IndoctriNation

Robbie Balonick was raised in a non-religious, household, in middle America in the 1950s and 60s. She was a lifelong seeker who was looking for Truth with a capital "T" and passed quickly through psychedelics and the Hippy movement as mind-opening doors. After the assassination of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King, she became totally disillusioned with the suburban, capitalistic dreams t...

In a special crossover episode, this week we are airing Rachel's interview on Nobody Listens to Paula Poundston‪e‬. Paula, along with her co-host Adam Felber, ask Rachel about how to define a cult, the rise of cultic tactics in politics, and the intricacies of intervention, while Paula and Adam interject with their comedic takes. We hope you enjoy this lighter, yet still insightful, conversati...

This week's guest Dimitri is the son of our previous guest Ariela Sarai. He was introduced to the cultic environment of Avatar courses by his mother at just 8 years old. He grew up heavily involved in the teachings of the group, eventually becoming a teacher of the courses himself at only 12 years old. After leaving college to help his mother through a difficult time, he got his real estate li...

Micro-Compromises of Integrity w/Ariela Sarai After graduating from Columbia University, Ariela spent almost two years in India, first volunteering for Mother Teresa then studying Tibetan Buddhism. When she returned she got an MSW from the University of Pennsylvania. She worked as a therapist in prisons, hospitals, foster homes, and hospices. Then she established a Private Practice where she suppo...

After graduating from Columbia University, Ariela spent almost two years in India, first volunteering for Mother Teresa then studying Tibetan Buddhism. When she returned she got an MSW from the University of Pennsylvania. She worked as a therapist in prisons, hospitals, foster homes, and hospices. Then she established a Private Practice where she supported people who were focused on personal growt...

When today's guest Jonathan was 15, he felt lost, alone, and unable to voice the feelings and thoughts that were troubling him. The domestic roles he was fulfilling as a young man and full-time student, including caring for his ill mother while navigating his parent's divorce, eventually led to him seeking help from a therapist. This therapist gained Jonathan's trust by appearing to un...

When today's guest Jonathan was 15, he felt lost, alone, and unable to voice the feelings and thoughts that were troubling him. The domestic roles he was fulfilling as a young man and full-time student, including caring for his ill mother while navigating his parent's divorce, eventually led to him seeking help from a therapist. This therapist gained Jonathan's trust by appearing to un...

Daniel is an entrepreneur and was raised inside the church. His journey into understanding the nature of fraud and its application to religion started when he was excommunicated from his church for exposing sexual abuse. This has led him to ask the hard questions around his most deeply held beliefs. He has found healing through conversations around faith and abuse. He shares very personal stories...

In a special episode, this week Rachel speaks about Heaven's Gate, the UFO religious cult based near San Diego, California. Founded in 1974. Rachel provides some background on the group's leaders Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles and their teachings. She explains the importance in our times specifically of remembering the tragedy of the group's ritual suicide. In March 1997, 18 wo...

Dan Shaw is a licensed clinical social worker and a psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City and in Nyack New York. He was originally trained as an actor at Northwestern University with the renowned teacher Uta Hagen in New York City. Dan later worked as a missionary for an Indian guru. His eventual recognition of cultic aspects of his organization led him to become an outspoken activist...

Dan Shaw is a licensed clinical social worker and a psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City and in Nyack New York. He was originally trained as an actor at Northwestern University with the renowned teacher Uta Hagen in New York City. Dan later worked as a missionary for an Indian guru. His eventual recognition of cultic aspects of his organization led him to become an outspoken activist...

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists, and Co-owners of The Therapy Group, Emmalee Bierly and Jennifer Chaiken are the hosts of Shrink Chicks Podcast. They invited Rachel on their show after seeing her in the STARZ documentary Seduced. They ask Rachel about how she got started in the field of cult psychology, the complications of providing therapy to vulnerable cult survivors, and the lack of ed...

Lola Binkerd is an Author and Actress who was born and raised as a fourth-generation member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has lived in Los Angeles for 16 years and her horror anthology "The River God and Other Stories" and short story "4-H" are available as eBooks on Gumroad and Amazon. Lola details how being raised in a pa...

Lola Binkerd is an Author and Actress who was born and raised as a fourth-generation member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has lived in Los Angeles for 16 years and her horror anthology "The River God and Other Stories" and short story "4-H" are available as eBooks on Gumroad and Amazon. Lola shares with Rachel her experienc...

Stacie Stukin is an arts and culture journalist who grew up in Los Angeles. She was a contributing editor at Yoga Journal and she’s also written about yoga for the Los Angeles Times and Time Magazine. Over the years, she’s had the opportunity to write about and practice many different forms of the practice including Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan. This past July, she wrote a comprehensive...

Stacie Stukin is an arts and culture journalist who grew up in Los Angeles. She was a contributing editor at Yoga Journal and she’s also written about yoga for the Los Angeles Times and Time Magazine. Over the years, she’s had the opportunity to write about and practice many different forms of the practice including Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan. This past July, she wrote a comprehensive...

Daniel is an entrepreneur and was raised inside the church. His journey into understanding the nature of fraud and its application to religion started when he was excommunicated from his church for exposing sexual abuse. This has led him to ask the hard questions around his most deeply held beliefs. He has found healing through conversations around faith and abuse. He shares very personal stories...

Brooke Knaack is a licensed marriage and family therapist and registered art therapist based in Los Angeles who has over ten years of clinical experience. She currently sees clients at her private practice where she uses cognitive, relational, and somatic techniques to help individuals with developmental trauma or dysfunctional families cultivate healthy boundaries and relationships. Brooke was in...

Caroline Lorson is a survivor of the troubled teen industry. At the age of 14, she was forcibly removed from her home in Southern California by two transporters and was flown across the country to a lockdown behavior modification school in Upstate New York. Caroline stayed at this facility for 29 months and was stripped of all of her human rights and subjected to coercive thought reform techniques...

Caroline Lorson is a survivor of the troubled teen industry. At the age of 14, she was forcibly removed from her home in Southern California by two transporters and was flown across the country to a lockdown behavior modification school in Upstate New York. Caroline stayed at this facility for 29 months and was stripped of all of her human rights and subjected to coercive thought reform techniques...

Erin Aquarian is an artist and musician living in Portland, Oregon. Around the age of 26, she began to explore spirituality, particularly witchcraft, to try to heal herself and make her life better. In 2012 she became involved with a “mystery school” for four years. Though she thought this school was helping her become her true self living a life of meaning and purpose, the school was rife with dy...

After four successful years of working on TV shows and films in New York City, Jules Hartley thought it would be a good idea for her to move to LA. A couple of years into her Hollywood journey, she discovered Kundalini yoga as taught specifically by Yogi Bhajan and the Golden Bridge Yoga Studio in Hollywood. She was instantly hooked and began what turned into a seven and a half year stint as a har...

Returning guest Tammie Willis grew up in a cultic Christian fundamentalist church which was steeped in methods of control based on fear, coercion, guilt, and shame. Though she left the church more than 30 years ago she is still coming to terms with the effect it has had on her life. She describes to Rachel how seeing what's happening in the United States political system and the rise of Christ...

Chris Shelton is an author, podcaster, and former member of the Church of Scientology's upper echelon, the Sea Organization. Since leaving Scientology in 2013 he has been dedicated to exposing the abuses of destructive cults and high control groups through his YouTube channel, where he also promotes critical thinking and education as the solutions to the cult problem. Chris shares with Rachel...

Returning guest, Audrey Brewer, is a marketing manager who found herself in a beauty-based MLM until she realized how entangled her life had become. She reveals the difficulties she has struggled with since leaving the group as well as the tremendous growth she has since experienced. Rachel and Audrey go in-depth on the mechanics that can lead to manipulation in MLM groups. Before You Go: Rachel e...