Cults to Consciousness

From an atheist household to strict Mennonite, Jasper had an incredible amount of adjusting to do as a teenager. Her love for riding horses and asking questions branded her with “unruly” and “rebellious”. Anyone who got close to her was shipped away and eventually, due to lack of socialization and acceptance, her mental health quickly deteriorated. She now hosts “The Plain People’s Podcast” where...

The reality of having multiple mothers can be a dark one. The little ones are the ones who suffer the most. Within this clear imbalance of power lies an eldest son, laden with far too many responsibilities. Eventually, Val is kicked out of his own community, partly due to his sexual preferences. Although, he was well on his way out to freedom and happiness within the "normal world".Click here to w...

Apostolic United Brethren prophesied this now comedian would restore the true LDS (Mormon) church to the earth. In Ben's case, 2 moms prove to be far more difficult than convenient, as he was dealing with working long hours for little to know money at 8. Click here to watch on YouTubeFollow Ben on Social:Instagram @thefreshkingbenjaminhttps://www.instagram.com/thefreshkingbenjaminwww.thefreshkingb...

**Content warning: CHILD SA, ANOREXIA, CA, TRAFF*CKING** At 9 Years Old, Isami Daehn was traded by her narcissistic mother, in exchange for piano lessons for her and her siblings. Isami now speaks out about the horrors of growing up in a narcissistic, high demand family, while being raised an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist in Japan. Not all high control groups are major churches or large corpo...

Once a top ranking Scientologist, now a former, Claire Headley was called to testify in the 2nd, most recent trial of Danny Masterson on his SA convictions of 3 women. As an Expert Witness, her testimony helped the jury understand why Scientology itself played a crucial role in the suppression of evidence. He has just been found guilty, and sentenced to life in prison. Claire now speaks out on the...

**Content warning: Open dialogue around sex & mentions of SA & Rape** Purity culture seems innocent and shiny on the outside, but when you look closer, understanding there are two sides to every coin, it gets dark and dangerous. Kendra and I take an honest look at the intentions of purity culture and how it often backfires and creates more issues including abuse and self hatred. Click here...

Scientology Sea Org employees who work at the headquarters in Southern California, are treated like prisoners. After Marc was falsely accused of embezzling money, they threatened to take hime away from his wife to put him in a rehabilitation center. His only other option was a dangerous escape off of the property. Learn how a civilian saved his life, and how Scientology began to stalk and harass M...

His mother converted to Scientology when he was 6 years old and his life changed forever. When he rejected the teachings, she kicked him out of the house and he was forced to find friends to live with which was never permanent. At 15 years old with no place to live, no money, no job and no real world experience having only an education at a Scientology school, he caved and joined the Sea Org. His...

Commercial director Mitch Brisker was scouted by Scientology to put them on the map and he did! His Dianetics commercials were a huge hit and mostly responsible for selling millions of copies of the books. They convinced him to go work at Golden Era Productions where he turned around the entire film department and started making good quality work for training and marketing purposes. Shelise shares...

Claire was raised as product of Scientology. Her early childhood years spent in Scientology boarding schools away from her parents. As a teenager, she doubled down and rose up to one of the highest ranks possible where she was working directly for David Miscavige. Witnessing David's abusive ways and after she was forced to do horrific things, she knew she had to escape. Her story will leave you on...

Claire Headley, President of The Aftermath Foundation, recounts her difficult childhood in the primary hands of Scientology in the UK. Coerced to sign a billion year contract by 7 years old, her life was dedicated to learning how to be the best Sea Org member she could possibly be. Longing to be a “normal” kid like those in her public school, she had plans to escape. Until, a major life event shoo...

Back again for our 1 year channel anniversary is @nuancehoe ! Peek behind the curtain with us to discover the dark and dirty past of Mormon (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) history and even what current LDS apologists are up to in the name of fundamentalism. We both believe that true change, does not come from gaslighting or pretending things weren't harmful, but by full acknowled...

**Content Warning: self harm, brief mention of child SA** From forced Molly Mormon into rockstar, Irene discusses what her life was like being raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormonism) and the extreme manipulation tactics that were used to keep members active. She attended the Mormon university BYU and served a mission in Honduras, before meeting someone who completely...

Liz was brainwashed and sucked into a dangerous Korean cult, groomed to be one of the cult leader's spiritual brides. They preyed on her love for Christianity and longing to belong. This episode explores her upbringing as a Pentecostal Christian which adds layers of context to help us understand how she was primed to fall into the JMS cult. Click here to watch on YouTube Find her previous episode...

Featured in “The Sins of the Amish”, Meg endured a life of t*rture at the hands of her father and other family members. First in an Old Order Amish settlement, then a black bumper Mennonite Settlement, the ab*se was condoned and accepted by the community. Using books like “To Train Up A Child”, it was normal for fathers to break the will of their children as early as 18 months old. Against her wis...

**Content Warning: Child SA, abuse, r*pe, suic*de ideation** We have learned about people who grow up in abusive environments who don’t have a good chance of breaking that cycle while they are still in the cult bubble. But what about the people who understand abuse not only goes unnoticed in these cults, but is even celebrated, and they join for this reason? Hannah’s story illustrates how when the...

**Content Warning: Frequent mentions of child SA & r*pe among other forms of abuse & suic*de ideation**Mary Byler’s story is horrific and shocking, yet one of the reasons she is being so brave in sharing her story, is because it’s not uncommon. The Amish are often romanticized for their “plain” lifestyle, yet people don’t understand or know about the sheer terror facing the women and child...

**Content Warning: Child SA, Incest, Rape** Along with extreme sexual distortions and a severe lack of sexual education, the Old Order Amish are taught that pregnancy means women have “The Sickness”, and that any talk of sex is forbidden until marriage. Having left the Old Order Amish 25 years ago, Eli Yoder, has helped 200+ people flee the Amish community. In today's episode, we discuss the dark...

People in the "modern world" tend to romanticize the Amish. They seem to live simple lives and keep to themselves with their big families and old traditional ways of doing things. This may be true AND it's possible that a world of secrets, abuse and lack of care for those suffering mental illness are also extremely common. Joined by ex Old Order Amish, Eli Yoder, we discuss the dark corners of the...

An unsuspecting Aussie girl was intentionally recruited and manipulated to eventually become one of cult leader's Jung Myung Seok thousands of spiritual brides. The the self proclaimed reincarnated Messiah and convicted r*pist was in jail when she met him through the plexi-glass in Korea. Forced to restrict her food intake to please Jung, she lost so much weight her health deteriorated and she was...

After 1 year of horrific cult stories, we thought it would be nice to celebrate these brave souls with all of their best advice and funny statements through their “Linda, listen” moment. An empowering statement, be it sassy, inspirational, funny or all of the above. This video can also serve as a recap of what we have been up to all year and give you a peek into each episode which you may have mis...

Fresh out of the sheltered sexuality of Mormonism, Kirsten had just gotten a divorce and badly needed a job. Convincing herself that she just didn't know what "normal" body positivity and sexuality looked like, she got a job at a nudist, sex club that lured people in by pretending to be a zen, meditative, buddhist retreat. For the first time ever, someone is speaking out against the One Love Templ...

Brigham Young was the second prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and who Brigham Young University was named after. Brigham is known for a LOT of heinous actions against the saints, so it shouldn't come as a surprise when learning about the abhorrent policies of the school. Since Kirsten went there, it's only gotten slightly better. Find out what these students have to go thr...

BONUS EPISODE! Disney, don't come after us! In making the new Little Mermaid movie, we get you were tied to the 1989 classic, which was tied to the 1845 fairy tale, but we couldn't help but notice all of the CULTY parallels. From an oppressive polygamist father with an "us vs them" mentality, to a banished sea witch with her own agenda of ownership and rule, literally taking Ariel's voice and leav...

**Content Warning: Child Abuse/Suicide Attempt** The book that is linked to 3 deaths of children, completely warped Kendra's life. Her parents took the abusive techniques to "train" their 7 children to the extreme. Fighting for her life everyday, trying to understand what she did to deserve this pain, when she turned 18 she ran. Little did she know, she ran right into the arms of another predator...