IndoctriNation

This is just a preview of our exclusive Patreon bonus episode. You can hear the full episode by becoming a supporter at: www.patreon.com/indoctrination In this very special bonus episode exclusively for our Patreon supporters, Rachel reflects on the recent 30th anniversary of the horrific massacre on April 19th, of the infamous compound belonging to the religious cult known as the Branch Davidians...

Brian Rush McDonald grew up in southern Alabama in the early 1970s, where he eventually gave up his dream of working as a professional musician to become what at the time was called a "Jesus freak". During his high school years, however, he unwittingly found himself involved in fundamentalist Christianity. Though he was troubled by his faith's teaching that the lost were damned to hell...

Rachael and Molly are the hosts of the podcast Cheers to Leaving, where they share their journey of deconstruction from evangelicalism. The podcast has been a platform for Rachael and Molly to explore their thoughts and feelings about religion and spirituality, as well as connect with others who are going through similar experiences. Rachael is a deconstruction advocate, from Kansas City, Missouri...

This is just a preview of our exclusive Patreon bonus episode. You can hear the full episode by becoming a supporter at: www.patreon.com/indoctrination Daniella Mestyanek Young is the author of UNCULTURED: A Memoir of Cults, War and Belonging which The New York Times calls “A painful and propulsive memoir delivered in the honest tones of a woman who didn’t always think she’d live to tell her story...

Kathleen Oh is a Coach, writer, and safe drug use advocate and educator specializing in psychedelic integration. Her primary focus has become understanding her responsibility in anti-racist, capitalist, and colonial systems of oppression, especially in New Age Spirituality, Self-Help, and Wellness Coaching. She has been in and around areas of mental health work for 25 years, working in private pra...

In recognition of the recent one-year anniversary of the tragic Russian Invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, we wanted to share with our entire audience a very special bonus episode that was previously only available to our Patreon supporters. Last year we recorded this episode with Ukrainian journalist Olga Yurkova, who we spoke with from Ukraine while the initial brutal assaults were still bein...

This is just a preview of our exclusive Patreon bonus episode. You can hear the full episode by becoming a supporter at: www.patreon.com/indoctrination Vanessa Reiser is a mother, entrepreneur, life coach, advocate, and a ground-breaking psychotherapist specializing in narcissistic abuse using Therapist Self-Disclosure (TSD); a form of therapy where therapist statements are shared that reveals som...

Tim Elliott is a senior writer at Good Weekend, the Saturday magazine for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, where he has won two Kennedy Awards and been nominated for a Walkley. His work has also appeared in London's The Financial Times, The Sunday Times, and The Australian. He has won multiple awards, including Best Feature at the Australian Magazine Awards and from the Australian Societ...

Kate Amber is the founder of End Coercive Control USA, an organization that helps survivors, leaders, advocates, attorneys, therapists & other professionals in domestic abuse, extremist groups, human trafficking, cults, and organizations detect and prevent coercive control. She is a domestic violence, domestic abuse, and coercive control expert certified in the Psychology of Coercive Control b...

This is just a preview of our exclusive Patreon bonus episode. You can hear the full episode by becoming a supporter at: www.patreon.com/indoctrination Rachel offers her expert guidance and insights on how anyone can ensure they are working with a safe therapist, psychologist, counselor, or coach etc. She points out useful diagnostic tools for patients to assess the validity of the techniques used...

Nikieta Lambert and Asha Glenn are former members of the International Churches of Christ. Both having grown up with narcissistic mothers, they've been gaslit, shamed, and silenced their whole lives by the people closest to them, while thriving academically and professionally, a true paradox. They're now making it their mission to speak out against psychological, emotional, and spiritual a...

Marissa Hackett was born in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. At the time of her birth, her parents were involved with a group called the Foundation of Human Understanding, a right-wing cult led by Roy Masters. When Marissa was 11 years old, she moved with her family to Southern Oregon, where Roy moved the headquarters of the group and opened the only school Marissa attended in her childhood, Brigh...

Daniel Barban Levin and Felicia Rosario are survivors of the now infamous coercive control group led by Larry Ray, who is now serving a 60-year prison sentence. Their stories are both heavily featured in the new Hulu documentary STOLEN YOUTH: INSIDE THE CULT AT SARAH LAWRENCE The film which is available now for streaming offers striking first-hand interviews with con man Larry Ray’s victims and in...

In the first half of this very special two-part episode. Rachel speaks with author Daniel Barban Levin who had previously come on the show to discuss his excellent memoir SLONIM WOODS 9, about his experience getting into, surviving, and getting out of the now infamous coercive control group that began at Sarah Lawrence College. Joining Daniel this time will be Felicia Rosario who is also a survivo...

This is just a preview of our exclusive Patreon bonus episode. You can hear the full episode by becoming a supporter at: www.patreon.com/indoctrination Patrick Ryan is a graduate of Maharishi International University and a former Associate teacher of Transcendental Meditation who has been a cult intervention specialist thought reform consultant and exit counselor since leaving TM in 1984. Mr. Ryan...

CONTENT WARNING: Child Abuse & Sex Trafficking Isami Daehn is a subject matter expert on anti-human trafficking and child safety. She grew up in Japan and was raised by professional con artists under the guise of “missionaries." Her home was an unsafe place for children, as her mother became her sex trafficker at the age of 9. Since leaving her abusive home as an adult, her mission has bee...

Meg Appelgate is the CEO of Unsilenced, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to stop institutional child abuse by empowering self-advocates to promote lasting social change. The organization envisions a world where youth are free from institutionalization and the voices of young people are respected in the development of their own mental, emotional, and physical well-being. At the age of 15,...

This is just a preview of our exclusive Patreon bonus episode. You can hear the full episode by becoming a supporter at: www.patreon.com/indoctrination Patrick Ryan is a graduate of Maharishi International University and a former Associate teacher of Transcendental Meditation who has been a cult intervention specialist thought reform consultant and exit counselor since leaving TM in 1984. Mr. Ryan...

Steven Hassan, Ph. D. is a mental health professional and expert in undue influence tactics used by authoritarian leaders and destructive cults. His expertise includes harmful influence in cases of destructive religious and political cults, human trafficking, extremist and terrorist groups, one-on-one relationships, families, parental alienation, mini-cults, therapy and self-improvement groups, pr...

Today's guests Joyce Short and Nina Lucas represent the organization known as The Consent Awareness Network, which is fighting for sexual abuse survivors by codifying consent in our penal codes as a freely given, knowledgeable, and informed agreement. Joyce is the founder and Chief Executive of the Consent Awareness Network, she's also an author, and a TEDx Talk Presenter. Joyce has been a...

This is just a preview of our exclusive Patreon bonus episode. You can hear the full episode by becoming a supporter at: www.patreon.com/indoctrination In this first episode of our new Patreon exclusive tribute series, we are covering the highly knowledgeable, and often hilarious James Randi. James Randi was a Canadian-American stage magician, author, and scientific skeptic who extensively challen...

Kacey is the host and creator of The Cult Vault, an award-nominated long-form interview-based podcast focusing on the true testimonies of cult survivors. Kacey began her podcast during the COVID-19 lockdown, which coincided with her maternity leave. At first, it was intended to be focused on researching cult cases from history and presenting them to those who might be interested in listening. But...

Tracy Coenen has been investigating fraud for more than 25 years, but she didn’t always want to be a forensic accountant. She went to Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI to get a criminology degree. A class on financial crime investigations reminded her how much she loved Encyclopedia Brown books as a kid. She continued her criminology degree but added accounting and economics courses so she cou...

Ruwan Meepagala is a podcaster and coach. In his early twenties, he became involved in the matriarchal cult, known as One Taste, which was recently covered in the Netflix documentary Orgasm Inc. Ruwan describes his time with the group as one of the most formative experiences of his life, giving him a crash course in some of the darker parts of human nature. The memoir of his years in the cult, alo...

Once again, this week we'd like to encourage everyone to allow themselves some grace and self-care during the upcoming holiday season. No matter your religious background or your family situation, these cold winter weeks can be very stressful for everyone for a variety of reasons and it's important to take a step back and give yourself a break whenever possible and in whatever way you can....