Protecting Kids from Cults and Traffickers with Robin Boyle-Laisure (Part 1)

As the voice of iconic cartoon characters, major TV networks, and national brands, Ian James Corlett has been heard by millions of people. But until now, he’s never publicly rocked a mic to share his own story as an ex-Jehovah’s Witness. Ian joins Sarah and Nippy for a rollicking ride through the denomination’s history, and his journey from born-and-raised JW and church elder, to unapologetic apostate. He has a few choice things to say about why JWs appear to be leaving the denomination in droves, as well as some memories to share about that one time a fellow voice actor by the name of Sarah Edmondson tried to recruit him into NXIVM. About Our Guest: You may have heard Ian James Corlett in the Emmy-nominated Dinosaur Train, in CartoonNetwork’s zany Johnny Test, or in the latest Disney Jr hit: Vampirina. And going further back, Ian originated the iconic English dub voice of Goku in Dragonball Z as well as voicing other 90’s icons such as Megaman, and Bob in Reboot. Learn more: Ianjamescorlett.com Instagram: @ianjamescorlett Twitter: @ianjames007 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. 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. 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. – CREDITS:  Production Partner: Citizens of Sound  Producer: Will Retherford Associate Producer: 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.

25 Apr 20221h 18min

How and when does a healthy corporate culture go off the rails? What are some red flags to be aware of when you’re sizing up a potential workplace? Before you spring for that lower back tattoo of your company’s logo, be sure to take a listen to this A Little Bit Culty episode featuring Cameron Herold. As a successful entrepreneur and in-demand CEO Whisperer, he’s coached dozens of companies globally and is known for creating world-class company cultures. Once upon a time, he also used this talking point on the regular as part of his top-rated keynote speaking gigs: "To build an amazing company, it has to be a little bit more than a business, and a little bit less than a religion, it has to be in the zone of a cult." Cameron joins Sarah and Nippy to talk about why he no longer stans that culty line of thinking, and how corporate culture routinely blurs the lines between community and coercion.  About Our Guest: Cameron Herold is the founder of the COO Alliance, author of 5 business books including Vivid Vision, and founder of the Invest In Your Leaders course. He's been paid to speak on all 7 continents including Antarctica…and is the former COO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK? which was ranked the #2 company to work for in all of Canada, and became a case study at  Harvard Business School, and landed him on Oprah. Learn more about him on his official website  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. 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. 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. – CREDITS:  Production Partner: Citizens of Sound  Producer: Will Retherford Associate Producer: 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.

18 Apr 20221h 5min

As a first year student at the University of Maryland, Lucy Taylor welcomed the sisterhood and built-in community that Greek life promised. But after accepting a bid into a ‘top-tier’ sorority, she left after seven months inside a toxic stew of rampant sexual assault, slut-shaming, misgogny, and racism. Lucy shared her experience in season one of her podcast, SNAPPED, and after an outpouring of responses she’s continuing to use the series to help other former sorority and fraternity members share their all-too similar and all-too-horrific stories. On the cusp of spring, when Greek Week events and semi-formals are about to pop off on college campuses far and wide, Lucy joins Sarah and Nippy for an important conversation about the dangers of a beloved campus tradition. She shares why her experience in the panhellenic scene was hellish,  and how the bait-and-switch recruitment tactics and gross coercive control methods that are rife throughout the Greek system are a whole bunch of culty. Before you ship your kids off to college, make sure you listen to this one. About Lucy Taylor: Lucy Taylor is the creator, editor, producer, and host of SNAPPED, a podcast which explores the inner workings of sororities and fraternities on America’s college campuses. Also hear the bangin’ SNAPPED soundtrack playlist on Spotify and learn more about Lucy and the pod at: snappedthepodcast.com #snappedthepodcast 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. 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. 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. – CREDITS:  Production Partner: Citizens of Sound  Producer: Will Retherford Associate Producer: 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.

11 Apr 20221h 17min

A Little Bit Culty – We took zero breaks between seasons because we need you to hear this episode. Erin Robbins wasn’t featured in Wild Wild Country, the 2018 Netflix Docuseries about Bhagawan Shree Rajneesh, also known as Osho. She lived it in real-time. She discovered the controversial guru’s teachings at age 23 in 1977, and by the time he summoned her to his bedroom a year later for a ‘special and secret’ meeting that quickly devolved into a vile and violating encounter (the first of many) she thought he was the greatest spiritual master who’d ever walked the planet. Erin disregarded her father, the co-founder, and owner of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream company, risking her family connection and inheritance in order to follow a man who would eventually lead his disciples into a world of murders, mass poisonings, and the gross sexual violation of children. After nearly 45 years of staying quiet, Erin is sharing her story after waking up just a year ago. This episode is full of potentially triggering content related to child abuse, coerced sterilization, and sexual assault. It also contains a staggering amount of bravery. Here’s to the healing power of the truth.  About Our Guest: Erin Robbins, M.Ed. is an award-winning artist who lives in Northern California. Website: erinrobbins.life  Twitter: @erinrobbins_  FB & Instagram: @erinrobbins.life 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. 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. 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. – CREDITS:  Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames Production Partner: Citizens of Sound  Producer: Will Retherford Associate Producer: 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.

4 Apr 20221h 22min

A Little Bit Culty – A Little Bit Culty took the show on the road, and brought you back this season 3 finale from Texas as a souvenir. In this episode, Sarah and Nippy host a live panel with Sarah Berman and Amanda Montell, in front of a real, actual human crowd of SXSW-certified cool kids. But first, the hosts celebrate the birthday of a certain golden boy, and respond to all the “Bad Vegan” hullaballoo. Lots to cover in this one, so let’s hit it.   About Our Guests: Amanda Montell is a writer, language scholar, and the author of two critically acclaimed books: Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism and Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language (HarperWave). Her books have earned praise from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and others, and Amanda is currently developing Wordslut for television with FX Studios. She is also the creator and co-host of the comedy-cult podcast, Sounds Like A Cult. Find her on Instagram @amanda_montell. Sarah Berman is an investigative journalist based in Vancouver covering crime, drugs, cults, politics, and culture. She is a former senior editor at VICE and past contributor to Adbusters, Maclean’s, The Globe and Mail, the Vancouver Sun and other publications. Her debut book Don't Call it a Cult has drawn praise for its searing and insightful reportage of the rise and fall of NXIVM. Support the ALBC Pod: This podcast thing is a labor of love, but we also like money just fine. By listener request from you magical beasts that download our show every week, 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 and help us keep this pod rolling, just smash this link. Other Semi-Important and/or Critical Things You Should Know: 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. 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. – 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.

28 Mars 20221h 16min

A Little Bit Culty – If the producers of Tiger King decide to make their next true crime show about you, you’ve got a helluva story. Sarma Melngailis is the woman at the heart of “Bad Vegan” the buzzworthy Netflix docu-series that chronicles her meteoric rise to fame, and her disturbing crash and burn from celebrity chef to fugitive. It’s the stuff of clickbait gold, but beyond the headlines, there’s usually more to it. And Sarma’s story is, you guessed it: More than a little bit culty. We don’t want to spoil anything, but there’s a Keith Raniere-esque player involved in this epic fail. Sarma fell under the sway of a gambler with a criminal past who slid into her Twitter DMs with shady moves straight out of the NXIVM playbook, and then she married him. Cue the alleged gaslighting, sleep deprivation, and sexual humiliation. Pro-tip: If you’ve come to believe that your pit bull is on the cusp of being made immortal: you’ve probably been mindfucked. Sarma’s got a lot to say now that those Netflix cameras aren’t rolling, and she’s only speaking to us. Official website: sarmaraw.com Twitter: @sarma Instagram: @sarmamelngailis Support the ALBC Pod: This podcast thing is a labor of love, but we also like money just fine. By listener request from you magical beasts that download our show every week, 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 and help us keep this pod rolling, just smash this link. Other Semi-Important and/or Critical Things You Should Know: 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. For more information on A Little Bit Culty and co-hosts Sarah Edmondson and Nippy “Anthony” Ames, visit our official website at alittlebitculty.com. 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. – CREDITS:  Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames Production Partner: Citizens of Sound  Producer: Will Retherford Associate Producer: 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.

21 Mars 20221h 28min

A Little Bit Culty – There’s a dark cloud hanging over the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement, and our guest today wants you to know about it. Eric Skwarczynski is the host and creator of the Preacher Boys podcast, which is a platform for survivors’ stories and the basis of an upcoming documentary film about a deeply disturbing pattern of sexual predation and abuse claims within  the IFB. Eric joins us to talk about blowing the whistle on the IFB, what sucks about purity culture (hint: everything), and what it will take to create a sea change among current congregants, leaders, and pastors. He also gives us the scoop on his new podcast: Figuring it Out which currently features life advice from Shaq (!!!) Also be warned: This episode contains graphic descriptions of child abuse and other completely fucking horrifying stuff. It will disturb you, and probably make you pretty irate. It made us shakey mad and more than a little sick to our stomachs to research this thing. (What the actual fuck, IFB. Get your shit together.) Here’s Spirit of Fear,  the Fort Worth Star-Telegram expose that was published in 2018, which we quote early in the episode. Support the ALBC Pod: This podcast thing is a labor of love, but we also like money just fine. By listener request from you magical beasts that download our show every week, 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 and help us keep this pod rolling, just smash this link. Other Semi-Important and/or Critical Things You Should Know: 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. For more information on A Little Bit Culty and co-hosts Sarah Edmondson and Nippy “Anthony” Ames, visit our official website at alittlebitculty.com. 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. – CREDITS:  Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames Production Partner: Citizens of Sound  Producer: Will Retherford Associate Producer: 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.

14 Mars 20221h 17min

A Little Bit Culty – This episode is a little bit different. Author Miranda Beverly-Whittemore is not a former cult member or a cult awareness expert like most of our guests, but her novel Fierce Little Thing weaves a culty tale that almost makes you think she is. It’s a little like “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” except in this case, it’s “I Know What You Did When You Were a Teenager 20 Summers Ago While Living on a Survivalist Commune Run by a Charismatic Maniac in Rural Maine.” She joins Sarah and Nippy to talk about communes, cult fiction, and how “The Vow” inspired the cultiverse of her latest story. About Our Guest: Miranda Beverly-Whittemore is the New York Times bestselling author of Bittersweet, June, and Set Me Free. A recipient of the Crazyhorse Prize in Fiction, she lives and writes in Brooklyn. Learn more at her official website And follow her on Instagram or linger beneath her linktree a while. ~ 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. ~ For more information on A Little Bit Culty and co-hosts Sarah Edmondson and Nippy “Anthony” Ames, visit our official website at alittlebitculty.com. Follow us on Instagram & Twitter @alittlebitculty ~ CREDITS:  Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames Production Partner: Citizens of Sound  Producer: Will Retherford Associate Producer: 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.

7 Mars 20221h 10min