This is just a preview of our Patreon exclusive bonus episode. You can listen to the full episode by becoming a member at: www.patreon.com/indoctrination Returning guest, Perry Bulwer was Born in Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada, where he joined the Children of God after dropping out of high school at age 16. He then spent the next two decades living in Children Of God communes across the world. In 1991, at the age of 36, he was finally able to escape the cult. Perry now advocates for seco...
Dec 08, 2023•9 min
Eva Collins is a content creator and online business consultant with over 20 years of experience in the spiritual and personal development world and 8 years in the online business and coaching industry. She has 750 hours of yoga teacher training, along with certifications in Reiki and health coaching. Over the years, during her entrepreneurship journey, she started learning from and working for some big names in the online business industry, and during the pandemic, she slowly began to realize t...
Dec 06, 2023•1 hr 22 min
Eric Skwarczynski is a versatile media professional with a passion for storytelling. Over the past 7 years, he has held various roles, including videographer, photographer, writer, and graphic designer, leading him to explore over 20 states and 13 countries. His mission revolves around shedding light on the significant issue of mental, physical, and sexual abuse within Independent Baptist Churches. Eric hosts the Preacher Boys podcast, which debuted in January 2020 and has garnered 3 million dow...
Nov 29, 2023•1 hr 30 min
This is just a preview of our Patreon exclusive bonus episode. You can listen to the full episode by becoming a member at: https://www.patreon.com/indoctrination In this special bonus episode, Rachel offers her thoughts on La Luz Del Mundo, the Mexican mega-church that teaches that it is the only true Christian church founded by Jesus Christ because it is led by Naasón Joaquín, whom it considers the only true servant of God and Apostle of Jesus Christ in this era. Joaquín, however, is now servin...
Nov 24, 2023•5 min
Thenmozhi Soundararajan is a Dalit American artist, community organizer, technologist, and theorist. Currently, Thenmozhi is the Executive Director of Equality Labs, which she co-founded. Equality Labs is the largest Dalit civil rights organization working to empower caste-oppressed people in the US and globally. Through her work at Equality Labs, Thenmozhi has mobilized South Asian Americans towards dismantling eons-long systems of oppression, with the goal of ending caste apartheid, gender-bas...
Nov 22, 2023•1 hr 10 min
Sarah Steel is the creator and host of the "Let's Talk About Sects" podcast, where she produces, and writes all of the episodes. And, today you can actually hear Rachel's guest appearance on that podcast by following the link in the show notes of this episode or just search for "Let's Talk About Sects" wherever you get your podcasts. In addition to podcasting, Sarah is also a filmmaker and writer with a keen interest in social sciences, culture, and psychology. Her writing has been published in ...
Nov 15, 2023•50 min
This is just a preview of our Patreon exclusive bonus episode. You can hear the full episode by becoming a supporter at: https://www.patreon.com/indoctrination Returning guest, Erin Burchwell is a Columbus, Ohio-based florist, designer, and illustrator. She grew up as a faculty kid on the campus of Bob Jones University, an extremely conservative Christian college known for its strict rules and controversial beliefs. In 2014, Erin interviewed with GRACE, an independent ombudsman who reviewed the ...
Nov 10, 2023•9 min
Perry Bulwer was Born in Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada, where he joined the Children of God after dropping out of high school at age 16. He then spent the next two decades living in Children Of God communes across the world. In 1991, at the age of 36, he was finally able to escape the cult. Perry now advocates for second-generation cult survivors, and continues to shed light on the Children of God, a/k/a "The Family". He is the author of the new memoir "Misguided: My Jesus Freak Life In...
Nov 08, 2023•1 hr 21 min
Chad Harris and Lindsey Williams both grew up under the teachings of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) cult in their Advanced Training Institute homeschool program. They were also both featured in the popular Amazon docuseries ShinyHappy People: Duggar Family Secrets. Chad left those teachings behind in his mid-twenties and went on a journey of deconstruction and learning that led him to become a vocal critic of Christian fundamentalism. He started telling his life story on TikTok in...
Nov 01, 2023•1 hr 31 min
This is just a preview of our Patreon exclusive bonus episode.You can hear the episode in its entirety by becoming a member at: https://www.patreon.com/indoctrination In this special bonus episode, Rachel shares her thoughts on the "Twin Flames Universe" cult and its leaders Jeff and Shaleia. After becoming aware of this strange online-based group around 2019 she received several disturbing reports to her therapy practice by former and current members and their concerned families. Throughout thi...
Oct 27, 2023•4 min
David Hayward AKA NakedPastor is a former pastor turned artist and author whose work encourages seeking one's authentic self, religious deconstruction, and freedom of thought. He holds a Masters degree in Theological Studies, as well as Diplomas in Religious Studies and Ministry. David resides in Eastern Coastal Canada where the natural surroundings have helped him to find inner peace within the natural world as he pursues his art full time which he has done for the past decade. The idea of Nake...
Oct 25, 2023•1 hr 11 min
Katherine Spearing is a Certified Trauma Recovery Coach and the founder of “Tears of Eden”, a nonprofit supporting survivors of Spiritual Abuse, where she hosts its' affiliate podcast, “Uncertain.” Katherine is also the host of the “Trauma & Pop Culture” podcast. As a writer, Katherine has penned several nonfiction articles and is also the author of the historical romantic comedy, “Hartford”, a novel that challenges gender roles in a patriarchal society. It’s a story that Katherine says shou...
Oct 18, 2023•1 hr 8 min
This is just a preview of our Patreon exclusive bonus episode. You can hear the full episode by becoming a member at: www.patron.com/indoctrination Jolie Holland is a world-renowned Los Angeles-based artist who has forged a timeless, captivating musical legacy mining the depths of her, at times harrowing, life experiences. Her fearless creative choices are rooted in honesty and presence. She is a co-founder of the musical trio The Be Good Tanyas and has been featured on Bob Dylan's "Theme Time R...
Oct 13, 2023•10 min
Jolie Holland is a world-renowned Los Angeles-based artist who has forged a timeless, captivating musical legacy mining the depths of her, at times harrowing, life experiences. Her fearless creative choices are rooted in honesty and presence. She is a co-founder of the musical trio The Be Good Tanyas and has been featured on Bob Dylan's "Theme Time Radio Hour" Jolie was raised as a fourth-generation Jehovah's Witness, and her music inherently carries emotional themes inextricable from her cult e...
Oct 11, 2023•48 min
Erin Burchwell is a Columbus, Ohio-based florist, designer and illustrator. She grew up as a faculty kid on the campus of Bob Jones University, an extremely conservative Christian college known for its strict rules and controversial beliefs. In 2014, Erin interviewed with GRACE, an independent ombudsman who reviewed the University’s mishandling of sexual assault reports. She and others chose to break their anonymity in the report when the school fired the GRACE team. Erin manages her own floral ...
Oct 04, 2023•1 hr 14 min
This is just a preview of our Patreon exclusive bonus episode. You can hear the episode in full at: https://www.patreon.com/indoctrination In the second part of this unique two-part bonus episode, Rachel continues to provide further insight from her years of experience as a marriage and family therapist to explain the defining characteristics of trustworthiness in a variety of relationships and social settings. She points out the often subtle and nuanced details you should look out for when asse...
Sep 29, 2023•3 min
Beth McNamara is a Los Angeles-based television and documentary producer with over 25 years of experience in content development and production of more than 100 hours of entertainment garnering her two Emmy Nominations. Beth co-produced the 2018 Sundance documentary feature: INVENTING TOMORROW which won multiple awards including a 2019 Peabody. Currently, Beth is the Creator and Executive Producer of the multi-season investigative podcast: MURDER AT RYAN’S RUN which does a 50-year deep dive into...
Sep 27, 2023•1 hr 10 min
Mike Rothschild is a journalist, researcher, expert witness, and debunker of conspiracy theories and fringe beliefs. Over the last decade, Mike has written extensively about politics, history, and pop culture. In particular, Mike is an expert on the QAnon conspiracy theory, tracing its evolution from a few 4chan posts to a massive, worldwide movement that draws on centuries of conspiracy theories and scams to induct its believers into a violent mythology. Mike is the author of the recently relea...
Sep 20, 2023•1 hr 20 min
This is just a preview of our Patreon exclusive bonus episodes. You can hear the entire episode by becoming a member at: https://www.patreon.com/indoctrination In the first half of this unique two-part bonus episode, Rachel provides insight from her years of experience as a marriage and family therapist to explain the defining characteristics of trustworthiness in a variety of relationships and social settings. She outlines the underlying concepts of relational trust explaining how surrounding y...
Sep 15, 2023•5 min
Celine and Stephen Mather are a father-and-daughter podcast team. Stephen is now an organizational psychologist but was raised in a high-control group, leaving when he was around thirty years old, around the time when Celine was born. He has an interest in how cults operate and how people establish their sense of self after they leave, his dissertation for his Masters in Organizational Psychology explored this question. Celine is a media graduate and for obvious reasons has an interest in cults,...
Sep 13, 2023•1 hr 17 min
Today’s guests, Sarah and Jessica are longtime friends who grew up together in Canada. They are Ex-Christians who discuss their former faith one strange topic at a time on their cleverly named podcast "You Can't Get To Heaven In A Miniskirt" The stated goal of their podcast is to expose the abusive power structures and toxicity within the Christian faith and create a safe place to heal for those affected by religious trauma. Sarah and Jessica say their aim is to bridge the divide of the ever-gro...
Sep 06, 2023•1 hr 14 min
This is just a preview of our Patreon exclusive Bonus Episode. You can hear the full episode at: www.patreon.com/indoctrination In this special bonus episode, Rachel shares her insights into the reasons people often seek comfort in all varieties of healers and gurus, and describes the ways in which untrustworthy practitioners in these fields manipulate their followers to benefit themselves. Thanks to our Patreon supporters for making this episode possible!
Sep 01, 2023•5 min
Emily Lynn Paulson is the author of Highlight Real: Finding Honesty and Recovery Beyond the Filtered Life, and Hey, Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing. She has given two powerful TEDx talks, both challenging the status quo of parenting, alcohol use, and feminism as we know it. Paulson has also been featured in major publications such as the Today Show, New York Times, Washington Post, The Seattle Times, Chicago Tribune, Next Question with Katie Cour...
Aug 30, 2023•1 hr 10 min
Abbi Nye is an abuse survivor supporting cult survivors in their journey toward healing. An archivist in Wisconsin, Abbi holds an MLIS from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a BA in Biblical and Theological Studies from Wheaton College. In 2022, Abbi co-founded C.F.C.too, a survivor-led advocacy coalition for abuse survivors from Christian Fellowship Center, a Christian cult in northern New York. Her work with CFCtoo has been featured in outlets such as the Washington Post and Religion N...
Aug 23, 2023•1 hr 4 min
This is just a preview of our Patreon exclusive Bonus Episode. You can hear the full episode at: https://www.patreon.com/indoctrination Quinn Cummings is an Oscar-nominated actress (The Goodbye Girl) and the critically acclaimed author of Notes From The Underwire, Pet Sounds, and The Year of Learning Dangerously. She created the seminal blog, The QC Report which evolved into the highly regarded “A Small Story” appearing regularly on Twitter. Quinn also hosts a podcast, Quinn Cummings Gives Bad A...
Aug 18, 2023•8 min
Tia Levings grew up in a Southern Baptist megachurch, was recruited into fundamentalism by mentors following Bill Gothard's IBLP (Institute of Basic Life Principles), and eventually landed in a high control group (cult) that taught Federalist Marriage: the idea that husbands are responsible for their wives before God, and so are accountable to lead and discipline them as children. She was excommunicated and formally shunned in 2007 and narrowly escaped that violent marriage with her 4 children l...
Aug 16, 2023•1 hr 10 min
Geoff Levin is a professional musician and former Scientologist who grew up in San Jose, CA. In 1962 at the age of 16, he started his musical life and embraced the burgeoning folk scene in the San Francisco Bay Area where he played stand-up bass with Jerry Garcia in the bluegrass group The Black Mountain Boys. In 1964 he formed the rock band PEOPLE! who were quickly signed to Capitol Records where they released the hit song "I Love You". By 1968 Geoff was recruited into Scientology where he was ...
Aug 09, 2023•1 hr 12 min
This is just a preview of our Patreon exclusive bonus episode. You can hear the episode in its entirety by becoming a member at: www.patreon.com/indoctrination Returning guest, Priscilla Eyles is a Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion trainer and facilitator from London. They are an advocate, and speaker passionate about raising awareness around the issues that Neurodivergent people face, specifically those of multiple marginalized identities. Alongside normalizing conversations around vul...
Aug 04, 2023•7 min
Priscilla Eyles is a Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion trainer and facilitator from London. They are an advocate, and speaker passionate about raising awareness around the issues that Neurodivergent people face, specifically those of multiple marginalized identities. Alongside normalizing conversations around vulnerabilities to cult abuse, career, and intergenerational trauma. Priscilla is a bi-racial, neurodivergent queer person who survived eight years in two cults and has worked in m...
Aug 02, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Sue Winter is a modern linguist who holds two graduate degrees, one from the University of London, and another from UWE Bristol. She taught for over 44 years in a variety of settings in both mainstream and specialist teams for vulnerable young people. Sue has multiple cultic experiences from religious to corporate to interpersonal, including both parental and spousal abuse. She became involved in Fruitful Vine Ministries, an Australian charismatic group, led by a female apostle prophet. After le...
Jul 26, 2023•1 hr 14 min