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About Today's Episode:
Our guest is Margarit Davtian, a social science researcher and content creator passionate about social change innovation. She actively works to raise consumer awareness about cult of personalities in the media, high-control group dynamics, unethical marketing practices, medical misinformation, and other dangers that live at the intersection of politics, business, and mental health.

Margarit shares her story about joining, living in and eventually leaving the infamous Osho Cult. She goes on to share the “yellow flags” that she saw along the way & how many of today’s wellness and self-help leaders display these same flags.

You can find Margarit & her work here:
Substack: seekwithser.substack.com
Instagram: @seekwithser

Leave us a voice message: https://www.speakpipe.com/TheCultNextDoor

Join our Patreon: patreon.com/TheCultNextDoorPodcast

About Today's Episode:
Our guest is Margarit Davtian, a social science researcher and content creator passionate about social change innovation. She actively works to raise consumer awareness about cult of personalities in the media, high-control group dynamics, unethical marketing practices, medical misinformation, and other dangers that live at the intersection of politics, business, and mental health.

Margarit shares her story about joining, living in and eventually leaving the infamous Osho Cult. She goes on to share the “yellow flags” that she saw along the way & how many of today’s wellness and self-help leaders display these same flags.

You can find Margarit & her work here:
Substack: seekwithser.substack.com
Instagram: @seekwithser

Leave us a voice message: https://www.speakpipe.com/TheCultNextDoor

Join our Patreon: patreon.com/TheCultNextDoorPodcast

About Today's Episode:
In this episode, Mitzi and Jordan dive into the messy reality of leaving high-control religious environments and the "rot at the core" of systems that prioritize conformity over people. They reflect on the absurdity of purity culture—specifically revisiting a bizarre 1990s abstinence film—and how those teachings instill a deep-seated fear of "true freedom."

The conversation shifts into the personal work of deconstruction: learning to trust your own "lizard brain" again, the speed of self-forgiveness, and the importance of refusing to stay inside the "fucking little box" religious leaders build for you. From critiques of creationist logic to the healing power of art and self-acceptance after a cancer diagnosis, the episode is a raw look at what it actually takes to "come home to yourself" and live a life no longer defined by shame.

Leave us a voice message: https://www.speakpipe.com/TheCultNextDoor

Join our Patreon: patreon.com/TheCultNextDoorPodcast

About Today's Episode:

Jordan and Mitzi return to share the exhausting reality of living under the constant surveillance of church leadership, where every personal choice—from the music you listen to, to the "wrong kinds of kids" you attract to your youth group—is subject to an invisible social scorecard.

They pull back the curtain on the "engineered exhaustion" of a lifestyle that demands you over-spiritualize every tiny aspect of your existence until you are left policing your own thoughts just to stay in line with the mission. The conversation dives deep into the specific pressures of the "pastor’s wife" identity, with Mitzi reflecting on the era when she was expected to be an "over-nurturing" extension of Jordan’s career while her own successful boudoir photography business was viewed as a problem to be defended to the elders.

Jordan recounts the intellectual and emotional breaking point of trying to maintain a "perfect" ministry image while navigating the trauma of purity culture.

Jordan and Mitzi describe the profound relief found in walking away from the pressure to be a "little version of God" and choosing instead to live a life that is finally, authentically theirs.

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We’re back! After being on break since last Halloween, we’re finally jumping back in to "get our feet wet" and remember how our microphones work. 

In this episode, we catch you up on our seven-month hiatus, from finishing a master’s in counseling to our travels in Paris and the culture shock of returning to the U.S.

We also have a real conversation about the "felt sense" of navigating high-control patterns in today’s world and share the lifelines keeping us grounded—like baking two dozen baguettes and our new obsession with "thinking putty".

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Welcome back for a spooky episode that digs into the absolute dread of our childhood Halloweens!We kick off with teachings warning that a "prowling lion" (Satan) is out to devour us, and that our children must not "identify with the pagan holiday" of trick-or-treating.

We then reveal the extreme fear culture we were raised in, where everything from an antique ring to a shadow in the yard was proof of demons.The irony is strong as we contrast that paranoia with our current, joyous obsession with spooky season (complete with elaborate costumes and yard decorations!). Hear the deeply personal stories of being taught to "rebuke the demons" in dark rooms as kids.

Join us for a bizarre, healing, and honest look at how one group taught that, for them, Everything is Demons!

😱 Scary news... but only for a week!

We’re taking a short break from releasing episodes, but don’t worry — we’ll be back next week with our Halloween special: Everything Is Demons. 👻

In this one, we’re diving into the fear, superstition, and control that came from being told the world was full of demons — and how that shaped the way we saw everything from movies to music to holidays.
So stay tuned, and maybe keep a light on… this one gets a little eerie. 🖤

#TheCultNextDoor #Halloween #EverythingIsDemons #PodcastUpdate #SpiritualAbuse #ReligiousTrauma #CultAwareness