The Plain People's Podcast

In part two of this powerful conversation, Tamera continues sharing her story of being brought into the Grandin, Missouri Nationwide Mennonite church and learning to survive within a high-control religious environment she did not choose. We explore coercive control, belonging, faith, gender roles, survival, and the complicated process of questioning and leaving insular systems. Through Tamera's st...

This week, we're shifting locations and perspective. Instead of Ohio, we're heading to Missouri, where I sit down with a former member of the Grandin church. Raised by a single mother, she shares her story of being brought into the church as a young girl—navigating a world she didn't choose, and learning how to survive within it. In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, we explore the complexity o...

  Picking back up where we left off in the last recording, I sat down with a law enforcement officer out of Ohio to hear his perspective on The Amish Restoration Team. You'll hear his real-time reactions to the answers the RT has been giving Amish women within their communities—and what that actually looks like from the outside looking in. Law enforcement often gets a bad reputation in these conve...

Last year, over 300 abuse cases were documented by what is known as the "Restoration Team" in Holmes and Wayne County, Ohio. Fewer than 10 of those cases ever made it to the Wayne County Sheriff's Office. So what's happening in between? In this episode, Jasper brings you into the beginning of her investigation into the Restoration Team—an Amish-led intervention group presented to churches as a saf...

In this episode of The Plain People's Podcast , we continue our look into Amish and Mennonite mental health systems—specifically, what are known as "the facilities," or residential treatment centers for those struggling within plain communities. This episode focuses on Hoffnung Heim, a facility widely known among the Amish as a trusted place for women to receive help. But what is the reality insid...

For years, Mennonite and Amish women have quietly spoken about "the facilities" — residential programs where church members are sent for restoration, discipline, or mental health support. But what exactly are these places? In this episode of The Plain People's Podcast, Jasper Hoffman begins unpacking one of the most complex and hidden barriers facing Amish and Anabaptist survivors: a network of un...

For years, conversations about abuse in Amish and other plain communities began with denial. Survivors, advocates, and researchers were forced to answer the same basic question again and again: is abuse actually happening? But something has shifted. In this episode, Jasper shares recordings that began in August of 2023 after a group of current Amish women from Holmes County, Ohio reached out askin...

The Ruth Miller trial begins in Ohio this week, and I'm heading there for full bench trial coverage. Before we get into courtroom testimony, this episode lays some groundwork — the work happening quietly inside Amish and Mennonite (Plain) communities, the barriers women face when trying to seek help, and the ongoing conversations with local and federal agencies who are often navigating cultural nu...

Renee Franchi and Nathanial Foote from Andreozzi & Foote are currently representing two former Mennonite men suing the Eastern PA Mennonite Church, Martin Nelson doing business as Liberty Ridge Farm. Together they sit down with Jasper to discuss labor trafficking, the Liberty Ridge case and how Amish and Mennonites are not above the law. 

From Groffdale Conference Mennonite to Black Bumper (Horning) to Breaking Amish season 5, Dawn has been on a momentous journey. We were fortunate to sit down and spend some time talking about what is real in the process of shooting reality tv and find out where she is today. 

Lizzie Hershberger is a former Swartzentruber Amish member , which is largest and most conservative subgroups of Old Order Amish. Her recent memoir titled Behind Blue Curtains was published this spring and she sits down with us to talk about what it is like to write, and walk within, your trauma story. 

Last week we introduced you to the incredible Deb....also known as Moxie. This week we pick back up in the story and learn how Deb hiked the entire Appalachian Trail and the fierce tenacity that drove her to finish. 

Deb, who fondly goes by Moxie, grew up in the Beachy Amish church, but never quite fit in. In this two part story series, she opens up about her great adventure of hiking the entire Appalachian Trail, and who she became along the way.  All music featured in these episodes are played for you by Deb. 

In February of this year Mennonite Abuse Prevention published an investigation into the ''ministerial sexual misconduct" of co-pastor at Lorraine Avenue Mennonite Church, Tom Harder. Dr. Stephanie Krehbiel, executive director of IntoAccount.org prepared the analysis for MAP's post, and spoke with us about her findings.  To read the MAP post, click here. https://www.themaplist.org/the-map-list/tom-...

Following along from last week's conversation with Anna Mae, she and Jasper talk more about what it's like to be labeled a bad girl by the church, as well as the differences between their own church upbringings as ex-Amish and ex-Mennonite. 

Anna Mae grew up within the Old Order Amish community, where therapy was not even a concept. After leaving the church and wrestling with depression, she decided to Google for the "best therapist in Nashville", which lead her to Chris Hancock, LCSW, ACMHP. As the owner of Therapy Outside The Box, Chris opens up about his experience working with Anna Mae, and Anna Mae shares how therapy has helped h...

"This is where I spent most of my Sundays the past three years. This was my home. And I fully believed that I had to be here or I would go to hell. It was beautiful. It was spiritual. It was also misery. It was repressive. It was legalistic. And I am so proud to say that I am free now. Free to be me. Free to worship the way I choose. You never know true freedom until you've been constrained. I lov...

In early 2019, shortly after sharing what we then believed to be the entirely of Audrey's horrific abuse story, the floodgates opened when it was discovered that her ex husband had brutally sexually assaulted her children for years. Through yet another battle of unbelievable odds, Audrey was back in court, but not with just her ex-husband, but her ex-father in law, an Amish Bishop. But whatever fo...

Tighten your Hushpuppies and lay out the Sunday Pfaltzgraft, because we are back with a bang for our first episode of Season Five. DeLite sits down with Jasper and Marc and opens a can of worms by sharing her first hand experience with "wife swapping".... better known as non consensual swinging. Did you know the Plain People have their own phone sex line? Jasper didn't, but quickly posed the quest...

Laura shares her experience adjusting to life outside of her family and where she is today. 

Laura is a therapist specializing in trauma therapy that is inspired from her time within an independent Mennonite church. In this episode we discuss her family's struggle with mental health while fitting into the plain culture. 

Michelle shares her experience within the strict Elmo Stoll community, the struggles with a mentally ill father, spousal rape and life after the church. 

Michelle found herself at a young age suddenly joining into a Hutterite community when her parents decided to for-go the quiet suburban lifestyle. Not satisfied with the community, her family then continued to pursue various cults, finally ending up at the Elmo Stoll community in Cookeville, Tn. 

We pick up with Josh explaining the details behind the Mennonite and Amish facility, Fresh Start and find out where he is today. 

Adopted into a Mennonite family after years in the foster care system, Josh shares his story of growing up and becoming a counselor at a men's facility known as Fresh Start in Indiana.