Cults to Consciousness

She escaped one of New Zealand's most controversial religious communities with 10 children. But leaving Gloriavale was only the beginning. Ginny returns to Cults to Consciousness LIVE to reveal what life has really been like since escaping, how her family has adapted to freedom, and what she's learned about the community she once called home. We'll also discuss her ongoing fight for ac...

Born and raised inside New Zealand's isolated Gloriavale religious community, Ginny was taught that a woman's purpose was to obey, marry, and have as many children as possible. After entering an arranged marriage at 20, she spent approximately 22 years pregnant or breastfeeding while enduring relentless work demands, strict expectations, and limited reproductive freedom. But when her teena...

Use code CULTFREE at jonesroadbeauty.com to get a Free Gift with your first purchase! #JonesRoadBeauty #ad Raised in the Canadian FLDS community, Ange Johnson was just 15 when she offered herself up for an arranged marriage, believing it would prove her worthiness to God. As Warren Jeffs battled for control of the church, Ange faced unimaginable pressure from her family, including her father's...

Two survivors. Two notorious FLDS leaders. One unexpected love story. Warren Jeffs’ son, Wendell Jeffs, and Nomz Bistline, who was once considered Sam Bateman’s 13th wife, are now in a serious relationship! After sharing their individual stories of escaping religious control on Cults to Consciousness, Wendell and Nomz are joining LIVE today on the Youtube channel to reveal their unexpected romance...

After escaping the FLDS at 18, Warren Jeffs’ son Wendell Jeffson, didn’t leave Mormonism behind… he joined the mainstream LDS Church and eventually became a Mormon missionary. In this follow up Part 2, Wendell reveals the strange transition from being raised as the Prophet’s son to preaching a new version of the faith, navigating dating and the outside world for the first time, and eventually ques...

Wendell Jeffson, son of notorious FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs, reveals what it was really like growing up inside his father’s isolated world. From being separated from his mother and hidden away on the Texas compound to believing his father spoke for God. Wendell opens up about the extreme control, wealth, manipulation, medical neglect, family hierarchy, and disturbing practices hidden behind the co...

Sonny Malvolio grew up inside a world most children only see in movies. His father was a professional criminal who escaped prison, fled with the family to Mexico, gave his children new identities, and began grooming Sonny to become part of his criminal empire. From doing payroll at eight years old to living surrounded by guns, violence, paranoia, and fear, Sonny shares how the unthinkable became n...

Jinjara Mitchell returns to go deeper into what it was like growing up with a narcissistic mother who was adored by the public but terrifying behind closed doors. She opens up about the manipulation, fear, and control that shaped her chiIdhood—and the complicated process of recognizing the truth about her mother and breaking free from her influence. Click here to watch on YouTube Watch the initial...

Jinjara Mitchell grew up watching her mother become a celebrated motivational speaker and powerful businesswoman while experiencing a very different person behind closed doors. Now, after uncovering medical records, conflicting accounts surrounding her father’s death, a dramatically changed will, and painful memories of CSA, Jinjara is publicly investigating the family story she says she was raise...

Justin returns LIVE to dive deeper into how growing up Mormon intensified his OCD into debilitating religious scrupulosity, where even the smallest decisions could become questions of obedience, worthiness, and sin. He’ll unpack the specific rules he felt compelled to follow, how leaving a high-control religion dramatically changed his experience with OCD, and how he learned to replace rigid, blac...

Athena Grimes returns LIVE to dive deeper into the dark side of “personal revelation” and how her mother used supposed messages from God to justify extreme control and abuse. Along with more stories from growing up under her mother’s religious authority we’ll unpack what happens when a parent believes their own voice is the voice of God. Click here to watch on YouTube Watch our initial interview w...

Athena Grimes grew up in mainstream Mormonism under a mother who, Athena says, used “personal revelation” to justify extreme control, isolation, punishment, and abuse—including telling nine-year-old Athena that God required an “Abraham experience” in which she would die, leading Athena to plan her own funeral and say goodbye to her family. Years later, after joining the military, getting married,...

Today I sit down LIVE with Mama Bear to reveal how I played a part in helping her leave Mormonism, and what we’ve learned about our family and each other since walking away. We’ll unpack toxic perfectionism, family vs. faith, shocking garment stories, and multigenerational perspectives on what it meant to be a “good Mormon mom,” while uncovering some truths about my childhood, including mom’s secr...

Jehovah’s Witnesses have changed their blood doctrine again. In Governing Body Update #6, a major shift was announced regarding red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma—components that Jehovah’s Witnesses were previously instructed not to accept, but which are now being left to individual conscience. Alissa Watson of   @alissasawake  joins us LIVE to break down what chan...

Mae returns LIVE to answer viewer questions and dive deeper into the parts of her childhood story we couldn’t fully explore in our first conversation. We’ll unpack more of the extreme isolation and religious control she experienced, what happened after she finally left her father’s home, and how she’s learned to navigate freedom, relationships, and healing after growing up so disconnected from the...

Raised in an intensely devout Mormon household, Justin Shoemaker believed happiness and salvation came from following every rule exactly… until religious scrupulosity and intrusive thoughts sent him into a devastating mental-health crisis on his mission. After returning home, attending BYU-Idaho, rushing into a temple marriage, and later becoming deeply involved in an Amway-associated training org...

How did one of America’s most notorious serial killers convince a religious community that he was one of them, and for a time, that he couldn't possibly be guilty?  Today we are joined LIVE with Hannah and Jess of the “ @PostmormonPostmortem ” Podcast to deep dive Bundy’s Mormon conversion, his life inside the congregation, arrest, members defending & supporting him, and ultimately his co...

Explore my Hungryroot Digital Cookbook “Cult Classics” and get 40% off your first order plus a free item in every box for life at https://hungryroot.com/CULTFREE For most of the first 16 years of her life, Mae Vanders says she was confined to a tiny section of one room inside her family’s hoarded home—never attending school and relying on her older sister, television, and whatever she could read t...

In this follow-up LIVE, Donna Lamb takes us deeper inside Aesthetic Realism, revealing how the group attempted to control members’ sexuality, relationships, and identities, and how she eventually became part of the system herself.  Donna confronts her role in helping convince gay people they could “change,” while exposing the manipulation that kept her devoted to the group for decades. Click...

They can't harm you, if they can't find you! Use code CULT at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/cult At just 18 years old, Donna Lamb arrived in New York City dreaming of becoming an actress—only to be recruited into sex work on her second day in the city. After dr*gs, violence, and a terrifying encounter that made her fear for her life, Donna escaped that world bu...

Following up our enlightening interview with Mitch Cunico of   @Cult_Audit  about his time as a leader within the World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG), we are joined with him LIVE today to further dive into their recruiting process.  Were they recruiting? What do they say? How do they approach college students? How can parents warn their kids?  We’ll go behind the curta...

Former high-ranking World Mission Society Church of God member Mitch Cunico (of   @Cult_Audit ) reveals how a seemingly innocent Bible study pulled him into a South Korean high-control religious group that demanded relentless evangelizing, money, strict obedience, and eventually even control over his marriage. Mitch was matched with a Korean wife he barely knew, living at the church as pastor...

Dr. Christine Marie infiltrated the inner circle of polygamous cult leader Samuel Bateman, helping expose the horrific ab*se happening behind closed doors and ultimately contributing to his downfall. Now, just days after watching Bateman receive his final sentence in court, Christine joins us to reveal what it took to bring him down… and what it was like to finally see justice served. Click here t...

Polygamous sect leader Samuel Bateman has been sentenced to a total of 74 years in prison. Yesterday an Arizona state judge handed down an additional 24-year prison sentence to be served consecutively after his 50-year federal prison sentence.  Today we are joined LIVE with Naomi "Nomz" Bistline (Sam Bateman’s former 13th wife) who was at the hearing and gave an impact statement, and his form...

Explore my Hungryroot Digital Cookbook “Cult Classics” and get 40% off your first order plus a free item in every box for life at https://hungryroot.com/CULTFREE Amanda Rae returns for a disturbing deep dive into the alleged consequences of generations of incest within the polygamous Kingston Group, from miscarriages and birth defects to infertility and reproductive coercion. Amanda and Shelise ex...