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PODCAST

Speaking of Cults

A podcast about cults, coercive control and recovery. Formerly called the Sensibly Speaking podcast, in this weekly show host Chris Shelton interviews cult survivors, psychologists and other professionals and specialists about the topics of cult recruitment, retention and recovery. This also includes non-religious cults and extreme political movements including the more divisive elements of MAGA and left-wing culture war issues. There is nothing off-limits but we always try to be respectful of the

education

All Episodes

60:12

Speaking of Cults...The Myth of Good Christian Parenting

Speaking of Cults ·

2026/01/17

This week I welcome Marissa Franks Burt and Kelsey Kramer McGinnis, authors of the new book The Myth of Good Christian Parenting, a deep exploration of the myths that permeate Christian communities throughout the world about what is "good parenting" but which is, in fact, just child abuse. I hope you'll give this one a listen and consider what we have to say. Enjoy!Link to book on Amazon: https://a.co/d/0wrQkhl In the Church Library podcast:

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110:14

Speaking of Cults...The Rise and Fall of the...

Speaking of Cults ·

2026/01/10

This week I welcome Cheryl Hope and Richard Marsh from the Get a Life Podcast to discuss the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (formerly Exclusive Brethren), a religion/business group with a fascinating background and even more wild structure which survives to this day through the Hales family in Australia. Cheryl and Richard have quite a bit to share about this. Enjoy!Get a Life Podcast: ⁨@getalifepodcast⁩

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67:54

Speaking of Cults...How Body Language Experts Fool...

Speaking of Cults ·

2026/01/03

We are now back for 2026. This week I welcome back Zach Elwood to discuss so-called "body language experts" and the pseudoscience they push as "infotainment" which actually creates a pretty skewed idea of how people work and what deceptive behavior is all about. We cover a lot in a little bit of time. Enjoy!Zach's YouTube: ⁨@PeopleWhoReadPeoplepodcast⁩ Munecat video: https://youtu.be/Y0VQyEY-B2I?si=Em_PyU9HGJnSyPYQ

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121:23

Speaking of Cults...The Mormon/Scientology Connection...

Speaking of Cults ·

2025/12/13

This week I welcome ex-Scientologist Mitch Brisker to discuss his many and varied experiences in dealing with David Miscavige, the leader of Scientology, and how he would be sent to Utah to learn from the Mormons how to produce and present Scientology better to the world. We talk about a lot of things in this podcast around this, including Scientology's future. Enjoy!

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43:24

Speaking of Cults...Restarting After a Cult with...

Speaking of Cults ·

2025/12/06

This week I welcome back therapist and author Rachel Bernstein to discuss her newly released workbook on cult recovery, titled Restart and Restore. We go over what this workbook is useful for and cult recovery in general and cover a surprising amount of territory for such a short show. Enjoy!Rachel's website: https://rachelbernsteintherapy.com Rachel's new book: https://www.amazon.com/Restart-Restore-Journal-Survivors-Manipulation/dp/B0FR4JFV25

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83:30

Speaking of Cults...What's the Deal with MAGA...

Speaking of Cults ·

2025/11/29

This week I welcome back Jennie Gage, creator of Life Take Two on YouTube and a former Mormon MAGA tradwife who has been helping explain that world to us. We cover a lot more territory this week and I think you'll find it very relevant to some of the social insanity that has overtaken the US in the last decade.Jennie's channel: @lifetaketwo7662

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113:48

Speaking of Cults...The Honor Trap in Scientology

Speaking of Cults ·

2025/11/22

This week I welcome back Jon Atack to help me dissect the Code of Honor, one of Scientology's earliest and most successful attempts to undermine people's sense of agency and morality. Enjoy!Jon's channel: ⁨@jonatackfamilyfriends6176⁩

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91:32

Speaking of Cults...Scientology Inside and Out with...

Speaking of Cults ·

2025/11/15

This week I welcome Patty Moher, a former Scientologist staffer and kind of amazing person to talk to. We had a great chat about all things Scientology and I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did.

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108:20

Speaking of Cults - Mormonism's Violent Legacy

Speaking of Cults ·

2025/11/01

This week I welcome back Bryce Blankenangel and Shannon Grover for another deep dive into Mormon history and culture, this time digging into a truly horrifying piece of history known as the Meadows Mountain Massacre. This is a bit tough of a listen in places but I think a very good show and I appreciate my guests broad knowledge on this topic.Glassbox podcast: https://glassboxpodcast.com

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94:59

Speaking of Cults...Journalism and Reporting on...

Speaking of Cults ·

2025/10/25

This week I welcome journalist Tony Ortega to discuss his career, his interest in Scientology and get his perspective on issues related to the church and its leadership. Enjoy!Tony's Substack: https://tonyortega.substack.org Unbreakable Miss Lovely: https://shorturl.at/lKYPw

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96:11

Speaking of Cults...Scientology, Nazis and the REM...

Speaking of Cults ·

2025/10/18

This week I welcome back Jon Atack to discuss his new book about the common origins of Naziism and Scientology, and then go deep into the REM Model of Human Behavior which I created and how that explains so much of what Hubbard was about, as well as how to undo cultic manipulations. Enjoy!

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128:22

Speaking of Cults...Chase Hughes and the NLP Grift...

Speaking of Cults ·

2025/10/11

This week I welcome Zach Elwood, host of the People Who Read People podcast and a very fun guest to discuss the entrepreneurship of influence that is quite popular on social media these days especially as personified by Chase Hughes. Zach discusses his history with NLP and we talk deeply about the consequences of these practices. Enjoy!Zach's channel: ⁨@PeopleWhoReadPeoplepodcast⁩

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120:25

Speaking of Cults...The Religion/MAGA Connection with...

Speaking of Cults ·

2025/10/04

This week I welcome Jennie Gage, an ex-Mormon/MAGA/trad wife who has a story to tell about her upbringing in the Mormon world, how she was literally trafficked before escaping into abject poverty to rebuild her life from scratch. As part of this, we go deep into the MAGA/Evangelical mindset, since there are such whopping contradictions between what Christian Nationalists say and what they do that it's impossible for most people to reconcile how any of it makes sense. Jennie helps up unpack all of

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115:22

Speaking of Cults...Growing Up a Witness with Bethany...

Speaking of Cults ·

2025/09/27

This week I welcome Bethany Leger, host of the Stop the Shunning podcast and a former member of the Jehovah's Witnesses. She has a few interesting twists in her childhood growing up in the JWs and we had a lot to discuss in recovering from the cult experience.Bethany's channel: https://youtube.com/stoptheshunning⁩

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114:59

Speaking of Cults...Let's Talk Cult Recovery with...

Speaking of Cults ·

2025/09/20

This week I welcome Michael Shemwell, host of the Shunned podcast and a former member of the Jehovah's Witnesses. We met while filming the Jubilee production about cults and here discuss our mutual experiences and the ups and downs of cult recovery. Michael's podcast: https://shunnedpodcast.com

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70:41

The Problems of Growing Up in Scientology with Pamela...

Speaking of Cults ·

2025/09/13

This week I welcome back Pamela Nickel Williams, whose new memoir about her time growing up in and around Scientology has now been released. Pam has quite a story to tell and I hope you'll give it a look.Pamela's Website: https://clearlyliesaretrue.com

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93:38

Speaking of Cults...The Occult Roots of Nazism and...

Speaking of Cults ·

2025/09/06

This week I welcome back podcast favorite Jon Atack to discuss his brand-new book, "If Scientology Ruled the World: Nazi Occultists, Sex Magick, Space Aliens, and the Second Coming." This book is as wild as it sounds and uncovers some things I can almost guarantee you have never heard or seen before regarding the common origin story of the Nazi's Aryan race theory and Hubbard's ideas about body thetans and spiritual rehabilitation. Enjoy!Link to Jon's website: https://jonatack.co.uk/ Link to book:

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02:05:44

Speaking of Cults...The Secret History of the Mormon...

Speaking of Cults ·

2025/08/30

This week I welcome back Bryce Blankenagel and Shannon Grover to discuss events the Mormon Church would rather you don't know about. There's a lot and we only scratch the surface in this episode. Enjoy!Bryce and Shannon's podcast: https://glassboxpodcast.com Note: this podcast had an audio issue and had to be re-uploaded. Sorry for any confusion about that.

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58:06

Speaking of Cults...The Cult Foundations of the...

Speaking of Cults ·

2025/08/23

This week I welcome author Jane Borden, who recently published Cults Like US about the cult roots of American society and how these have perpetuated to this day in many of the moral and social values we take for granted or just don't think about too much. We have a lot of food for thought for you in this one. Enjoy!Jane Borden's website: https://janeborden.com

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32:26

Speaking of Cults...Why Smart People do Dumb Things...

Speaking of Cults ·

2025/08/16

This week I am revisiting the REM Model (TM) and discussing more real-world examples of how it might be used to help figure out or understand ourselves and other people and why we do some of the crazy stuff we do. Enjoy!

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389 results

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