WhaTheFlok?! “Cult Survival Stories”

So excited to introduce Tracy Nusbaum to you in Part One of a two-parter “After Hours” episode. Of course, our “After Hours” episodes are more informal, and usually involve ‘no holds barred’ dialogue AND several glasses of wine! And good Lordy, there was no holding back in this conversation! Chele, Nixie, and Tracy hadn’t all been together for over 20 years from their old ICOC (cult) days, so the memories, stories, outrage, (and wine) was flowing generously!

The types of mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually damaging experiences that Tracy lived through in the ICOC are shocking and traumatizing. But more importantly, Tracy is such an amazing example of someone who has come out on the other side—stronger, clearer, and entirely whole. She is nothing short of an inspiration, and she has always been a touchstone and true friend to Chele. Tracy is such an incredible example of taking your circumstances and turning it into something beautiful, and is now remarried to a wonderful man with four amazing children!

Tracy has the best memory of the bunch and was able to remind Chele about so many disturbing things that she had blocked out. And they get into more of that in Part Two, the next episode, so be sure to tune in to next week’s episode as well! Thank you Tracy for being the feisty Latina that you are!

One disclaimer: Chele mispronounces Matthew Wolpert‘s last name several times in this episode. His last name is Wolpert and not Wolten. Sorry Matthew, let’s blame it on the wine! Haha

#IGotOut #FreeFromICOC

Visit our website at https://whatheflok.com

Follow us on Social:

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Twitter - https://twitter.com/WhaTheFlok

Youtube - http://hyperurl.co/a1615r

Executive Producers:

Chele Roland, Hoyt Richards and Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Production Partners:

In Ohm Entertainment and Floating Downstream Inc.

http://inohment.com

Theme song: “Get Me Through the Night,” provided by JES and Intonenation Records

http://OfficialJES.com and http://intonenationrecords.com

Director & Editor:

Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Additional Sound Editing and Re-Recording Mixer:

Tom Fritze

Website and Graphics:

Melissa McKeehan and Mike McKeehan

Social Media Team:

Melody Joy Conte, Krystal Nunez and Kira Sutherland

*The opinions and observations expressed on any WhaTheFlok recordings, channels, social media platforms and website do not reflect any official position or viewpoint of the podcast. Our guests and experts are simply exercising their right to freedom of speech and sharing personal opinions, based on their own individual experiences and/or formal training. None of the opinions or experiences shared are meant to offend or malign any individuals, organizations, businesses, or religions.

Hosted By Hoyt Richards & Chele Roland

Welcome back to Part Two of Matthew Wolpert’s conversation with us about his experience in the ICOC cult. As we learned in part one, Matthew bravely leaked the whistle-blowing letter from inside the London group. 

After one of Matthew’s best friends in the group committed suicide, it was the last awakening he needed. 

One of our favorite parts of this episode is near the very end where Matthew helps isolate the fact that the ICOC claims that they “have changed” and aren’t cult-like anymore—But if that was the case, they would truly own up to what they have done, and offer a different narrative and apologize at every opportunity they got. But yet they continue to gaslight and defend themselves with comments like: “It’s not the ICOC that you have problems with, it’s the Bible you have problems with, as God does demand we surrender our whole lives, and you simply aren’t strong enough to follow!”

Yep…their overall arrogance and judgment remains the same, very clearly showing that the ICOC is still an indoctrinated and destructive group. 

Thank you Matthew Wolpert for building a bridge that helped so many cross over to the truth—by revealing what this group was, and still is, doing! 

#FreeFromICOC #IGotOut

Visit our website at https://whatheflok.com

Follow us on Social:

Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@whatheflok

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/whatheflok

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/whatheflok

Twitter - https://twitter.com/WhaTheFlok

Youtube - http://hyperurl.co/a1615r

Executive Producers:

Chele Roland, Hoyt Richards and Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Production Partners:

In Ohm Entertainment and Floating Downstream Inc.

http://inohment.com

Filmed, Recorded and Mixed:

Pink Clouds Studio

Theme song: “Get Me Through the Night,” provided by JES and Intonenation Records

http://OfficialJES.com and http://intonenationrecords.com

Director & Editor:

Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Camera:

Vishvak Prakkruth

Production Assistant:

Sarah Scheiman

Sound Recording:

Gerardo Serrano;

Additional Sound Editing and Re-Recording Mixer:

Tom Fritze

Website and Graphics:

Melissa McKeehan and Mike McKeehan

Social Media Team:

Melody Joy Conte, Krystal Nunez and Kira Sutherland

*The opinions and observations expressed on any WhaTheFlok recordings, channels, social media platforms and website do not reflect any official position or viewpoint of the podcast. Our guests and experts are simply exercising their right to freedom of speech and sharing personal opinions, based on their own individual experiences and/or formal training. None of the opinions or experiences shared are meant to offend or malign any individuals, organizations, businesses, or religions.

Hosted By Hoyt Richards & Chele Roland

We are so thrilled to share Part One of our two episodes with Matthew Wolpert! Matthew joined us from across the pond, from a lovely town outside of London. Matthew was a part of the ICOC in England for 15 years, the same cult Chele was in, here in LA. The ICOC still boasts an international membership of over 120,000 people. Matthew’s story is illuminating for many reasons, but maybe most notably because he spurred the whistleblowing op-Ed type of letter that blew the doors off this cult’s questionable, abusive, and hidden practices & beliefs. The letter he helped to leak ultimately led to the awakening of a large portion of the cult’s membership, and a mass exodus occurred. Matthew “tees up” the scenario in this ‘part one’ episode, and is nothing short of a hero, creating a pathway of freedom for many thousands of people! 

#FreeFromICOC #IGotOut

Visit our website at https://whatheflok.com

Follow us on Social:

Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@whatheflok

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/whatheflok

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/whatheflok

Twitter - https://twitter.com/WhaTheFlok

Youtube - http://hyperurl.co/a1615r

Executive Producers:

Chele Roland, Hoyt Richards and Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Production Partners:

In Ohm Entertainment and Floating Downstream Inc.

http://inohment.com

Filmed, Recorded and Mixed:

Pink Clouds Studio

Theme song: “Get Me Through the Night,” provided by JES and Intonenation Records

http://OfficialJES.com and http://intonenationrecords.com

Director & Editor:

Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Camera:

Vishvak Prakkruth

Production Assistant:

Sarah Scheiman

Sound Recording:

Gerardo Serrano;

Additional Sound Editing and Re-Recording Mixer:

Tom Fritze

Website and Graphics:

Melissa McKeehan and Mike McKeehan

Social Media Team:

Melody Joy Conte, Krystal Nunez and Kira Sutherland

*The opinions and observations expressed on any WhaTheFlok recordings, channels, social media platforms and website do not reflect any official position or viewpoint of the podcast. Our guests and experts are simply exercising their right to freedom of speech and sharing personal opinions, based on their own individual experiences and/or formal training. None of the opinions or experiences shared are meant to offend or malign any individuals, organizations, businesses, or religions.

Hosted By Hoyt Richards & Chele Roland

Welcome to our Season One Recap! Hoyt and Chele answer questions and comments from Season One, and talk about what they have learned about their evolving understanding and appreciation for creating a safe space for all types of survivors of cultic relationships. 

They highlight questions such as: 

How do you know when you’re ready to talk about your survival story publicly? 

Answer: You know that you’re ready to share your story, when you’re able to “wear your experience like a badge,” and are proud of the fact that you’ve made it to the other side...without feeling the need to defend yourself or “fix your reputation.” The bottom line is that you’re ready when you no longer care what anyone thinks of you.

#IGotOut

Visit our website at https://whatheflok.com

Follow us on Social:

Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@whatheflok

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/whatheflok

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/whatheflok

Twitter - https://twitter.com/WhaTheFlok

Youtube - http://hyperurl.co/a1615r

Executive Producers:

Chele Roland, Hoyt Richards and Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Production Partners:

In Ohm Entertainment and Floating Downstream Inc.

http://inohment.com

Theme song: “Get Me Through the Night,” provided by JES and Intonenation Records

http://OfficialJES.com and http://intonenationrecords.com

Director & Editor:

Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Additional Sound Editing and Re-Recording Mixer:

Tom Fritze

Website and Graphics:

Melissa McKeehan and Mike McKeehan

Social Media Team:

Melody Joy Conte, Krystal Nunez and Kira Sutherland

*The opinions and observations expressed on any WhaTheFlok recordings, channels, social media platforms and website do not reflect any official position or viewpoint of the podcast. Our guests and experts are simply exercising their right to freedom of speech and sharing personal opinions, based on their own individual experiences and/or formal training. None of the opinions or experiences shared are meant to offend or malign any individuals, organizations, businesses, or religions.

Hosted By Hoyt Richards & Chele Roland

Our episode 10 is Part 2 with the inspiring and courageous Spanky Taylor and Tory Christman! Two of the earliest whistle blowers and escapees from the Scientology cult. The events they share while inside of, and during their escape process, sound stranger than fiction, but are painfully true. The types of things that Scientology has gotten away with for almost 6 decades is nothing short of criminal—and riddled with hideous human rights violations, unlawful imprisonments, child labor & abuse, financial fraud, intimidation & coercion, violence, and despicable acts of human trafficking.

Not to mention, this cult siphoned every penny from all its members. Scientology is nothing more than a vicious & illegal pyramid scheme that has built itself into a billion dollar business, investing in real estate, while capitalizing on its IRS tax exempt status.

How this is still happening boggles the brain beyond comprehension. Yep, makes us angry! We can only hope that the proper authorities continue to take notice, and finally have the courage to stand up to Scientology and all of their threats! The world is watching.

#IGotOut

Visit our website at https://whatheflok.com

Follow us on Social:

Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@whatheflok

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/whatheflok

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/whatheflok

Twitter - https://twitter.com/WhaTheFlok

Youtube - http://hyperurl.co/a1615r

Executive Producers:

Chele Roland, Hoyt Richards and Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Production Partners:

In Ohm Entertainment and Floating Downstream Inc.

http://inohment.com

Filmed, Recorded and Mixed:

Pink Clouds Studio

Theme song: “Get Me Through the Night,” provided by JES and Intonenation Records

http://OfficialJES.com and http://intonenationrecords.com

Director & Editor:

Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Camera:

Vishvak Prakkruth

Production Assistant:

Sarah Scheiman

Sound Recording:

Gerardo Serrano;

Additional Sound Editing and Re-Recording Mixer:

Tom Fritze

Website and Graphics:

Melissa McKeehan and Mike McKeehan

Social Media Team:

Melody Joy Conte, Krystal Nunez and Kira Sutherland

*The opinions and observations expressed on any WhaTheFlok recordings, channels, social media platforms and website do not reflect any official position or viewpoint of the podcast. Our guests and experts are simply exercising their right to freedom of speech and sharing personal opinions, based on their own individual experiences and/or formal training. None of the opinions or experiences shared are meant to offend or malign any individuals, organizations, businesses, or religions.

Hosted By Hoyt Richards & Chele Roland

We were thrilled to have the incredible Spanky Taylor and Tory Christman on to talk about their many decades in Scientology—Spanky was also a key figure in the successful whistleblowing documentary on HBO titled “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief.” She was indoctrinated into the group around age 13, and Tory entered in her teens as well.

It was hard listening to their stories, as Spanky shared about the group’s version of prison camps, detention centers, and child labor camps, and countless other unbelievable human rights violations—Resulting in her having to kidnap her OWN baby to escape the cult! While Tory (who has a great YouTube channel: ToryMagoo44) shared about the physical trauma of being denied her epilepsy medicine, working 30 hour shifts for Scientology non-stop, and giving every last cent to this cult to “work her way up the bridge,” to ‘clear’ her physical issues. Culminating in Tory being threatened and literally chased across the country as she attempted to escape! Again, this was a tough episode to hear, without feeling angry and frustrated that Scientology is still getting away with all this abuse! You will absolutely fall in love with Spanky & Tory, and our conversation with them definitely underscored the importance for all of us to speak out!

Thank you Spanky & Tory for your unwavering bravery and for inspiring us with your strength and vulnerability!

#IGotOut

Visit our website at https://whatheflok.com

Follow us on Social:

Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@whatheflok

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/whatheflok

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/whatheflok

Twitter - https://twitter.com/WhaTheFlok

Youtube - http://hyperurl.co/a1615r

Executive Producers:

Chele Roland, Hoyt Richards and Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Production Partners:

In Ohm Entertainment and Floating Downstream Inc.

http://inohment.com

Filmed, Recorded and Mixed:

Pink Clouds Studio

Theme song: “Get Me Through the Night,” provided by JES and Intonenation Records

http://OfficialJES.com and http://intonenationrecords.com

Director & Editor:

Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Camera:

Vishvak Prakkruth

Production Assistant:

Sarah Scheiman

Sound Recording:

Gerardo Serrano;

Additional Sound Editing and Re-Recording Mixer:

Tom Fritze

Website and Graphics:

Melissa McKeehan and Mike McKeehan

Social Media Team:

Melody Joy Conte, Krystal Nunez and Kira Sutherland

*The opinions and observations expressed on any WhaTheFlok recordings, channels, social media platforms and website do not reflect any official position or viewpoint of the podcast. Our guests and experts are simply exercising their right to freedom of speech and sharing personal opinions, based on their own individual experiences and/or formal training. None of the opinions or experiences shared are meant to offend or malign any individuals, organizations, businesses, or religions.

Join Chele and Nixie as we introduce our new “After Hours” bonus segment titled Deep Thoughts. In this more intimate format (usually accompanied with some good red wine), outside of the normal podcast studio, we create the space for an even deeper dive into the more sensitive and difficult topics to discuss. Especially concerning painful experiences and memories, and how they now play into the trauma recovery process.

What most cult and abuse survivors find, is that you truly do have to “get it all out,” in order to neutralize the power others took from you, so that you can take your life back in all areas. And boy do Chele and Nixie practice this in our first After Hours episode!

Chele likes to jokingly describe this process as being like a horrible pimple—You have to get all of the infection out first, in order for it to heal—And sometimes that’s not pretty, but it’s a necessary undertaking. We hope you find this special segment as therapeutic as we did!

#IGotOut

Visit our website at https://whatheflok.com

Follow us on Social:

Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@whatheflok

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/whatheflok

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/whatheflok

Twitter - https://twitter.com/WhaTheFlok

Youtube - http://hyperurl.co/a1615r

Executive Producers:

Chele Roland, Hoyt Richards and Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Production Partners:

In Ohm Entertainment and Floating Downstream Inc.

http://inohment.com

Theme song: “Get Me Through the Night,” provided by JES and Intonenation Records

http://OfficialJES.com and http://intonenationrecords.com

Director & Editor:

Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Additional Sound Editing and Re-Recording Mixer:

Tom Fritze

Website and Graphics:

Melissa McKeehan and Mike McKeehan

Social Media Team:

Melody Joy Conte, Krystal Nunez and Kira Sutherland

*The opinions and observations expressed on any WhaTheFlok recordings, channels, social media platforms and website do not reflect any official position or viewpoint of the podcast. Our guests and experts are simply exercising their right to freedom of speech and sharing personal opinions, based on their own individual experiences and/or formal training. None of the opinions or experiences shared are meant to offend or malign any individuals, organizations, businesses, or religions.

Hosted By Hoyt Richards & Chele Roland

We are excited to have Debora Giannone as our episode 7 guest! Debora was featured in the Starz docu-series titled Seduced, with India and Catherine Oxenberg. Seduced was a short series highlighting some more in-depth info and accounts of what happened inside of the NXIVM cult. Debora was one of the original whistle blowers and bravely shares parts of her experience and trauma inside of this group. She shares some great and fresh insights, that will be helpful to anyone listening in, or curious about what truly happened inside of the NXIVM cult.

We all fell in love with Debora during her time with us, and are so happy for her to have a new lease on life!

#IGotOut

Visit our website at https://whatheflok.com

Follow us on Social:

Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@whatheflok

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/whatheflok

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/whatheflok

Twitter - https://twitter.com/WhaTheFlok

Youtube - http://hyperurl.co/a1615r

Executive Producers:

Chele Roland, Hoyt Richards and Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Production Partners:

In Ohm Entertainment and Floating Downstream Inc.

http://inohment.com

Filmed, Recorded and Mixed:

Pink Clouds Studio

Theme song: “Get Me Through the Night,” provided by JES and Intonenation Records

http://OfficialJES.com and http://intonenationrecords.com

Director & Editor:

Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Camera:

Vishvak Prakkruth

Production Assistant:

Tatiana Sitnikova

Sound Recording:

Gerardo Serrano;

Additional Sound Editing and Re-Recording Mixer:

Tom Fritze

Website and Graphics:

Melissa McKeehan and Mike McKeehan

Social Media Team:

Melody Joy Conte, Krystal Nunez and Kira Sutherland

*The opinions and observations expressed on any WhaTheFlok recordings, channels, social media platforms and website do not reflect any official position or viewpoint of the podcast. Our guests and experts are simply exercising their right to freedom of speech and sharing personal opinions, based on their own individual experiences and/or formal training. None of the opinions or experiences shared are meant to offend or malign any individuals, organizations, businesses, or religions.

Hosted By Hoyt Richards & Chele Roland

Our guest on this episode is Dr. Steve Hassan Phd, who is not only highly educated, but also a pioneer of sounding the alarm to the epidemic rates of indoctrination around our world! He’s a sought after cult expert and has made endless media appearances on programs like CNN, making him a trusted source of information and advice on anything and everything to do with cultic activity and authoritarian control. Including undue influence, coercive control and all other types of indoctrination. Steve is also personal friends with Hoyt and Chele, and has been vital in helping both of them over the years, with their own trauma recovery process.

And maybe most importantly, Steve is himself a brave cult survivor, and highlights his own escape from The Moonies. You don’t want to miss this episode, as Dr. Hassan explains his BITE model: (Behavior, Information, Thoughts, & Emotional) control, and the things to watch out for in all of our relationships. We give a big heartfelt thank you to Dr. Hassan for his wise words of wisdom and compassionate heart to help humanity! You can find loads of information and his books on his comprehensive website at: https://freedomofmind.com/

#IGotOut

Visit our website at https://whatheflok.com

Follow us on Social:

Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@whatheflok

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/whatheflok

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/whatheflok

Twitter - https://twitter.com/WhaTheFlok

Youtube - http://hyperurl.co/a1615r

Executive Producers:

Chele Roland, Hoyt Richards and Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Production Partners:

In Ohm Entertainment and Floating Downstream Inc.

http://inohment.com

Filmed, Recorded and Mixed:

Pink Clouds Studio

Theme song: “Get Me Through the Night,” provided by JES and Intonenation Records

http://OfficialJES.com and http://intonenationrecords.com

Director & Editor:

Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Camera:

Vishvak Prakkruth

Production Assistant:

Tatiana Sitnikova

Sound Recording:

Gerardo Serrano;

Additional Sound Editing and Re-Recording Mixer:

Tom Fritze

Website and Graphics:

Melissa McKeehan and Mike McKeehan

Social Media Team:

Melody Joy Conte, Krystal Nunez and Kira Sutherland

*The opinions and observations expressed on any WhaTheFlok recordings, channels, social media platforms and website do not reflect any official position or viewpoint of the podcast. Our guests and experts are simply exercising their right to freedom of speech and sharing personal opinions, based on their own individual experiences and/or formal training. None of the opinions or experiences shared are meant to offend or malign any individuals, organizations, businesses, or religions.

Hosted By Hoyt Richards & Chele Roland

After 12 years of not publicly speaking about what she went through inside of, and after escaping the ICOC cult, Chele realized it was a giant can of worms. But it was also a bottomless pit of worms, and the more she spoke about it, the more she embraced what still needed to be said. That’s the thing with trauma recovery, once you peel back one layer, there are many layers underneath that still need to be dealt with. Trauma recovery takes a lifetime, and in this impromptu episode, Chele talks about how speaking publicly has revealed to her how challenging it is to share about what has happened to her, in order to truly get to the bottom of things, in the attempt to authentically and fully heal. In most cases, healing means being willing to “go there” and be split open. It’s definitely not easy. But in Chele and Hoyt’s case, this is the most empowering part of the journey—because talking about any kind of abuse or coercive control truly does allow us to acknowledge and validate what happened, which also allows us survivors to take our power back, and begin again. #IGotOut

Visit our website at https://whatheflok.com

Follow us on Social:

Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@whatheflok

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/whatheflok

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/whatheflok

Twitter - https://twitter.com/WhaTheFlok

Youtube - http://hyperurl.co/a1615r

Executive Producers:

Chele Roland, Hoyt Richards and Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Production Partners:

In Ohm Entertainment and Floating Downstream Inc.

http://inohment.com

Filmed, Recorded and Mixed:

Pink Clouds Studio

Theme song: “Get Me Through the Night,” provided by JES and Intonenation Records

http://OfficialJES.com and http://intonenationrecords.com

Director & Editor:

Katheryne KTEE Thomas

Camera:

Vishvak Prakkruth

Production Assistant:

Tatiana Sitnikova

Sound Recording:

Gerardo Serrano;

Additional Sound Editing and Re-Recording Mixer:

Tom Fritze

Website and Graphics:

Melissa McKeehan and Mike McKeehan

Social Media Team:

Melody Joy Conte, Krystal Nunez and Kira Sutherland

*The opinions and observations expressed on any WhaTheFlok recordings, channels, social media platforms and website do not reflect any official position or viewpoint of the podcast. Our guests and experts are simply exercising their right to freedom of speech and sharing personal opinions, based on their own individual experiences and/or formal training. None of the opinions or experiences shared are meant to offend or malign any individuals, organizations, businesses, or religions.