This week I welcome back cult survivor Jen Kiaba, who also happens to be doing the same Masters program I am in the psychology of coercive control. Jen and I talk about walking away from a cult and what that takes, as it’s not as easy as some seem to think. We go into what keeps people in and also I get to talk more about critical thinking. Enjoy!

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This week I welcome Sarah Edmondson – actress, author, podcaster and survivor of NXIVM – to talk turkey about her experiences and the aftermath of having helped put away the cult leader of NXIVM, Keith Raniere. She was on the front lines of the FBI investigation that resulted in Raniere’s extradiction from Mexico and ultimate sentence of over 100 years in federal prison, as well as his primary aides at the top level, all of whom we discuss in the show. Enjoy!

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This week I do a little compare and contrast between the ethics and core purpose of counselling versus Scientology auditing and offer some insights from my graduate thesis research into why Scientology auditing can be so bad for people. Enjoy!

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This week we suffered the death of our cat, Seven, and this brought about some reflections about the five stages of grief and how they relate to my cult recovery which I thought important enough to share. I hope you agree and I hope that sharing my experience might help others with theirs.

Here’s the article I read from during the show.

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This week I welcome back Jon Atack for another wide-ranging and important conversation about “stupid people” joining cults, thought reform and “mind control”, sociology, critical thinking and a lot of commentary on what all this has to do with you and me. Enjoy!

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This week I welcome Jen Kiaba, a woman who grew up in the Moonies, escaped and is now doing the same academic coercive control program I am doing at Salford. We have a very wide-ranging discussion about her own experience in the Moonies, how education has helped her in recovery and a lot more on coercive control. Enjoy!

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This week we give some updates on Scientology on the legal front which happened this week and then we get into the subject of “leadership” in Scientology and how authoritarian attitudes are baked in to its DNA. Enjoy!

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This week is the beginning of a slightly new direction in my fight against cults and what may end up being a fight I continue into the future. That battle is against the outright refusal on the part of certain important social sciences and scholars to listen to or even consider the testimonials and information provided by former cult members such as myself, resulting in cult disinformation being propagated throughout academia. I feel this is important enough to share with everyone because I believe it affects everyone and is directly related to Scientology as well as a number of other high-control group. I did my best to make this interesting and I hope I succeeded. Enjoy!

Papers I cited in this show:

Kent and Swanson paper on apostates

Seeing Apostates Clearly by Michael Thorne

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This week I am joined by Ciprian Ivanof to discuss critical thinking and how it is that conspiracy theorists say they are using good critical thinking skills when they clearly are not. We dive into why this happens and what is going on in their heads. Enjoy!

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This week I took a break from interviews to discuss something important that I wish someone had talked to me about when I first got out of Scientology and which I’ve had to learn (as every other ex-cultists does) and that is navigating the world of the ex-cult community. It’s not for the faint of heart! I hope this podcast will help anyone who has ever felt estranged and alone in a community of like-minded people. I’m quite sure I’m not the only one who has had these issues. Enjoy!

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