line between the coercive behaviours that she experienced in the high-demand organisation she was brought up in, KwaSizabantu, and the coercive behaviours of those who abused and exploited her later in life.

Now Sarah uses her experiences to advocate for change. She is a fierce defender of the rights of others and has recently launched Survivor Connections, a resource she built alongside survivors for others who have experienced exploitation to assist them with all the things she wishes she knew earlier on.

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

Links:

• Survivor Connections
• Australian Federal Police — link to report human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like practices (including forced marriage), or phone 131 AFP (131237)
• Mission of Malice: My Exodus from KwaSizabantu – by Erika Bornman, Penguin Random House South Africa, August 2021

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, and you can find resources outside of Australia at 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 iasp.info.

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

Carol Merchasin spent many years as an employment lawyer. She has also been a partner in the Philadelphia office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and director of Morgan Lewis Resources. She has conducted dozens of workplace investigations and taught investigative techniques to human resource professionals at many Fortune 50 companies. She has since joined McAllister Olivarius, where she heads up a practice covering sexual misconduct in religious, faith-based and spiritual communities.

Later in her career, Carol Merchasin was asked to take her investigative background and use it to investigate sexual abuse within various Buddhist and yoga communities. The response she received was one of open hostility – certain religious leaders were not interested in investigating or ensuring their members were safe. This led Carol to the realisation that corporate America, a segment of society not necessarily known for its high moral and ethical standards, was doing far better than religious America when it came to stamping out abuse.

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

Links:

• McAllister Olivarius
• Buddhist center in Eugene sued over rape accusation against master guru — by April Ehrlich, OPB, 19 April 2023
• Halifax Shambhala leader accused of sexually assaulting cook at Chilean dinner — by Brett Bundale, CBC, 11 July 2018
• Argentina Arrests Yoga Sex Abusive Teacher, 84 – Will US Follow Suit With Swami, 72? — by Frank Parlato, Frank Report, 15 November 2022

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, and you can find resources outside of Australia at 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 iasp.info.

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

Lisa Kendall spent the ages of 9-19 in The Move of God, Sam Fife's apocalyptic cult. Today, she devotes her time to working on policy changes that will help former cult members and children in high-demand organisations. For International Cult Awareness Month 2023, she updates us about her work with Counter Cult Coalition and the work of others in the counter-cult space.

Full episode page here. You can buy Joe Gould's LTAS soundtrack album Nobody Joins a Cult here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, 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, you can find support with or donate to Cult Information and Family Support if you’re in Australia, and you can find resources outside of Australia with the International Cultic Studies Association.

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.

• Counter Cult Coalition – Facebook page

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