Illusion of Hope: Douglas Brooks On MLMs

Oh hai. No biggie but…we are COMING BACK, baby. New episodes, new word salads, and other new-fangled podcasting treats are coming your way on Monday. Actually who are we kidding… it’s a biggie. Support the ALBC Pod: We’ve made a link where you can support A Little Bit Culty with a one-time, weekly, or monthly contribution. Your support will be repaid in cosmic love and light. To make a contribution, smash this link. Check out our Linktree to sign up for our mailing list. We’ve got some fun things coming your way soon. It rhymes with “t-shirts.” Okay, it’s t-shirts. Producers: Will Retherford & Jess Tardy Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

30 Sep 20221min

If you’re in the mood for a breezy little summer check-in with Sarah and Nippy, you have arrived at the right episode. They answer some recent audience questions about NXIVM, and do some critical podcast housekeeping. Plus, they chat about the highs and lows of leaving Vancouver for Atlanta. Hear Ye, Hear Ye: The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.  Support the ALBC Pod: We’ve made a link where you can support A Little Bit Culty with a one-time, weekly, or monthly contribution. Your support will be repaid in cosmic love and light. To make a contribution, smash this link. Check out our Linktree to sign up for our mailing list. We’ve got some fun things coming your way soon. It rhymes with “t-shirts.” Okay, it’s t-shirts. Producers: Will Retherford & Jess Tardy Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

15 Aug 202226min

It’s another summer bonus episode, and you’re all invited to put this in your ears and enjoy it from your favorite pool floatie. This time, we’re chatting with the righteous Rachel Bernstein, LMFT, on her Indoctrination Podcast about our trip in and out of that thing we did for a while that turned out to be a notorious cult. Just some light summer listening about sex cults, trauma, and coming back from hell. Pairs well with watermelon frosé. About Rachel: She’s an OG cult awareness and recovery podcast host, and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist from Los Angeles, California who has specialized in cult intervention and re-acclimation for over 30 years. She serves on the advisory board of the International Cultic Studies Association and has worked with the Department of Justice providing therapy to cult victims who testify against their perpetrators. She's also made many media appearances over the years as a cult expert on CNN, MSNBC, BBC, NPR, Bloomberg, and many other news outlets. Ms. Bernstein is also the host of IndoctriNation: A weekly podcast covering cults, manipulators, and protecting yourself from systems of control where she has interviewed hundreds of cult survivors, journalists, and experts. Her book, "Kids Talking to Kids about Divorce" is available now on Amazon. Website: https://rachelbernsteintherapy.com Book: https://www.amazon.com/Now-I-Know-Rachel-Bernstein/dp/1620867893 Podcast: https://linktr.ee/indoctrination Hear Ye, Hear Ye: The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.  Support the ALBC Pod: We’ve made a link where you can support A Little Bit Culty with a one-time, weekly, or monthly contribution. Your support will be repaid in cosmic love and light. To make a contribution, smash this link. Check out our Linktree to sign up for our mailing list. We’ve got some fun things coming your way soon. It rhymes with “t-shirts.” Okay, it’s t-shirts. Producers: Will Retherford & Jess Tardy Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

1 Aug 20221h 13min

We loved chatting with our friends Jeremie, Taylor, and Brian over at the Sickboy podcast, and these three literal princes among men were nice enough to let us borrow the episode for your summer listening pleasure. They’re a trio of Halifax-based best friends, and they started the podcast after recognizing that when faced with difficult situations, illnesses and diseases, people tighten up, they get awkward, and they simply don't know what to say. Taking the lead from Jeremie’s life-long battle with Cystic Fibrosis, the boys help people understand that sometimes the best way to deal with the darkest stuff in life is simply to laugh. You can listen to new episodes every Monday over on iTunes, Spotify. Soundcloud, Google Play or wherever you get your podcast fixins. Or go find all their links, socials, and such at their very happenin’ linktree Hear Ye, Hear Ye: The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.  Support the ALBC Pod: We’ve made a link where you can support A Little Bit Culty with a one-time, weekly, or monthly contribution. Your support will be repaid in cosmic love and light. To make a contribution, smash this link. Check out our Linktree to sign up for our mailing list. We’ve got some fun things coming your way soon. It rhymes with “t-shirts.” Okay, it’s t-shirts. Producers: Will Retherford & Jess Tardy Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

18 Jul 20221h 13min

Content Warning: Discussions of child abuse and sexual assault. Listener discretion advised. Here’s the second part of our conversation with Sarah Landry who shares what it’s like to face down the very online army she helped create for the so-called guru Nithyananda after going wide with explosive accusations of rape, child abuse, and a whole sordid cornucopia of culty shit. Show notes: Sarah Landry on YouTube, Instagram & Twitter Nithyananda - Wiki  My Daughter Joined a Cult: 3-part VICE Doc Trailer (Discovery+, Amazon Prime) Republic World Article by Pooja Prasanna: “Former Nithyananda Aide Narrates Horrifying Brutality Against Children” Gizmodo Article by Jed Oelbaum: “She Built a Shady Guru’s YouTube Army. Now She’s His Fiercest Critic—But Who Will Believe Her?” Hear Ye, Hear Ye: The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad. Support the ALBC Pod: We’ve made a link where you can support A Little Bit Culty with a one-time, weekly, or monthly contribution. Your support will be repaid in cosmic love and light. To make a contribution, smash this link. Check out our Linktree to sign up for our mailing list. We’ve got some fun things coming your way soon. It rhymes with “t-shirts.” Okay, it’s t-shirts. Producers: Will Retherford & Jess Tardy Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

11 Jul 202254min

Content Warning: Discussions of child abuse and sexual assault. Listener discretion advised. At just 24 years old, Sarah Landry found herself drawn to Hindu avatar Nithyananda’s teachings like a fly to honey. Moldy, toxic honey. She quickly became an apt pupil, and then his top recruiter via a steady stream of stylized YouTube videos and camera-ready social content. But after learning that the rape and child abuse allegations dogging the organization were just too credible to simply swat away, she stepped down as its propagandist-in-chief and stepped up as one of its harshest critics. The fallout since she blew the whistle on the godman’s shady ways in a series of incendiary 2019 Facebook posts and Youtube videos has been steep. (If you’re labeled as a double-agent for the Vatican by loyalists of a guy who is on the lam after being charged with rape and abduction: You’ve officially reached Remini-levels of cult busting.) In this episode, and the next—there’s just too much to cover to make it a one-parter—Sarah shares what it’s like to be on the other side of an army she helped build, and why she won’t stop working to deplatform culty characters like Nithyananda no matter how many self-proclaimed island nations they pull out of their asses. Learn more about Sarah Landry on her YouTube or Instagram or Twitter. Show notes:  Nithyananda - Wiki  My Daughter Joined a Cult: 3-part VICE Doc Trailer (Discovery+, Amazon Prime) Republic World Article by Pooja Prasanna: “Former Nithyananda Aide Narrates Horrifying Brutality Against Children” Gizmodo Article by Jed Oelbaum: “She Built a Shady Guru’s YouTube Army. Now She’s His Fiercest Critic—But Who Will Believe Her?” Support the ALBC Pod: We’ve made a link where you can support A Little Bit Culty with a one-time, weekly, or monthly contribution. Your support will be repaid in cosmic love and light. To make a contribution, smash this link. Check out our Linktree to sign up for our mailing list. We’ve got some fun things coming your way soon. It rhymes with “t-shirts.” Okay, it’s t-shirts. Producers: Will Retherford & Jess Tardy Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

4 Jul 202252min

“We were invisible. We had to be. We took an oath of absolute secrecy. We never even told our immediate families who we were. We went about our lives in New York City. Just like you. We were your accountants, money managers, lawyers, executive recruiters, doctors. We owned your child’s private school and sold you your brownstone. But you’d never guess our secret lives, how we lived in a kind of silent terror and fervor. There were hundreds of us.” That’s a snippet from Spencer Schneider’s compelling and creepy AF memoir: Manhattan Cult Story: My Unbelievable True Story of Sex, Crimes, Chaos, and Survival. This isn’t an ad, it’s just the truth: We think you’re going to want to grab yourself a copy before you hit the beach this summer. It’s that much of a page turner. In this episode of A Little Bit Culty, Spencer joins us to share more about what it was like living inside the nightmarish bubble of ‘School’, the ultra-secret Manhattan organization that consumed his life for 23 years. And just in case you’ve not heard of ‘School’, this particular culty shitshow gives us Eyes Wide Shut vibes with sprinklings of Eloise if she lived at The Plaza in the Upside Down. For extra credit, read up on the late Sharon Gans, the eccentric School leader whose cult resume lowlights include: forced adoptions, arranged marriages, twisted displays of public humiliation and conspicuous consumption, and forced labor. Glad you got the hell out of there, Spencer.   Hear Ye, Hear Ye: The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad. Support the ALBC Pod: We’ve made a link where you can support A Little Bit Culty with a one-time, weekly, or monthly contribution. Your support will be repaid in cosmic love and light. To make a contribution, smash this link. Check out our Linktree to sign up for our mailing list. We’ve got some fun things coming your way soon. It rhymes with “t-shirts.” Okay, it’s t-shirts. Producers: Will Retherford & Jess Tardy Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

27 Jun 20221h 19min

Dear Teal Swan: You continue to be a mystery wrapped in a riddle wrapped in wrap-around Oakleys. Are you okay? For reals, we’re getting some super hinky vibes from all seven layers of your auric field. Dear Everyone Else: In case you haven’t watched all four installments of The Deep End, you might want to catch up before you listen to this ALBC conversation with the filmmaking duo behind the series. In this episode, director/cinematographer Jon Kasbe and producer/writer Bits Sola  join Sarah and Nippy to share what it was like inside Teal Swan’s campy, creepy world. But don’t get your plastic Mala beads in a twist, Teal Tribe: ‘campy’ and ‘creepy’ are our words, not theirs…and those two words are about the nicest things we could think of to say. Also? Sorry, not sorry, Teal…but you just can’t deep fake this shit.  Hear Ye, Hear Ye: The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad. Support the ALBC Pod: We’ve made a link where you can support A Little Bit Culty with a one-time, weekly, or monthly contribution. Your support will be repaid in cosmic love and light. To make a contribution, smash this link. Check out our Linktree to sign up for our mailing list. We’ve got some fun things coming your way soon. It rhymes with “t-shirts.” Okay, it’s t-shirts. Producers: Will Retherford & Jess Tardy Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

20 Jun 20221h 8min