Carolyn Millemon learned about a form of meditation called ‘Ascending’ at a weekend workshop in Western Australia when she was 21. A couple of years later, in North Carolina, she decided to dedicate her life to the teachings. A decade later, some of the behaviours of her own teachers weren’t sitting so well with her.

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 5 of Let's Talk About Sects. Use promo code LTAS10 at Audio-Technica’s Australian store for 10% off and to support the show!

Links:

• MSI and the Ishayas — posts by user ‘scribe’ archived from now defunct FACTNet forum, late 2004 to early 2005
• The Ishaya’s Ascension — by MSI, Sedona Journal, May 1997
• First Thunder: An Adventure of Discovery — by MSI, 1996
• Group Claims TM Movement is a Cult — by Phil McCombs, The Washington Post, 2 July 1987
• Para — by R. Vaughn Abrams, Seven Suns Publications, 1986, The University of Sydney Rare Books & Special Collections listing
• The Society for Ascension — North Carolina Secretary of State listing, accessed March 2023
• The Bright Path Ishayas + Maharishi Krishnananda — Cult Education Institute forum, includes post by user ‘FlatEarthRound’ which shares an email circulated to teachers in 2008, posted 19 July 2020
• the bright path — Cult Education Institute forum posts from 2009
• The Bright Path — official website
• The Lineage — page on The Ishayas’ Ascension website, accessed March 2023

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Matthew Klein’s story is featured on the podcast Inside the Tribe, and Matt sat down with LTAS for a chat about what he learned from his time in the Twelve Tribes, and what he thinks society could be doing about organisations like this.

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.

Thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 5 of Let's Talk About Sects. Use promo code LTAS10 at Audio-Technica’s Australian store for 10% off and to support the show!

Links:

• Inside the Tribe — podcast by Tim Elliott and Camille Bianchi featuring Matt's story and those of the other people he mentions
• I Catch Killers with Gary Jubelin — podcast mentioned by Matt, who will feature on an upcoming episode
• Cult Information and Family Support (CIFS) — Australian volunteer-run support service

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Brisbane Christian Fellowship sounds like a fairly innocuous name for a church. But the BCF and its network of organisations across Australia have been the subject of a Four Corners investigation and a detailed book, speaking with former members who have numerous stories of families being torn apart as a result of their involvement. Author Morag Zwartz wrote that this ‘church’ “is every bit as pernicious and harmful as the Exclusive Brethren.”

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 5 of Let's Talk About Sects. Use promo code LTAS10 at Audio-Technica’s Australian store for 10% off and to support the show!

Links:

• Apostles of Fear: A Church Cult Exposed — by Morag Zwartz, Parenesis Publishing, 2008
• Who Are the Brisbane Christian Fellowship? — by David Holden, Aletheia Publishing, September 2008 (3rd Ed.)
• Open Letter to Melbourne Christian Fellowship (MCF) — blog by Paul ‘Kovaks’, accessed January 2023
• Issues Arising from Four Corners Investigation into Latter Rain Movement — Immanuel Website Article by Brian Rensford, undated
• The God of Broken Hearts — Four Corners, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 23 June 2008
• Streetcar Forum — Support forum for those affected by “the teachings and behaviours of RFI leaders”, accessed January & February 2023
• Melbourne Christian Fellowship – Why I Left It. — by Roger Williams, 27 June 2008
• The Brisbane Christian Fellowship – A Government Sponsored Cult — by Chrys Stevenson, Gladly the Cross-Eyed Bear blog, 30 April 2010
• Fired pastor sues church — by Toni Mcrae, The Courier Mail, 27 March 2010

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MOVE Philadelphia made headlines in 1978, when police and MOVE members ended up in a prolonged siege and a gunfire exchange that left a police officer dead. They hit the headlines again in 1985, when a confrontation with the authorities became even more deadly after an explosive device was dropped on their property. The events led many to understand the organisation as a Black liberation group who were the victims of a racist system. The latter is hardly debatable, but credible stories from a multitude of former members portray MOVE as never truly being about Black liberation at all. Instead, they characterise it as a cult.

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 5 of Let's Talk About Sects. Use promo code LTAS10 at Audio-Technica’s Australian store for 10% off and to support the show!

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:

• What the survivors of MOVE deserve — by Kevin Price, Leaving MOVE blog, 22 October 2021
• Help Maria Start Over After MOVE — GoFundMe fundraiser for Maria Hardy, formerly Maria Africa, to help with general life expenses
• Help June (Pixie) and kids resettle in hiding — GoFundMe fundraiser for June Stokes, formerly Pixie Africa, and her children to help with general life expenses
• The Invention of John Africa — by Kevin Price, Leaving MOVE blog, 15 September 2021
• Move: An American Religion — by Richard Kent Evans, Oxford University Press, 2020
• Who was John Africa? — by Craig R. McCoy, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 12 January 1986

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There’s a group in regional Queensland that claims to have no name. Members meet in each other’s homes on Wednesdays and Sundays. They don’t have any of their beliefs written down, though they do sing hymns from a particular hymn book. A lot of what they follow sounds incredibly similar to a group that also claimed to have no name but was often referred to as the Two by Twos or The Truth. This one doesn’t have pairs of ‘workers’ who travel around and stay with community members, however. That job was left up to its founder, a man named Robert Barlow.

If you're a member or former member of Bob Barlow's 'church' who would like to get in touch with Candice Curran, you can email survivingthetruth@outlook.com.au.

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 5 of Let's Talk About Sects. Use promo code LTAS10 at Audio-Technica’s Australian store for 10% off and to support the show!

Links:

• Two by Twos / The Truth — sources for previous LTAS episode about the Two by Twos / The Truth available here, October 2020
• Family history research service — Queensland Government, searched November 2022
• David’s Rape of Bathsheba and Murder of Uriah (2 Samuel 11-12) — The Theology of Work Project (TOW), accessed November 2022

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

Edited by Matt Brazel

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Daniella Mestyanek Young was born into the Children of God, as was her mother before her. She left as a teenager and put herself through school and university, then decided to join the military. Her fantastic book Uncultured explores many of the parallels between the cult and the armed forces. The New York Times called it, “A painful and propulsive memoir delivered in the honest tones of a woman who didn’t always think she’d live to tell her story."

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.

Thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 5 of Let's Talk About Sects. Use promo code LTAS10 at Audio-Technica’s Australian store for 10% off and to support the show!

Links:

• Uncultured — by Daniella Mestyanek Young, Macmillan, 2022
• Daniella Mestyanek Young — official website
• Daniella's Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn
• Lost In Translation — Daniella's TEDx Tacoma talk, 20 December 2018

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Many people around the world would have come across the food produced by the Twelve Tribes through their Common Ground market stalls and bakeries or their Yellow Deli cafes. A post from 2011 on the popular Weekend Notes website says, “The Common Ground Café has had its share of media-related controversy as it is run by a religious community, whose mysteriously stand-offish ways freak some people out. Do not be deterred by that, as no one will try to convert you and the food is truly delicious. If you are curious, just ask them.”

It might be worth listening to award-winning journalist Tim Elliott’s new podcast, Inside the Tribe, before you follow this advice.

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.

Thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 5 of Let's Talk About Sects. Use promo code LTAS10 at Audio-Technica’s Australian store for 10% off and to support the show!

Links:

• Inside the Tribe — podcast by Camille Bianchi and Tim Elliott, out Monday 28 November 2022
• Have a tip or information about Twelve Tribes? You can email ITT at insidethetribepod@gmail.com
• The great escape — by Tim Elliott, The Sydney Morning Herald, 20 April 2007
• Sect woos recruits among the fairy floss at Easter Show — by Tim Elliott, The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 March 2008
• Secrets of the family — by Tim Elliott, The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 December 2013
• Common Ground Café — review by Nekoburro, Weekend Notes, 21 February 2011
• Farewell to the Father — by Tim Elliott, Picador Australia, 2016

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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The Logos Foundation was often described as ‘mysterious’ in media coverage, but became a part of the religious right that published full page newspaper advertisements encouraging the electorate to vote on ‘moral’ issues at Queensland state elections in the late 1980s. Its embrace of the Shepherding Movement led many to consider it incredibly cult-like, and certain facets of the religious right today can trace a direct lineage to its teachings. Founder Howard Carter’s hard-line approach to sinful behaviour would prove to be hypocrisy-ridden for almost the entire time his organisation existed.

Guest: Esther (not her real name)

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 5 of Let's Talk About Sects. Use promo code LTAS10 at Audio-Technica’s Australian store for 10% off and to support the show!

Links:

• The Logos Foundation: The Rise and Fall of Christian Reconstructionism in Australia — by John Harrison, University of Queensland, 2006
• Sex Scandal Divides The Bible Belt — by Greg Roberts, Sydney Morning Herald, 13 October 1990
• The Promised Land — by Melanie Myers, Kill Your Darlings, 12 November 2018
• The Story — by David P. B. Orton, Lifemessenger, date unknown
• God in the Suburbs and Beyond: The Emergence of an Australian Megachurch and Denomination — by PhD thesis by Sam Hey, Griffith University, 2011
• The Shepherding Movement: Controversy and Charismatic Ecclesiology — by S. David Moore, Bloomsbury Academic, 2003

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Anke Richter is an international journalist and author based in NZ. Over time she’s found herself covering more and more cults, to the point where she recently published her first book about the subject: ‘Cult Trip’. Anke is also a member and co-founder of FACT Aotearoa (Fight Against Conspiracy Theories).

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.

Thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 5 of Let's Talk About Sects. Use promo code LTAS10 at Audio-Technica’s Australian store for 10% off and to support the show!

Links:

• Cult Trip: Inside the World of Coercion and Control — by Anke Richter, HarperCollins, 2022
• FACT Aotearoa — Fighting Against Conspiracy Theories (New Zealand) official website
• ankerichter.net — Anke Richter’s official website
• Rabbit Hole Resistance — Facebook group
• Bert's Labyrinth — by Anke Richter, North & South, September 2015
• Fire and Fury — documentary by Paula Penfold & Louisa Cleave, Stuff Circuit, August 2022
• Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism — by Amanda Montell, HarperCollins, 2021
• Departures — by Anke Richter, New Zealand Geographic, Issue 155, Jan-Feb 2019

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Kathleen Oh is a rare breed: a wellness coach who is cynical about wellness and the coaching industry. She works with clients across integration and psychedelics education. Kathleen is trained in Internal Family Systems (also known as IFS Informed or IFSCA), which is a trauma-informed approach, and comes from a background of trauma herself. Kathleen was once an anti-vaxxer, and her community embraced all kinds of magical thinking and conspiracy theories. Over time, she realised that her own coaching may have involved undue influence, and through the words of a dear friend she recognised that a lot of her perspectives were rooted in white privilege.

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 5 of Let's Talk About Sects. Use promo code LTAS10 for 10% off their Australian store, and to support the show.

Links:

• Coach Kathleen Oh — Kathleen’s website
• Oh My Heart — Kathleen’s Substack (we spoke about her Psychedelics, Cults and Predators article in particular, from 13 July 2022)
• The Real Coach Oh — Kathleen’s Instagram
• Psychedelics, Politics and Predators with Kathleen Oh — Free Your Inner Guru podcast episode, 28 March 2022
• Cover Story: Power Trip — New York Magazine podcast series from Lily Kay Ross and David Nickles about the psychedelic underground, November 2021
• Dr Janja Lalich’s website
• Take Back Your Life Recovery — Dr Janja Lalich’s courses that Kathleen mentioned
• Gerette Buglion’s website
• #igotout — Gerette Buglion and Lisa (anonymous activist)’s movement for cult survivors
• Laura Tucker’s website — host of the Free Your Inner Guru podcast

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Dr Janja Lalich is a Professor Emerita of Sociology at California State University, Chico. She has written multiple world-renowned books on cultic studies, and is soon to launch the non-profit Lalich Center on Cults and Coercion. Dr Lalich offers resources to help survivors of coercive groups, as well as courses for therapists and social workers to help them understand the issues involved in treatment. She was once a member of a cult herself, and rose to a leadership rank. She has spent her life since using her experiences to educate and assist others.

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 5 of Let's Talk About Sects. Use promo code LTAS10 for 10% off their Australian store, and to support the show.

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 find resources at janjalalich.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.

Links:

• Janja Lalich's website
• Lalich Center on Cults and Coercion
• Take Back Your Life Recovery — resources and courses
• Take Back Your Life — by Janja Lalich & Madeleine Tobias, Bay Tree Publishing, 2006

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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When widespread abuse is uncovered at a New Zealand cult, a family must turn to the legal system in an effort to save themselves and their community from the all-powerful leaders. Filmmakers Noel Smyth and Fergus Grady documented the impact of the civil action, and of the cult itself. Their gripping expose on New Zealand’s most infamous and secretive religious group, founded by Australian evangelist Neville Cooper, has quickly become New Zealand’s highest grossing local documentary. It is out in Australian cinemas on 3 November, with festival screenings from 22 October and Q&A sessions with the filmmakers around the country. To find your nearest screening, visit gloriavale.com/screenings.

Guests: Noel Smyth & Fergus Grady

Support the work of the Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust 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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 5 of Let's Talk About Sects. Aussie listeners can win some Audio-Technica goodies here!

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.

Links:

• To find your nearest screening of Gloriavale: New Zealand's Secret Cult visit gloriavale.com/screenings
• Facebook: facebook.com/GloriavaleDoco
• Instagram: instagram.com/gloriavalefilm
• Hashtag: #gloriavalefilm

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Twin Flames Universe promises devotees a path to ascension through finding their ultimate lover, and building a permanent, harmonious union. But former followers have accused the organisation of exploitative labour, encouraging people to stay in abusive relationships, and pressuring members to undergo gender reassignment.

Guest: Kara Brodsky

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 5 of Let's Talk About Sects. Aussie listeners can win some Audio-Technica goodies here!

Links:

• “Everywhere I Went, They Went With Me, Because They Were on My Phone”: Inside the Always Online, All-Consuming World of Twin Flames Universe — by Alice Hines, Vanity Fair, 3 December 2020
• This YouTube School Promised True Love. Students Say They Got Exploited Instead — by Sarah Berman, VICE, 6 February 2020
• Accused Cult Leader Threatened Ex-Members After VICE Investigation — by Sarah Berman, VICE, 12 March 2020
• Twin Flames Universe — official website, accessed September 2022
• Church of Union — official website, accessed September 2022
• EndersAdventures.com — 2012 archived snapshot of former website of ‘Lifestyle Design Entrepreneur’ Ender Ayanethos (later Jeff Ayan)
• Warrior Forum — posts from Ender Ayanethos, May to December 2012
• Keely Griffin on Twin Flames & Other Dumpster Fires — A Little Bit Culty, 14 February 2022
• Twin Flames: Finding Your Ultimate Lover — by Jeff and Shaleia, September 2015
• The Mirror Exercise (OFFICIAL) | The Only Tool You'll Ever Need — Twin Flames Universe YouTube video, 10 February 2019

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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In January 2018, Avi started seeing a new psychologist in Melbourne, Australia. She'd experienced childhood trauma, and wanted to get some help with managing panic attacks. The registered psychologist she found seemed to be a great fit.

But a couple of months into the 2020 lockdowns, Avi realised that her life had become completely entwined with her psychologist’s. Over time, Avi came to understand that her psychologist had been trying to groom her into a cult.

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.

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.

EPISODE LINKS

• The Other C Word – by Her, 28 February 2021
• Register of Practitioners – Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) website

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Samael Aun Weor claimed that he could remember his own birth, and had identified the only true path to spiritual development. Crucial to his religion was a sexual practice that involved couples never reaching orgasm. Though many who follow his belief system understand sickness to be a result of one’s own karma, their master died of stomach cancer in 1977. He claimed that when he died, he would be resurrected.

Guest: Lynn Short

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 5 of Let's Talk About Sects. Aussie listeners can win some Audio-Technica goodies here!

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.

Links:

• Three Mountains — by Samael Aun Weor, Glorian Publishing, 2008
• Samael Aun Weor — New World Encyclopedia, accessed July 2022
• The Social Christ — by Samael Aun Weor, 1964
• Inside the Vestibule of Wisdom — by Samael Aun Weor, 1953
• Lynn Short - The New Gnostic Society, Sexual Alchemy, & Lucid Dreaming — Trust Me podcast, 6 April 2022
• Former member of Circle for Investigation of Gnostic Anthropology Aust (CIGA) and Gnosis in Australia — Name Withheld, entry on the CIFS website

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Sarah Edmondson is an actor, voice over artist and activist who spent 12 years in NXIVM, rising from student to coach to eventually running her own center in Vancouver, Canada. After becoming involved with its secret society, DOS, she managed to escape and alongside her husband Anthony ‘Nippy’ Ames, became a whistleblower on the cult and worked with the FBI to expose Keith Raniere’s crimes. Today Sarah and Nippy make the fantastic podcast A Little Bit Culty, in which they speak with some incredible guests including other former cult members and experts in cult dynamics.

Guests: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony ‘Nippy’ Ames

Full research sources listed on each episode page at www.ltaspod.com. 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 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).

Links:

• A Little Bit Culty — Sarah and Nippy’s podcast
• Uncover: Escaping NXIVM — CBC podcast featuring Sarah Edmondson
• The Vow — HBO series featuring Sarah Edmondson
• Resources — a collection of useful resources on cults at Sarah Edmondson’s website
• Scarred: The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult That Bound My Life — by Sarah Edmondson with Kristine Gasbarre, Hardie Grant, 2019
• Take Back Your Life — by Janja Lalich & Madeleine Tobias, Bay Tree, 2006, audiobook narrated by Sarah Edmondson
• Nippy’s Instagram, Sarah’s Instagram and Twitter, and A Little Bit Culty’s Instagram

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is published by Pan Macmillan Australia, and out on 28 June 2022. It will be available in audiobook, ebook and paperback. This is chapter 1, read by Sarah for the audiobook release.

"In times of uncertainty when you long for simple answers and have a deep desire for community, you can find yourself incrementally handing over your agency to a charismatic but authoritarian and manipulative leader or group-think. In this book Sarah Steel has brilliantly charted how this happens in all sorts of ways and for all sorts of people; it provides an invaluable map to navigate this dangerous terrain." - Reverend Tim Costello AO

"This book is a most comprehensive and studied look at cults, the leaders, and perhaps most importantly the survivors. Sarah Steel has given the world a real gem - one that will not only educate but also help to destigmatize those who have been harmed by cults and con artists. Bravo!" - Dr Janja Lalich, Professor Emerita of Sociology, Co-Founder of Take Back Your Life Recovery LLC, International Authority on Cults & Coercion

"Sarah uses the stories of survivors to tease out the common threads of coercive control shared by cults and found in other parts of society. The result is a much-needed spotlight on the behaviours and personalities we are likely to encounter even if we never go anywhere near a cult." - David Gillespie, bestselling author and lawyer

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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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 this bonus episode she speaks about her work with Counter Cult Coalition, the organisation she founded alongside spiritual abuse expert Kent Burtner.

From its Facebook page: “Counter Cult Coalition's mission is to raise awareness of issues related to involvement in coercive groups known as cults and to improve public policy in order to protect and provide for children harmed by group involvement.”

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.

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.

EPISODE LINKS

• Counter Cult Coalition – Facebook page
• To support Counter Cult Coalition, you can donate via PayPal: wkburtner@aol.com; or via Venmo: William Burtner (phone confirmation number: 3429)

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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KwaSizabantu means “the place where people are helped” in Zulu. Erika Bornman spent most of her childhood years at the KwaSizabantu Mission. Her memoir Mission of Malice is about her childhood, and about her life since leaving. It’s an incredible read.

Daniel Schricker is a composer and writer based in Adelaide, South Australia. He also spent his childhood and teenage years in KwaSizabantu, and has written a series of articles entitled Scaring the Hell Out of You, “A 4-part examination of the role of fear in the theology and practices of KwaSizabantu and the psychological implications for children”.

This bonus episode is an interview with Erika and Daniel, who were kind enough to share their insights, including why they have doubts that KwaSizabantu is capable of changing for the better.

Guests: Erika Bornman & Daniel Schricker

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.

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.

Links:

• Mission of Malice: My Exodus from KwaSizabantu – by Erika Bornman, Penguin Random House South Africa, August 2021
• Scaring the Hell Out of You – Part 1: Fear of God, Part 2: Fear of Authority, Part 3: Fear of Self, Part 4: Fear of the Outside World – by Daniel Schricker, 18 September 2021
• Mission of malice by Erika Bornman: A reader impression – by Daniel Schricker, LitNet, 20 August 2021
• Devotion KwaSizabantu Mission – 9 September 2020

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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David Freeman was handed over to Anne Hamilton Byrne at the age of two, when he went to live with the other children at The Family’s Lake Eildon property. It took 12 years before he was rescued by the police, and given his freedom. At 15, he vowed not to tell anyone about his childhood in the notorious Victorian cult, and it was a promise he kept for 25 years.

Guest: David Freeman

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.

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.

Links:

• Deprived of his childhood in a notorious cult — by Einar Þór Sigurðsson, Fréttablaðið, 5 February 2021

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Gloriavale Christian Community is recognised around New Zealand for the distinctive dress of its members, especially the women, who wear headscarves to denote submission to men, and a neck-to-ankle garment designed by the group’s Australian founder, Neville Cooper. Some say the community represents a pious life set up around ideals of sharing everything, but others say the way it’s set up is breeding predators.

Guests: Hannah Harrison, Liz Gregory

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

• Gloriavale Christian Community — official website, accessed March 2021
• Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust — official website, accessed March 2021
• The Christian Church Community Trust Charities Services Investigation — 22 December 2016, supplied under the Official Information Act to Newsroom and published 28 March 2017
• Lilia Tarawa — official website, accessed March 2021
• Who was Hopeful Christian and how did he rise to notoriety at Gloriavale? — by Brad Flahive, Stuff, 15 May 2018
• Gloriavale: A World Apart — directed by Amanda Evans, 2016
• Gloriavale: The Return — directed by Amanda Evans, 2018
• Gloriavale leavers describe fear, oppression in community — Logan Church, Checkpoint, RNZ, 14 November 2019

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Gloriavale Christian Community has found itself in the New Zealand media headlines on multiple occasions. Its founder was once jailed for sexual abuse, but community members were convinced that it he was jailed for preaching the gospel. Followers claim that their way of life is all about the common good and nobody having more than anyone else. Former members say their time there was dominated by endless work and an overriding sense of fear.

Guests: Hannah Harrison, Liz Gregory

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

• Gloriavale Christian Community — official website, accessed March 2021
• Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust — official website, accessed March 2021
• The Christian Church Community Trust Charities Services Investigation — 22 December 2016, supplied under the Official Information Act to Newsroom and published 28 March 2017
• Lilia Tarawa — official website, accessed March 2021
• Who was Hopeful Christian and how did he rise to notoriety at Gloriavale? — by Brad Flahive, Stuff, 15 May 2018
• Gloriavale: A World Apart — directed by Amanda Evans, 2016
• Gloriavale: The Return — directed by Amanda Evans, 2018
• Gloriavale leavers describe fear, oppression in community — Logan Church, Checkpoint, RNZ, 14 November 2019

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Violet Pryor told her followers that she was God. They gave up their money and possessions to keep her in comfort. David Ayliffe became one of her key Pillars, a right-hand man. After her death, he became the leader of the cult she had created in Sydney, Australia – the Zion Full Salvation Ministry.

Guest: David Ayliffe

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

• My Brother’s Eyes — by David & John Ayliffe, John Garratt Publishing, 2009
• David Ayliffe’s website — with links to the audiobook of My Brother’s Eyes
• The development of, and opposition to, Healing Ministries in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, with special reference to the Healing Ministry at St Andrew’s Cathedral 1960-2010 — by Paul Francis Egan, PhD thesis for Macquarie University, 2012
• Full Salvation Fellowship — Peter and Verlie Hobson’s website, accessed February 2021
• Omegaman Internet Radio Station — accessed February 2021
• Violet Dorothy Pryor — gravesite listing, Kangaroo Valley Cemetery
• Wedding Bells: Wills-Pryor — Sunshine Advocate, 25 February 1944
• Violet Dorothy Wills — Victorian marriage listing with the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, accessed February 2021

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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As he was about to turn 17, Remy Attig was keen to get away from his parents’ fracturing marriage, and ready for something to give his life purpose. The Master’s Commission program seemed like just the thing to set him up for a life of travel and spreading the word of God. Instead, it ran him ragged, instilled fear, built on his internalised homophobia, and set him up for unhealthy relationships and trust issues. In hindsight, he believes that the Master’s Commission was a cult.

Guest: Remy Attig

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

• Master’s Commission International Network (MCIN) — official website
• Athletes International Ministry — official website
• Phoenix Megachurch Hosting Trump Rally Says It Has Special Coronavirus-Killing Air System — by Ray Stern, Phoenix New Times, 22 June 2020
• AG Warns Phoenix Megachurch and Air-System Firm About Fraudulent COVID Statements — by Ray Stern, Phoenix New Times, 26 June 2020
• Without a Vision, You Perish — Trivita profile of Larry Kerychuck, unknown date
• Lloyd Zeigler — Jim Bakker Show profile, accessed January 2021
• Statement of Fundamental Truths — Assemblies of God
• My Cult Life — blog by Lisa Kerr, archived January 2014

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Lindy Jacomb was born into the Exclusive Brethren in Auckland, New Zealand, and was told there was no longer a place for her there in 2008. Her family cut off all communication with her and she was forced to start a new life at the age of 20, without any of the people she knew and loved.

Guests: Lindy Jacomb and Michael Bachelard

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

• Behind the Exclusive Brethren — by Michael Bachelard, Scribe Publications, 2008
• Separation from Evil - God's Principle of Unity — by John Nelson Darby, 1853
• BIG JIM TAYLOR, LEADER OF SECT — James Taylor Jnr. obituary, The New York Times, 17 October 1970
• "The Aberdeen Incident" July, 1970 — a compilation of material including a transcription of the Aberdeen Tapes, from the 25 July 1970 meeting following the incident
• The closed-door church: Inside the secretive and strict Plymouth Brethren sect in Manitoba — by Bill Redekop, Winnipeg Free Press, 10 May 2014
• Howard defends meeting the Exclusive Brethren — by Peta Donald, PM, ABC Radio National, 22 August 2007
• OneSchool Global NSW Enrollment Policy — accessed December 2020
• OneSchool Global — official website, accessed December 2020

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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

Lindy Jacomb was born into the Exclusive Brethren in Auckland, New Zealand, and was told there was no longer a place for her there in 2008. Her family cut off all communication with her and she was forced to start a new life at the age of 20, without any of the people she knew and loved.

Guests: Lindy Jacomb and Michael Bachelard

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

• Behind the Exclusive Brethren — by Michael Bachelard, Scribe Publications, 2008
• Separation from Evil - God's Principle of Unity — by John Nelson Darby, 1853
• BIG JIM TAYLOR, LEADER OF SECT — James Taylor Jnr. obituary, The New York Times, 17 October 1970
• "The Aberdeen Incident" July, 1970 — a compilation of material including a transcription of the Aberdeen Tapes, from the 25 July 1970 meeting following the incident
• The closed-door church: Inside the secretive and strict Plymouth Brethren sect in Manitoba — by Bill Redekop, Winnipeg Free Press, 10 May 2014
• Howard defends meeting the Exclusive Brethren — by Peta Donald, PM, ABC Radio National, 22 August 2007
• OneSchool Global NSW Enrollment Policy — accessed December 2020
• OneSchool Global — official website, accessed December 2020

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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

As a disaffected youth, Shannon Bundock was drawn to progressive ideas. In her late teens she moved into the city, to a poor neighbourhood in Vancouver, Canada, where she became hyper aware of the inequality all around her. The activists who were trying to do something about this in the early 2000s ignited her passion for radical politics. At 19, Shannon was ready to dedicate herself wholeheartedly to doing her part to change the world for the better. Five and a half years later, she’d find herself flat broke and unable to make life decisions about the simplest things, like what to wear.

Guest: Shannon Bundock

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

• That revolution thing? My bad — by Erin Millar, Maclean’s, 12 March 2008
• No Fire No Time — Ivan Drury’s blog archive of materials around his and other ex-members’ experiences in FTT, accessed November 2020
• Cuba Solidarity in Canada: Five Decades of People-to-People Foreign Relations — edited by Nino Pagliccia, FriesenPress, 2 December 2014
• Battle of Ideas Press website — accessed November 2020
• Fire This Time website — accessed November 2020, including Derrick O’Keefe’s private emails still online
• “The Movement,” Mullahs and Liberal Muddleheads: From MAWO to Revolutionary Marxism — by Andrew Malieni, Spartacist Canada, No. 152, Spring 2007

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Natasha Tiku wrote for Gawker in 2013, “Everyone is interested in doing fun things with their bodies. But the impulse to systematize, replicate, package, sell, and build an ideology around it is uniquely Silicon Valley.” She was writing about an organisation that was monetising the female orgasm. And they weren’t the only ones doing so.

Guests: Christine Talbott Acosta, Ruwan Meepagala, Sasha Nelson

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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. For sexual assault resources in Australia, visit www.1800respect.org.au, and in the USA, visit www.rainn.org.

Links:

• The Pleasure Principle — by Patricia Leigh Brown and Carol Pogash, New York Times, 13 March 2009
• Lafayette Morehouse — official website, accessed October 2020
• Lafayette Morehouse, Inc. v. The Chronicle Publishing Co., No. A067522. — 37 Cal. App. 4th 855, 44 Cal. Rptr. 2d 46, California Court of Appeal, First District, Division 5, 9 August 1995
• Sgt. Bilko Meets The New Culture — by Robin Green, Rolling Stone, 9 December 1971
• Inside The Purple People House, The Freaky, Stand-Offish Sex Cult In Northern California — by Anna Lindwasser, Ranker, 7 November 2018
• The Truth about RJ Testerman — Christine...

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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

Natasha Tiku wrote for Gawker in 2013, “Everyone is interested in doing fun things with their bodies. But the impulse to systematize, replicate, package, sell, and build an ideology around it is uniquely Silicon Valley.” She was writing about an organisation that was monetising the female orgasm. And they weren’t the only ones doing so.

Guests: Christine Talbott Acosta, Ruwan Meepagala, Sasha Nelson

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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. For sexual assault resources in Australia, visit www.1800respect.org.au, and in the USA, visit www.rainn.org.

Links:

• The Pleasure Principle — by Patricia Leigh Brown and Carol Pogash, New York Times, 13 March 2009
• Lafayette Morehouse — official website, accessed October 2020
• Lafayette Morehouse, Inc. v. The Chronicle Publishing Co., No. A067522. — 37 Cal. App. 4th 855, 44 Cal. Rptr. 2d 46, California Court of Appeal, First District, Division 5, 9 August 1995
• Sgt. Bilko Meets The New Culture — by Robin Green, Rolling Stone, 9 December 1971
• Inside The Purple People House, The Freaky, Stand-Offish Sex Cult In Northern California — by Anna Lindwasser, Ranker, 7 November 2018

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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

Laura McConnell was born into a fundamentalist Christian sect that claims it has no name. Former member Elizabeth Coleman told Nathan Jolly for news.com.au earlier this year that, “It is of utmost importance to them that they do not have an official name or headquarters or centrally identifiable presence anywhere on earth.”

From his investigative reporting in 2013, journalist Chris Johnston estimated there were 20,000 members in Australia, and hundreds of thousands around the world. Sometimes referred to as The Truth, the Two by Twos, or the Friends and Workers, the sect has seen multiple leaders face accusations of child sexual abuse, some of which are currently in court. Laura and many former members believe that this highly secretive group should certainly be considered a cult.

Special Guests: Laura McConnell, Chris Johnston

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

• Wings for Truth — support site for sexual assault survivors of the Two by Twos
• Laura McConnell’s website — including various blog posts and Links & Articles Related to The Truth Sect
• Friends and enemies, truth and lies — by Chris Johnston, The Age, 23 September 2013
• Secrets, lies and sex abuse as ex-sect leader chooses life on the inside — by Chris Johnston, The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 July 2014
• The Truth Church: Inside the nameless church cult where TV and dancing are "the devil's work" — by Amy Clark, Mamamia,...

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Helen Zuman describes herself as “a tree-hugging dirt worshipper devoted to turning waste into food and the stinky guck of experience into fertile, fragrant prose.” Her memoir ‘Mating in Captivity’ details her experiences joining Zendik Farm, a commune in North Carolina with the motto ‘Stop Bitching, Start a Revolution’, which she came across in 1999. Helen stayed until 2004, but it wasn’t until the following year that she recognised she’d been in a cult.

Special Guest: Helen Zuman

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

Mating in Captivity: A Memoir — by Helen Zuman, She Writes Press, 2018

The Green Alternative At Zendik Arts Farm, a Commune Strives for a Dollar and Change — by Fredrick Kunkle, The Washington Post, 22 January 2006

Who Are These People? — by Ryan Grim, Washington City Paper, 4-10 November 2005

Commune Unplugs From the World to Save It — by Tom Gorman, Los Angeles Times, 19 April 1987

Leaving Zendik Farm — by Alison Rooney, The Highlands Current, 9 May 2017

Wulf Zendik — Facebook page

Arol Wulf-Zendik — Facebook profile

The Work of Wulf Zendik — online archive of Wulf Zendik’s writings

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Journalist A.M. Gittlitz released his book I Want to Believe: Posadism, UFOs and Apocalypse Communism earlier this year. In it, he explores the fascinating world of the Posadists – a Latin American Trotskyist group who are best known today for their zany beliefs around extra-terrestrial and dolphin intelligence. But their movement had a lot more to it than this, and in its later days would devolve into a cult around the authoritarian leadership of J. Posadas.

Gittlitz drew on considerable archival research and numerous interviews with ex- and current Posadists in writing his book, and he spoke to me about the more cultic elements of this unusual socialist movement.

Special Guest: A.M. Gittlitz.

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.

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.

Links

• I Want to Believe: Posadism, UFOs and Apocalypse Communism — by A.M. Gittlitz, 2020 (Use code POSADAS20 for 20% discount)
• J. Posadas, the Trotskyist Who Believed in Intergalactic Communism — an interview with A.M. Gittlitz by David Broder, Jacobin, 5 April 2020
• A.M. Gittlitz on Twitter, and on The Antifada podcast
• Promo: The Troubles podcast

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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

The Children of God, later known as The Family, became notorious for their practise called “flirty fishing”. They believed in bringing up their children to have no inhibitions around sex, but the ramifications of their approach to this would echo through the generations as trauma, and result in a shocking murder-suicide committed by the very son prophesied as the Prince who would lead them through the End Times.

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 3 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

• The Origins of a Movement: From "The Children of God" to "The Family International" — website archive from thefamily.org, 29 April 2009
• The Children of God: The Inside Story — by Deborah Davis & Bill Davis, Zondervan Publications, 1984
• The Children of God — by Robert McFarland, MD, The Journal of Psychohistory, Volume 24 Issue 4, Spring 1994
• The Family in Transition: The Moral Career of a New Religious Movement — by Gordon Shepherd and Gary Shepherd, research paper presented at CESNUR International Conference 2002
• The "RNR"! Destruction of the Super-Blob & the New Nationalisation — by David Berg, Mo Letter, January 1978
• The Pubs Purges — scanned and archived on exfamily.org, June 1991 & March 1996
• Summit ’93 Mama Jewels! — No.2, portion of newsletter by Karen Zerby written in 1992

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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

The Children of God, later known as The Family, became notorious for their practise called “flirty fishing”. They believed in bringing up their children to have no inhibitions around sex, but the ramifications of their approach to this would echo through the generations as trauma, and result in a shocking murder-suicide committed by the very son prophesied as the Prince who would lead them through the End Times.

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 3 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

• The Origins of a Movement: From "The Children of God" to "The Family International" — website archive from thefamily.org, 29 April 2009
• The Children of God: The Inside Story — by Deborah Davis & Bill Davis, Zondervan Publications, 1984
• The Children of God — by Robert McFarland, MD, The Journal of Psychohistory, Volume 24 Issue 4, Spring 1994
• The Family in Transition: The Moral Career of a New Religious Movement — by Gordon Shepherd and Gary Shepherd, research paper presented at CESNUR International Conference 2002
• The "RNR"! Destruction of the Super-Blob & the New Nationalisation — by David Berg, Mo Letter, January 1978
• The Pubs Purges — scanned and archived on exfamily.org, June 1991 & March 1996
• Summit ’93 Mama Jewels! — No.2, portion of newsletter by Karen Zerby written in 1992

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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

John Robert Stevens wrote when he was just 14 years old: “My joy must be in doing His will, in being His slave, in the confidence that whatever comes to me, when following Him, is His doing. In a real sense, I make Him responsible for my life.” He was writing about Jesus Christ, but it would turn out in the decades following that he could well have been writing to his future devotees as to how they should feel about himself.

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 3 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

• I Saw Satan: Breaking away from a Boomer Christian cult — by Andrew Marzoni, The Baffler, No. 44, March 2019
• Vain Glory — documentary film by Tony Cox, 1986
• A Brief History of The Living Word Fellowship — internet archive of The Living Word Fellowship’s now defunct website
• The Life of John Robert Stevens — website about John Robert Stevens by The Living Word, “a California nonprofit corporation”, accessed February 2020
• Frequently Asked Questions — Shiloh website, accessed February 2020
• An Open Letter to The Living Word Fellowship Congregation — from Shalom Abrahamson-Caples, 24 October 2018
• Shalom Abrahamson-Caples’ Facebook post — linking to the open letter, 25 October 2018
• Comparison of ‘To Be a Christian’ and excerpt from ‘The Call of the Cross’ — comparing John Robert Stevens’ 1933 text and George Herron’s 1892 text

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In 1996, journalist Madeleine Bunting wrote for The Guardian UK: “Most of the 130,000 Buddhists in this country are in the caring professions, or are academics, or are part of an ex-hippy culture; they are trusting, idealistic and naive. They thought Buddhism was immune to the fanaticism and hypocrisy which riddles all religions. The controversy surrounding the NKT is shattering illusions that Buddhism was the one fail-safe religion.”

Twenty years later, clinical psychologist Dr Michelle Haslam joined the NKT under that very same illusion – one that she now feels obliged to help truly shatter herself.

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 3 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

• Geshe Kelsang Gyatso — biography by Tenzin Peljor and Carol McQuire, Tibetan Buddhism in the West blog, 2015
• To the Tibetan Buddhists around the world and fellow Tibetan compatriots within and outside Tibet — undated open letter with 15 Tibetan official signatories
• Separate document regarding Geshe Kelsang's personal situation — Kelsang Gyatso statement on NKT letterhead, June 2008
• Recovery from The New Kadampa Tradition – A Resource Centre — website by Dr Michelle Haslam and former NKT members
• Potential harm to mental and physical health through exposure to The New Kadampa Tradition (NKT-IKBU), Version 4 — by Dr Michelle Haslam, 17 January 2020
• Dr Michelle Haslam: Plagiarization & Misrepresentation of Research — website attributed to “Dr Robert Harrison”, archived as at 23 January 2020

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Hare Krishnas are often seen as joyous, harmless people, dancing their way through the streets, chanting to bells in their colourful robes. But in one particular Australian offshoot, a young woman named Lina told me about her not-so-harmless experiences.

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 3 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

• About ISKCON — background at Krishna.com, accessed November 2019
• What You Need to Know About Hare Krishnas — by Barbara Bradley Hagerty, NPR, 22 May 2008
• Wollumbin — Geographical Names Extract, Geographical Names Board, accessed November 2019
• Wollumbin (Mount Warning) summit track — NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service listing, accessed November 2019
• Hardly Krishna — by Sushi Das, The Age, 2 June 2003
• Judge Rejects Charges of ‘Brainwashing’ Against Hare Krishna Aides — by Murray Schumach, The New York Times, 18 March 1977
• Krishna Expels Leader of Group Under U.S. Probe — UPI, Los Angeles Times, 18 March 1987

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WANTED: families to volunteer to live for six months in the Australian outback “to advance the frontiers of social science.” Be part of a cutting edge research project to test the ideal human environment.

In a country known for a population that loves to travel, the write-ups appealed to plenty of adventurous spirits. Little did they know the reality of what they would be getting themselves into.

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 3 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

• A snake in the grass — by Andrew Burrell, The Weekend Australian Magazine, 24 August 2019
• The Utopia Project — by Andrew Burrell, The Weekend Australian Magazine, 8 August 2015
• Cult friction — by Frank Robson, Good Weekend, 6 November 1999
• Cult leader James 'Taipan' Salerno jailed for repeated sexual abuse of teenage girl — by Rebecca Opie, ABC News, 29 July 2019
• Leader of Adelaide Cult the ‘Ideal Human Environment’ Has Been Jailed for Sexual Abuse — by Gavin Butler, VICE, 30 July 2019
• Salute to Adelaide Hills cult leader inspired by Gladiator movie, court told — by Rebecca Opie, ABC News, 19 October 2018

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Followers of The Move rejected mainstream society and headed into the wilderness in the 1970s, building isolated communities that were to set them up for the coming Apocalypse. Many ex-members would later tell stories of physical hardship, beatings, and worse, experienced in these communities. Move leader Sam Fife told devotees that should he ever die, they could consider it proof that he was a false prophet.

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 3 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

• Swindled by Faith: A Time For Reconciliation — by Richard A Kiers, Tellwell Talent, 2019
• Practices of Cults Receiving New Scrutiny — The New York Times, 21 January 1979
• From Survivor to Thriver — by Angela “Vennie” Kocsis, ICSA Today, Vol. 5, No. 3, 2014
• Vennie Kocsis’ website — includes various collected materials about The Move
• Brother Sam Prepares His Flock For The ‘End Days’ — by Adon Taft, Charleston Daily, 10 April 1975
• Awaiting apocalypse in the Peace River Valley — by Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, 27 October 2016
• Peace River commune awaits imminent apocalypse: Christian community of 250 shuns TV and requires year-long courtship void of physical contact — by Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, 22 September 2003

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Australian esoteric healing organisation Universal Medicine teaches that entities known as The Four Lords of Form rule over 9-foot-tall spirits that are all around us, and that most people have lived at least 2,300 lives before.

Former student Matt Sutherland told Sunday Night journalist Matt Doran that he would describe Universal Medicine’s founder Serge Benhayon as “a human wrecking ball.”

CORRECTION: The 'groping' allegations were found to be conveyed by the publication but the court did not find that Esther Rockett had proven them true. Defences of honest opinion and qualified privilege were upheld for these allegations. This episode has been updated to remove these points. Also, Esther Rockett named herself "Darkly Venus" and "Pranic Princess", it was not Serge Benhayon who did so.

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 3 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

• The Cult: International investigation into Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine — by Matt Doran, Sunday Night, Channel 7, 17 February 2019
• Australian cult leader Serge Benhayon targeted in international investigation — by Matt Doran, Sunday Night, Channel 7, 15 May 2019
• The Da Vinci Mode — by David Leser, Good Weekend, 25 August 2012
• Universal Medicine cult founder exposed as ‘charlatan’ — by Rhian Deutrom, news.com.au, 18 February 2019
• Universal Medicine 'cult' received hundreds of thousands in charity donations from prominent donors — by Josh Robertson, ABC News, 14 September 2019

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Edgar Bronfman Sr. of the Seagram liquor fortune once wrote a testimonial for a course he had taken through an organisation called Executive Success Programs, or ESP. He said, quote, “If everyone were to go through this training, the world would be a much better and safer place to live.” Seventeen years later, the leader and inner circle of that same organisation, now going under the name NXIVM, would be on trial for charges including sex trafficking, forced labour, fraud, extortion and child pornography.

UPDATE: Keith Raniere sentenced to 120 years in prison. Allison Mack sentenced to 3 years in prison.

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.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 3 of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

Links:

• The Founder of “Nxivm,” a Purported Self-Help Organization Based in Albany, N.Y., Arrested for Sex Trafficking and Forced Labor Conspiracy — US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York
• Complaint and Affidavit — US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York
• Jury Finds Nxivm Leader Keith Raniere Guilty of All Counts — US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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On the 14 June 2019, news broke in Australia that many people had been waiting on for a number of years. That news was the death of this country’s most notorious cult leader, Anne Hamilton-Byrne.

In this bonus episode, I’m bringing you an interview with investigative journalist Chris Johnston, who has been looking into The Family for quite some time. He worked with director Rosie Jones on her recent documentary ‘The Cult of the Family’, and they also co-wrote a book together about the group and its history. Chris spoke to me from Melbourne.

CORRECTION: In this episode I mentioned that Chris Johnston is a senior journalist for The Age. He worked with The Age for 20 years but is not currently working there.

Special Guest: Chris Johnston.

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.

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.

Links:

• The Family: The shocking true story of a notorious cult — by Chris Johnston & Rosie Jones, Scribe Publications, 2016
• The Family — Documentary film website

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Chung Moo Quan positioned itself as a superior martial arts school that taught eight different practices at once. Though this may have originally struck prospective students as a bargain-and-a-half, many who chose to take it up would come out the other end having lost thousands of dollars, personal relationships and job opportunities, and even their sense of self. Before the school’s founder and four other defendants were jailed in 1995, various experts had told reporters that Chung Moo Quan fit their definition of a destructive cult.

Special Guest: Russell Johnson.

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.

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.

Links:

• Deceived: The Moo Years — podcast by Russell Johnson, with many resources from his research
• Herding the Moo: Exploits of a Martial Arts Cult — by Joe Smith, Trafford Publishing, 2006
• Investigators: Students take aim at martial arts school — by Chris Ingalls, KING 5 News, 16 February 2005
• The Cult and the Con — special report by Pam Zekman, CBS 2 Chicago, 1989
• Chung Moonies? Critics call martial-arts club a cult of violence and greed — by Ric Kahn, The Boston Phoenix, 25 October 1991
• Be True to Your School — by Jennifer Vogel, City Pages, 1 April 1992
• The Martial Arts Cult of John C. Kim — by Laurence Gonzales, unpublished article for Penthouse, 5 May 1992

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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The Order of the Solar Temple was a secret society that would go down sharing the pages of history with Jonestown, the Branch Davidians and Heaven’s Gate. But is it fair to compare the groups? When it comes to incidents of mass violence and cults, perhaps it may be unavoidable. Because whether they ended in mass murder-suicide or a different form of violence, in spite of the striking ideological differences between them, there were some similarities – in all of these groups that ended with such undeniable tragedy.

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.

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.

Links:

• Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem: Contemporary Apocalyptic Movements — by Thomas Robbins & Susan J. Palmer, Psychology Press, 1997
• Pont-Saint-Esprit poisoning: Did the CIA spread LSD? — by Mike Thomson, BBC News, 23 August 2010
• Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis — AMORC international website
• The Tragedy Of The Solar Temple Cult — by Stephen Dafoe, TemplarHistory.com, 1 April 2010
• A Preacher With a Dark Side Led Cultists to Swiss Chalets — by Alan Riding, The New York Times, 9 October 1994
• The Order of the Solar Temple: The Temple of Death — by Professor James R Lewis, Ashgate Publishing, 2013
• Coroner's Report into the deaths at Morin Heights, Cheiry and Salvan — in French, June 1996
• "Our Terrestrial Journey is Coming to an End": The Last Voyage of the Solar Temple — by Jean-Francois Mayer, Nova Religio, 1999

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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A New Zealand-born man who moved to Australia in the 1970s and started a sect, telling his eventual 9 wives and 60-plus children that he was Jesus Christ, was put behind bars for 7 years in Victoria in 2000. In spite of the fairly sensational nature of his lifestyle and crimes, his name is not well-known here, and his polygamous group gained the most media attention when a recent Bachelor Australia contestant was outed by the press for her childhood involvement.

This episode we’re talking about a cult that didn’t officially have a name, but was unofficially referred to as The Seaside Sect.

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.

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.

Links:

• Abuser kept secret through cult of fear — by Naomi Larkin, NZ Herald, 12 August 2000
• Meet Sam and James, the Unsuspecting Villains of Netflix's 'Instant Hotel' — by Pippa Raga, Distractify, 11 January 2019
• Cult head, 71, molested girls, trial told — AAP, The Sydney Morning Herald, 20 July 2000
• 'Harem' deserts convicted guru — AAP, The Age, 4 August 2000
• 'Guru' jailed for child molestation — News24, 11 August 2000
• Polygamist guru faces new child sex charges — by Katie Lapthorne, The Courier Mail, 8 March 2003
• Ian Francis LOWE Death Notice — New Zealand Herald, 14 April 2012
• The Bachelor Cult Bombshell — Alison Petrovsky, A Current Affair, 8 August 2016

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Joy Kuo and her husband moved to Sydney from Taiwan in 2000, and the couple both began working for the University of Sydney Library the following year. They both studied for and gained their masters degrees, and enjoyed their work. By 2012 they had had a son together, and Joy found herself wanting to help humanity in some greater way. She was looking for something she could really dedicate herself to in her career.

Iphigenie Amoutzias moved to New Zealand from Germany in 1996. She completed postgraduate studies in her new home country, and had practised Buddhism for many years. By 2011 she had reached a point in her life where something seemed to be missing. She felt that the modern world was lacking in connection, that technology was driving people apart, and that she wanted to be surrounded with a greater sense of community.

Both women came across the same new age group at this point in their lives. They had no idea that years later they would find themselves broke, emotionally affected, and questioning all of their previous decisions to become involved.

Special Guest: Joy Kuo & Iphigenie Amoutzias.

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.

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.

Links:

• KF website
• Bad Vibrations – The implosion of a New Age cult — by Steve Kilgallon and Tony Wall, stuff.co.nz, July 2018
• NZ Cult List — Entry for KF
• KF Foundation webpage
• KF Chronicles — blog credited to Ananya Bhakt Niranjana
• Awakening with Joy — YouTube channel by Joy Kuo
• Joy’s Story — by Joy Kuo, via the Cult Information and Family Support (CIFS) website

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Grace J. Adams and Poia Alpha are two sisters from New Zealand, who joined David Koresh’s Branch Davidians in the 1980s along with their other sister, the younger Rebecca. Poia left the sect in early 1990, and Grace in late 1991. Rebecca remained with the group at the compound in Waco, Texas, and perished in the fire of April 1993. Grace and Poia have recently released their memoir, called ‘Hearken O Daughter’, and I caught up with them on a recent trip to Auckland.

Special Guest: Grace J. Adams and Poia Alpha.

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.

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.

Links:

• Hearken O Daughter — by Grace J. Adams and Poia Alpha, 2018
• Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships — by Janja Lalich and Madeleine Tobias, Bay Tree Publishing, 2006

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Laura left Outreach International when she was 32 years old, having been born into the sect in the late 1970s. Hear her story as she relates the experience of being a young woman in a highly patriarchal and controlling organisation, the difficult decision to leave, the trauma of starting her life from scratch, and the joy that she's found in this new life – a kind that most of us take for granted. You'll also hear from other ex-members about their experiences, and where the sect stands today.

Special Guest: Laura Sullivan.

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.

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.

Links:

• Billy Graham in Australia, 1959 - Was it Revival? — by Dr. Stuart Piggin, Lucas: An Evangelical History Review, no. 6, Oct 1989
• Letters to the Editor — Vision Magazine, No. 9, May-June 1975
• Salaries for ministers rapped by church founder — by Rose Simpson, The Ottawa Journal, Wednesday July 25, 1979
• Outreach International website
• Tony Kostas' personal website
• Seek Ye First — by Tony Kostas, Outreach International, 1975
• The Ultimate Attainment — by Tony Kostas, Outreach Media, 1983
• Building with God — series by Tony Kostas, 1985
• Led Into Love — by Tony Kostas, 2016

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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In May 2017, a sect that started in Melbourne, Australia, 50 years ago, and has been highly secretive over the last few decades, decided to change its closed-doors policy and go public with a website. Whilst up until now very little has been known about the group except by direct conversations with former believers, its members go to government schools, attend public universities, and work in everyday jobs. They could be your neighbour, your colleague, or even a friend, and you’d have no idea what’s really going on in their private lives.

CORRECTION: There is a mention of the Book of David in this episode – this was a slip of the tongue, it should be the Book of John.

Special Guest: Laura Sullivan.

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.

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.

Links:

• Billy Graham in Australia, 1959 - Was it Revival? — by Dr. Stuart Piggin, Lucas: An Evangelical History Review, no. 6, Oct 1989
• Letters to the Editor — Vision Magazine, No. 9, May-June 1975
• Salaries for ministers rapped by church founder — by Rose Simpson, The Ottawa Journal, Wednesday July 25, 1979
• Outreach International website
• Seek Ye First — by Tony Kostas, Outreach International, 1975
• The Ultimate Attainment — by Tony Kostas, Outreach Media, 1983
• Building with God — series by Tony Kostas, 1985
• Led Into Love — by Tony Kostas, 2016

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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In October of 2013, the British organisation Freedom Charity received a call on their hotline. The woman on the other end said that her housemate had been held captive in South London for 30 years.

At the time of this call, Katy Morgan-Davies was 30 years old, and the period of her imprisonment was her entire life. She, and the women she lived with, believed that an invisible machine called JACKIE could control household appliances, read their thoughts, and would incinerate them if they tried to escape the man they called ‘Comrade Bala’ – who was the covert leader of the world, and, in fact, God himself.

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.

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.

Links:

• Caged Bird — by Katy Morgan-Davies, Random House, 2018
• The Cult Next Door — BBC documentary directed by Vanessa Engle, 2017
• Aravindan Balakrishnan: the Maoist cult leader who used brutal violence and rape to strip women of their dignity — by Victoria Ward, The Telegraph, 4 December 2015
• Thirty Years in Captivity — by Simon Parkin, The New Yorker, 3 December 2016
• The Classification and Dynamics of Sectarian Forms of Organisation: Grid/Group Perspectives on the Far-Left in Britain — by Stephen Frank Rayner, PhD thesis for University College London, 1979
• Maoist cult follower: “I think he’s being framed” — Channel 4 News segment with Josephine Herivel, 4 December 2015
• The radical ideological background of 'slave women' suspects — by Jake Wallis Simons, The Telegraph, 24 November 2013

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Synanon began as an addiction support group that gathered in a grimy Californian flat in the late 1950s. It would grow to become a well-funded utopian society throughout the late ’60s and early ’70s, before declaring itself a religion in 1974. This organisation would attract Hollywood stars like Leonard Nimoy and Jane Fonda to participate in its so-called “Game”, and eventually break up married couples, force men to have vasectomies and women to have abortions, amass assets worth tens of millions of dollars, and become entangled in a web of violence.

Synanon’s leader Charles Dederich is often credited with coining the phrase “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”

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.

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.

Links:

• American National Biography: Supplement — Oxford University Press, 2002
• Self-Reliance — by Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1847 edition, Wikisource full text
• Estimating Emerson: An Anthology of Criticism from Carlyle to Cavell — edited by David LaRocca, A&C Black, 1 January 2013
• Charles Dederich, 83, Synanon Founder, Dies — by Lawrence van Gelder, The New York Times, 4 March 1997
• Paul Morantz's website — with extensive writings by the attorney and investigative journalist about Synanon
• The Man Who Fought the Synanon Cult and Won — by Matt Novak, Gizmodo, 27 August 2014
• Synanon's Sober Utopia: How A Drug Rehab Program Became A Violent Cult — by Matt Novak, Gizmodo, 20 April 2014

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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2018 marks the 25-year anniversary of a 51-day siege that ended in tragedy, following a shootout between the U.S. government and members of a sect called the Branch Davidians. The gunfire exchange lasted for well over an hour, killing four U.S. agents and six Branch Davidians, and wounding their leader Vernon Howell, also known as David Koresh. Yet this violence was just the beginning of an ordeal that would culminate in an inferno later to become known as the Waco Massacre.

CW: references to manipulative behaviours, suicide, murder, and physical abuse and sexual assault, including of minors. Please consider whether this is suitable for you and those around you who may be listening too.

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.

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.

Links:

• The Sinful Messiah — The Waco Tribune-Herald's 7-part investigative series, 1993.
• The Ashes of Waco: An Investigation — by Dick J. Reavis, Syracuse University Press, 1998
• Breaking through the myths surrounding the 1993 Branch Davidian raid — by Lee Hancock, Dallas News, 27 February 2018
• Armageddon in Waco: Critical Perspectives on the Branch Davidian Conflict — by Stuart A. Wright, University of Chicago Press, 1995
• Four Years After the Flames of Waco, a Film Keeps the Doubts Smoldering — by Sam Howe Verhovek, The New York Times, 19 August 1997
• Who was David Koresh: Ex-followers describe life inside apocalyptic religious sect involved in 1993 Waco siege — by Muriel Pearson, Spencer Wilking & Lauren Effron, ABC News, 2 January 2018

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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

Over recent days, several of the 13 incarcerated Aum Shinrikyo members sentenced to death have been moved to new facilities, prompting speculation that their execution is imminent.

In this bonus episode, a follow-up to our third episode about the infamous Japanese sect, Let's Talk About Sects spoke with a woman who has researched the group for over 16 years, and has also been in direct contact with ex-members. Sarah Hightower (who went by the name Sarah Skibtower) was kind enough to share her expertise and opinions with us ahead of this big development in the “Aum Affair”, which she considers to be one of the biggest tragedies the world has ever seen.

Includes a correction from episode 3 about Aum Shinrikyo.

UPDATE: The death penalty was carried out in Japan in July of 2018. Aum sympathiser Kazuhiro Kusakabe left 8 injured on 1 January 2019 when he drove into a crowd of people in the Harajuku district of Tokyo.

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.

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.

Links:

• Aum Shinrikyo Anime OP (English Subbed) — Aum Shinrikyo anime with the real audio (correction from original episode), featuring the voice of Shoko Asahara
• Japan prepares to execute up to 13 members of Aum Shinrikyo cult — by Daniel Hurst, The Guardian, 20 March 2018

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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William Kamm has a 10pm curfew, and is not allowed to spend time with girls under the age of 17. He is prevented from entering the Shoalhaven district of New South Wales, and his movements and communications are monitored. These are conditions of his release after serving 9 years in jail for crimes he committed against two teenage girls – yet his followers still believe that he is the next true Pope, and that the Virgin Mary speaks to him on the 13th day of every month.

Special Guest: Claire Ashman.

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.

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.

Links:

• Claire Ashman's website — where her book 'Lessons from a Cult Survivor' is available for pre-order
• Lessons From A Cult Survivor — by Claire Ashman, 2018 – book pre-sale link
• A WOLF Among the SHEEP: How God's Prophet the Little Pebble Became a Womanising, Millionaire Cult Leader — by Graeme Webber, KeyStone Press, 2008
• The Little Pebble: The Last Pope, A Man of Contradiction, Petrus Romanus, Sinner or Saint? — by William Costellia, self-published, 1999 (volume 1)
• Official website of The Little Pebble
• William 'Little Pebble' Kamm's supervision to continue — AAP, The Illawarra Mercury, 8 January 2016
• South Coast cult leader William 'Little Pebble' Kamm fails to have supervision order lifted — by Angela Thompson, Illawarra Mercury, 14 August 2017
• Cult leader and convicted sex offender William Kamm to be freed within days — AAP, The Age, 11 November 2014

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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

The Koreshans believed that the earth was hollow, and that humans lived on the concave inside surface of it. They theorised that the moon and stars, and indeed the rest of the universe, was contained within. On the outside? A void. When they formed the utopian community in Estero, Florida that they called the Koreshan Unity Settlement, a common greeting of one member to another was, “We live inside.”

Special Guest: Lyn Millner.

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.

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.

Links:

• The cellular cosmogony, or, The earth, a concave sphere, Part 1 — by Koresh and Ulysses G. Morrow, The Guiding Star Publishing House, 1898
• The Immortal Manhood: The Laws and Processes of Its Attainment in the Flesh — by Koresh, The Guiding Star Publishing House, 1902
• The Allure of Immortality: An American Cult, a Florida Swamp, and a Renegade Prophet — by Lyn Millner, University Press of Florida, 2015
• Author turns over every rock to reveal Estero’s Koreshans — by Dayna Harpster, Spotlight Estero News Magazine, 1 November 2015
• Cyrus Teed, Estero's Koreshans get their due in new book — by Amy Bennett Williams, News-Press, 19 October 2015
• The Teed House at Koreshan State Historic Site — Video uploaded by YouTube user Florida Trailblazer, 15 November 2013
• Koreshan State Historic Site History — page on the Friends of Koreshan State Park website
• Koreshan State Historic Site plans for future — by Maryann Batlle, Naples Daily News, 31 July 2016
• Sr. Marco Pagano's YouTube Channel — Includes a variety of videos about the Earth as a concave sphere, with over 500K views to date

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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Carli McConkey was a 21-year-old university graduate when she decided to attend the Mind Body Spirit Festival in Sydney, and came across the stand for Life Integration Programmes. The course they offered sounded like exactly what she needed to get her life on track and realise her potential. Little did she know that this encounter was the start of a 13-year ordeal that would see her estranged from her family, under continued financial stress, a victim and perpetrator of physical assault, working untold hours of unpaid labour, and eventually, medically sterilised.

Special Guest: Carli McConkey.

The opinions expressed in this podcast are not necessarily those of the makers of Let's Talk About Sects.

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.

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.

Links:

• The Cult Effect — by Carli McConkey
• Carli McConkey's website
• Cult Leaders and Ballet Dancers: The Strange Rock School Lawsuit — by Victor Fiorillo, Philadelphia Magazine, 30 June 2014
• Alleged cult leader to settle defamation claims out of court — by Chris Calcino, Byron Shire News, 11 October 2014
• Ex-alleged cult members 'sleep well' with court case over — APN Newsdesk, The Northern Star, 11 October 2014
• LAKAEV v. THE ROCK SCHOOL FOR DANCE EDUCATION et al — PacerMonitor record of libel, assault, slander case – plaintiff's claims dismissed with prejudice 24 November 2014
• 9354/11 LAKAEV -V- THE AGE COMPANY LIMITED & others — Supreme Court of Queensland case file summary

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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

Ken Dyers passed away 10 years ago this year, but the organisation that he spearheaded with his partner Jan Hamilton lives on. In spite of a few parallels, this Australian organisation, called Kenja, has been listed as a suppressive group by the Church of Scientology.

Jan claims that Kenja has faced decades of persecution by those who want to bring them down, including a member of parliament, and charges levied at the organisation include brainwashing, exacerbation of psychological illnesses with dire consequences, alienation from family and friends, and sexual abuse.

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.

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.

Links:

• Kenja Concert website — Includes Jan Hamilton early biography timeline
• Kenja Communication website
• Kenja Lecture website
• Guilty Until Proven Innocent — A Kenja Communication "theatre documentary" production: "The incredible story of the 15 year-long attack on the reputation of Ken Dyers – in an attempt to destroy Kenja Communication, the organisation he co-founded – which ultimately led to his death at age 85."
• Ken Dyers: Tributes and accusations — Sydney Morning Herald, 4 August 2007
• Kenja Facebook page — Image of the 10th annual full page ad Kenja placed in Fairfax Media publications for the anniversary of Ken Dyers' death
• Ken Dyers YouTube channel
• Beyond Our Ken — Documentary directed by Luke Walker and Melissa Maclean, Scribble Films 2007

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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

Twenty years ago this year, Japan was to become a nuclear wasteland, according to the leader of a sect who claimed that the only survivors would be his followers and 10% of the major cities. It was in the lead up to this year of the predicted apocalypse, 1997, that he ordered shocking acts that would eventually result in his group being labelled a terrorist organisation, and himself and 12 other sect members being sentenced to death.

UPDATE 2: The death penalty was carried out in Japan in July of 2018.

UPDATE: An Aum Shinrikyo update episode was released on 21 March 2018. It includes a small correction from this episode.

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.

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.

Links:

• Profile: Shoko Asahara — BBC News, 27 February 2004
• A Guru's Journey – A special report. The Seer Among the Blind: Japanese Sect Leader's Rise — by Nicholas D. Kristof with Sheryl WuDunn, The New York Times, 26 March 1995
• Daughters of doomsday cult leader fight to save their 'loving' father — by Justin McCurry, The Guardian, 19 April 2006
• How a Religious Sect Rooted in Yoga Became a Terrorist Group — by Jennifer Latson, TIME, 20 March 2015
• Asahara’s No. 3 daughter writes on life during, after cult — by Keiji Hirano, Japan Times, 26 March 2015
• Former Aum cultist publishes memoir on gas attacks, Asahara — by Eiji Shimura, The Asahi Shimbun, 10 January 2017
• Sarin gas attack survivor recalls near miss on Tokyo subway — by Julian Ryall, South China Post, 19 March 2015

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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

Ugandan cult The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God was one of the deadliest in world history, with the number of casualties similar to the infamous Jonestown massacre. The mastermind behind it? A woman who said she was receiving messages directly from the Virgin Mary.

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.

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.

Links:

• Report of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs on the Petition by the Orphans of the Victims of the Kanungu Church Infernos — Parliament of the Republic of Uganda, July 2014
• The Kanungu Massacre: The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God Indicted — The Uganda Human Rights Commission Periodical Report, 2002
• Uganda Cult’s Mystique Finally Turned Deadly — by Ian Fisher, New York Times, 2 April 2000
• The preacher and the prostitute — BBC News, 29 March 2000
• Mary’s Flames: The Long Road to Horror in Kanungu — The East African, 8 February 2001
• The power behind the cult — The Telegraph (UK), 2 April 2000
• Violence and New Religious Movements — edited by James R. Lewis, Oxford University Press 2011
• A party, prayers, then mass suicide — by Anne Borzello, The Guardian, 20 March 2000

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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

There is a 95-year-old woman in a Melbourne nursing home who dotes on a plastic baby doll. You wouldn’t guess it to look at her, but this is a woman who amassed a multi-million dollar fortune, destroyed families, and affected the lives of numerous people giving them ongoing psychological issues, some of which ended in suicide.

Former police detective Lex de Man said of this women to 60 Minutes, “Of all the crimes that I investigated, she is the most evil person that I’ve ever met.”

Special guest: Ben Shenton.

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.

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.

Links:

• The Diaries of Raynor Johnson Part 1 and Part 2
• How to become a successful cult leader: offer love, and then withdraw it — by Mary Wakefield, The Spectator, December 2016
• Creating the family tree — Herald Sun, 16 August 2000
• Bizarrism – Strange Lives, Cults, Celebrated Lunacy — by Chris Mikul, 2002
• Growing up with The Family: inside Anne Hamilton-Byrne’s sinister cult — by Abigail Haworth, The Guardian, 20 November 2016
• ‘Evil, Wicked’: What it was like to grow up in one of Australia’s most notorious cults — by Ange McCormack, Triple J, 3 August 2016
• The Family’s ‘living god’ fades to grey, estate remains — by Chris Johnston, The Age, 17 May 2014

Subscribe and support the production of this independent podcast, and you can access early + ad-free episodes at https://plus.acast.com/s/lets-talk-about-sects.

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