IndoctriNation

Our guest this week, Beth Matenaer, is a licensed professional counselor and trauma therapist living in South Carolina, who has worked with adults, children, adolescents, and families for more than 25 years. As a survivor of the Troubled Teen Industry, she has devoted her decades-long career to treating clients who exhibit the complexity of post-traumatic stress (PTSD) and other victims of high-co...

In the late 1970s, while Pam was in college, she got involved with Scientology doing many courses and counseling with them. She stayed in Scientology a long time, but around 2001, Pam was in a terrible accident where she broke her neck throwing her into the medical world of surgeries, medicines, doctors, etc. During her recovery, Pam wanted off the medicines, so she got involved with Scientology’s...

In the late 1970s, while Pam was in College, she got involved with Scientology doing many courses and counseling with them. She stayed in Scientology a long time, but around 2001, Pam was in a terrible accident where she broke her neck throwing her into the medical world of surgeries, medicines, Doctors, etc. During her recovery, Pam wanted off the medicines, so she got involved with Scientology’s...

This week's guest Govinda describes himself as a modern mystic committed to spiritual growth and enlightenment while simultaneously learning to be a balanced and grounded human being in this world. Govinda has been an IT consultant in banking and a successful internet entrepreneur. He has traveled the world in search of communities and alternative ways of living before he co-founded "Awake...

This week's guest, Zoe Scurletis is a young professional who is currently based out of Austin, Texas. For most of her adult life, Zoe battled anxiety and depression, and in 2017 she lost a close friend to suicide. She longed to do something to bring awareness to the mental health community, so in October of 2019, she launched a mental health podcast called Solace and the City™. Through authent...

This week's guests Cody & Kandi are a married couple from a small town in the Ozarks, located near the Arkansas-Missouri border. They met and began dating in 2012. Cody grew up living on his family’s cult compound in rural Missouri, coincidentally near other infamous cult compounds. In July 2013, Cody found out the truth about his family. He was reunited with his mother after 15 years. Cod...

This week's guest Rob has been training in martial arts for over 24 years and has earned a 3rd Degree Black Belt in Karate and a Purple Belt in Brazilian jujitsu. He was on the International martial arts team Full Circle and ran his own martial arts school for four years. He has been consulting for martial arts businesses for 10 years and because of his experiences in the industry, he founded...

CONTENT WARNING: SUICIDAL IDEATION Our guest this week, Geoff Law, was raised a Jehovah's Witness in Northern California. As a Witness, he spent 35 years devoted to bible research using only Witness-approved publications, attending three weekly meetings, and spending upwards of 70 hours each month spreading the Jehovah’s Witness doctrine, trying to convert future members. His zeal for his beli...

Our guest this week is Olga Yurkova from Ukraine. Olga edits the Context and Opinions sections of StopFake.org. She teaches different audiences how propaganda works and how to identify fake news, consulting with a range of organizations and collaborating with mainstream media as a journalist. Yurkova explores propaganda methods and finds out new ways to overcome these challenges. In June 2017, she...

Returning this week are actors, Andrea Geones and Michael Laskin. Andrea and Michael teamed up to create a code of ethics for acting classes with one goal in mind: to create a safe and healthy environment for actors and acting students. After experiencing the unhealthy and cult-like culture fostered within many acting classes where sexual, financial, and psychological abuse were the norm, they cre...

This week our guests are Andrea Geones and Michael Laskin. Andrea and Michael teamed up to create a code of ethics for acting classes with one goal in mind: to create a safe and healthy environment for actors. After experiencing the unhealthy and cult-like culture fostered within many acting classes where sexual, financial, and psychological abuse were the norm, they created https://www.findyourac...

Lisa got out of a small, suburban, new age, therapy-based group in 2016, which she had joined as a 19-year-old, single mother. This high-demand group went through many phases over the 30 years she was involved. The charismatic, narcissistic leader utilized modalities such as rebirthing, affirmations, hot seat talk therapy, sleep deprivation, as well as verbal, physical, and sexual abuse as a means...

Christopher Buckley of LaFayette, GA is an Afghanistan and Iraqi war veteran. When he returned from Iraq, he joined the Georgia White Knights as an Imperial Nighthawk, because their anti-Muslim and racist values were consistent with his worldview after returning from war. Arno Michaelis, a former white power skinhead, and Dr. Heval Mohamed Kelli, a Kurdish Muslim refugee, were able to teach Chris...

As an independent producer, reporter, and sound designer, Jonathan Hirsch has produced hundreds of long-form audio works for NPR, Vox, NBC, Fusion Media Group, and many others. He is a recipient of the Green Eyeshade, Edward R. Murrow, and DuPont Awards. His 7-part documentary podcast series Dear Franklin Jones debuted #1 on the iTunes podcast charts. In April of 2018, Jonathan launched Neon Hum M...

Amanda Montell is a writer, language scholar, and podcast host from Baltimore. She is the author of Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, about the language of "cults" from Scientology to SoulCycle. As a reporter and essayist, Amanda's writing has been featured in Marie Claire, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Nylon, Bustle, The Rumpus, Byrdie, and Who What Wear, where she formerly served as the...

CW: Sexual violence against children Christopher Buckley of LaFayette, GA is an Afghanistan and Iraqi war veteran. When he returned from Iraq, he joined the Georgia White Knights as an Imperial Nighthawk, because their anti-Muslim and racist values were consistent with his worldview after returning from war. Arno Michaelis, a former white power skinhead, and Dr. Heval Mohamed Kelli, a Kurdish Musl...

This week's guest is a fourth-generation Christian Scientist. Lauren Hunter is a freelance writer, consultant, and entrepreneur. She is the author of "Leaving Christian Science, 10 Stories of New Faith in Jesus Christ". Lauren shares with Rachel her story of leaving the church and describes the religious trauma that followed. Lauren also talks about her work with The Fellowship of Form...

Elli was raised a third-generation Christian Scientist in Southern California. She left the religion in her late teens and discovered it was a cult in her mid-twenties. Her journey of over 10 years has been undoing the restrictive thinking and false beliefs imprinted since birth and finding out who she is underneath it all. In this conclusion of a three-episode series, Elli shares with Rachel her...

Elli was raised a third-generation Christian Scientist in Southern California. She left the religion in her late teens and discovered it was a cult in her mid-twenties. Her journey of over 10 years has been undoing the restrictive thinking and false beliefs imprinted since birth and finding out who she is underneath it all. In this second part of a three-episode series, Elli continues sharing her...

Elli was raised a third-generation Christian Scientist in Southern California. She left the religion in her late teens and discovered it was a cult in her mid-twenties. Her journey of over 10 years has been undoing the restrictive thinking and false beliefs imprinted since birth and finding out who she is underneath it all. In this first part of a three-episode series, Elli shares with Rachel her...

Rachel and Erin Alder are a married couple from Seattle. Shortly after they met they became entangled in a situation within AA where their vulnerabilities were being used to control their behavior by a controlling sponsor. In Rachel's case, the vulnerability that was exploited was undiagnosed mental illness, specifically Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. While Erin’s biggest vulnerability became...

Rachel and Erin Alder are a married couple from Seattle. Shortly after they met they became entangled in a situation within AA where their vulnerabilities were being used to control their behavior by a manipulative sponsor. In Rachel's case, the vulnerability that was exploited Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder while Erin’s biggest vulnerability became whether the marriage was dependent on continu...

Rachel and Erin Alder are a married couple from Seattle. Shortly after they met they became entangled in a situation within AA where their vulnerabilities were being used to control their behavior by a controlling sponsor. In Rachel's case, the vulnerability that was exploited was undiagnosed mental illness, specifically Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. While Erin’s biggest vulnerability became...

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...