A Little Bit Culty
Think you might be in a cult? Want to know the signs? Join Sarah Edmondson and Anthony “Nippy” Ames to talk about things that are..a little bit culty. Or in their case: a whole bunch of culty. As whistleblowers documented in the critically-acclaimed HBO series “The Vow,” Sarah and Nippy have a lot to say about their experience, and burning questions to ask people with similar stories. They’re here to help people understand, heal from, and avoid abusive situations one little red flag at a time. Listen in as they share their stories, have frank and unscripted conversations with other survivors and cult experts, and do a deep dive on how devotion can turn to dysfunction.
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Mindf*ck 102: MK Ultra, Crypto Cults & Modern Brainwashing with Rebecca Lemov (Part 2)
This week, we’re back with Harvard professor and author Rebecca Lemov to finish what we started: unraveling the tangled web of brainwashing…past, present, and disturbingly future-facing. In Part 2, we go deeper into the CIA’s infamous MK Ultra program and its many (many) spin-offs, asking what really went down with Cha
This week, we’re diving deep into the mind games with Harvard professor and author Rebecca Lemov, because if you’ve ever wondered whether brainwashing is real, the answer is a very unsettling yes. In Part 1 of our convo, we’re cracking open the origins of brainwashing—from communist re-education camps to the electric s
It’s Thursday, and you know what that means: another bonus drop. And this one? It's got orgasms, criminal charges, and courtroom drama, so buckle up. Award-winning journalist Ellen Huet joins us to dish on OneTaste, the orgasmic meditation company that sold itself as a path to sexual liberation but now finds its top br
This episode is sponsored in part by BetterHelp. This week, we’re clipping in with Jess Rothschild to talk about SoulCycle: the high-octane, candlelit cardio craze that once had New Yorkers dropping $20k to ride front row. With $100M+ in revenue, instructors trained like pop stars, and a tightly curated sense of belong
We’re back with Part 2 of our conversation with Jane Borden, author of Cults Like Us, where we pick up right where we left off – with the Puritans, of course. Because what’s more American than a doomsday cult in denial? In this half, we explore how their legacy of moral perfectionism, isolationism, and a rigid “us vs.
Were the Puritans America’s first cult? Our guest this week makes a compelling case for yes. Jane Borden is a journalist and the author of Cults Like Us: Why Doomsday Thinking Drives America. In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, she joins us to unpack how Puritan beliefs—think apocalypse prepping, chosen nation syn
