Cults on Film: The Truman Show
In this episode Celine and Stephen do a cult reading of the classic movie The Truman Show, directed by Peter Weir, starring Jim Carey, Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich and Natascha McElhone. What are the parallels to growing up in a cult? How does the cult leader rationalise his actions? How do members who know it's not true, carry on living the lie? What's it like to grapple with doubts about the only world you know? It's all there! To support Stephen's ride in aid of the Family Survival Trust you can donate on his Just Giving Page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/cult-hackers To reach out to us: https://culthackers.com/ To become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
21 Juli 202359min
The Psychology of Cults Miniseries Part 4: Cult Leadership
On our continuing miniseries on the psychology of cults, this week Stephen explores how cult leaders often employ charismatic tactics to influence their followers. Stephen uses the organizational psychological research to compare charismatic leadership in cults to those in ethical organizations. You can read the script of this podcast on Stephen's Medium Page. https://medium.com/@SteEvilSheep/leadership-and-management-of-a-cult-bdeb0c92f0a4 To support Stephen's ride in aid of the Family Survival Trust you can donate on his Just Giving Page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/cult-hackers To reach out to us: https://culthackers.com/ To become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
18 Juli 202315min
Recovering from a Traumatic Narcissistic Cultic Relationship with Dan Shaw
Daniel Shaw, former member of a yoga cultic group, is a professional psychotherapist and author, who has researched extensively traumatic abuse from narcissistic systems of subjugation and control. He's a fascinating person to talk to with a wealth of knowledge and experience. Dan talks about his work into narcissistic abusers and cult leaders, the road to recovery for their victims, the common misuse of the word and responds to Stephen's controversial question about whether Jehovah's Witnesses have constructed their own narcissistic cult leader. To support Stephen's ride in aid of the Family Survival Trust you can donate on his Just Giving Page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/cult-hackers To reach out to us: https://culthackers.com/ To become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts Daniel's Website https://danielshawlcsw.com/
14 Juli 20231h 1min
The Psychology of Cults Miniseries Part 3: Why People Join and Why they Stay
In this week's bonus episode in the mini-series The Psychology of Cults, Stephen uses social psychological to explore the attraction of a cult and how these groups appeal to our basic psychological needs. You can read the script of this podcast on Stephen's Medium Page. https://medium.com/@SteEvilSheep/why-people-join-cults-and-why-they-stay-fe23cb160e51 To support Stephen's ride in aid of the Family Survival Trust you can donate on his Just Giving Page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/cult-hackers To reach out to us: https://culthackers.com/ To become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
11 Juli 202312min
The Descent of Man
Leaving a high control group is difficult for everyone. Men and women have specific challenges, and today Celine and Stephen explore the challenges for men. To support Stephen's ride in aid of the Family Survival Trust you can donate on his Just Giving Page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/cult-hackers To reach out to us: https://culthackers.com/ To become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
7 Juli 20231h 27min
The Psychology of Cults Miniseries Part 2: The Problem With Shunning
In this bonus mini-series, Stephen talks about the psychology of cults. Today's episode is about the practice of shunning, its psychological effects, arguments some use to defend it and how society should view it. All of these episodes are available as blogs on Stephen Medium page. To support Stephen's ride in aid of the Family Survival Trust you can donate on his Just Giving Page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/cult-hackers To reach out to us: https://culthackers.com/ To become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts Stephen's Blog on Medium: https://medium.com/@SteEvilSheep/what-should-we-think-about-the-religious-practice-of-shunning-7e9cd5d0567
4 Juli 202332min
The Troubled Teen Industry: Behavior Modification
Abby was a 15 year old girl suffering from anxiety when she was taken against her will to a lockdown facility in Utah. Abby's story is shocking but not, unfortunately unique, where powerful organizations prey upon desperate parents and the misery of children. This is the first time Cult Hackers has spoken to a victim the so-called troubled teen industry. To support Stephen's ride in aid of the Family Survival Trust you can donate on his Just Giving Page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/cult-hackers To reach out to us: https://culthackers.com/ To become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts Information about the TTI from Abby Indicators of Abuse (Red Flags List) r/troubleteens wiki (My passion project of the past 3ish years) The Last Stop: Documentary about the Elan School; I actually happen to live only 20 minutes from this program's former campus. I've visited a couple of times and taken pictures and documents Who's Watching the Kids?: Documentary about Spring Creek Lodge Academy, a WWASP program in Montana 48 Hours "Tough Love": Investigative documentary about Tranquility Bay and Paradise Cove, two WWASP programs in Jamaica and Samoa, respectively Locked in Paradise: Another investigative piece into Tranquility Bay from the BBC Sent Away: Podcast about a program in Utah called Integrity House, which rebranded as Havenwood Academy (still open today) Trapped in Treatment: Podcast about Provo Canyon School in Utah The Lost Kids: Podcast about CEDU High School and Synanon's connections to the industry The Sunshine Place: Podcast about Synanon; it mentions the Troubled Teen Industry in a later episode Breaking Code Silence Website Unsilenced Website
30 Juni 20231h
The Psychology of Cults Miniseries Part 1: How Cults Motivate
In this bonus mini-series, Stephen talks about the psychology of cults. Today's episode is about how cults motivate members to carry out work for the group. All of these episodes are taken from Stephen Medium page. You can read the script here. https://medium.com/@SteEvilSheep/how-cults-keep-you-motivated-3d1eced8344c To support Stephen's ride in aid of the Family Survival Trust you can donate on his Just Giving Page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/cult-hackers To reach out to us: https://culthackers.com/ To become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts Stephen's Blog on Medium: https://medium.com/@SteEvilSheep/how-cults-keep-you-motivated-3d1eced8344c
28 Juni 202313min
