A podcast about cult hacking! Cracking the cult code to understand what they are, how they work, how people leave and how to make sense of the world after leaving. Father and daughter team, media graduate Celine, and former cult member now organizational psychologist Stephen, explore how cults work, why they are so dangerous and the experience of leaving and making sense of the world. They speak to cult hackers from all over the world, from ex members to academics, from writers to filmmakers, and from therapists to activists. https://pod.link/1540824671 https://www.patreon.com/culthackers https://culthackers.com/ Music is Snap by Purple Planet Music Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Episodes
Saturday Nov 05, 2022
Saturday Nov 05, 2022
Jolyn Armstrong is a certified trauma recovery coach and has an interesting personal perspective, having gone through the experience of a son becoming incarcerated for a serious crime and of overcoming her own religious trauma. During the conversation Celine and Stephen discuss the use of coaching in recovery, the difficulty of finding friends after leaving a cult and the similarities between incarceration and disfellowshipping for family members.
Jolyn's website landing page:
https://gvtraumarecovery.com/culthackers
Please Note: Cult Hackers cannot and does not endorse any particular trauma recovery treatment or method.
If you'd like to become a patron for just $1.50 you can do so here.
https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
Saturday Oct 29, 2022
Saturday Oct 29, 2022
Today Stephen briefly considers a week of hell, and then Cult Hackers revisits an episode from the archives exploring the supernatural, the Devil and the demons' interest in second-hand furniture. Celine and Stephen explore how upon leaving a religious Bible Cult long held beliefs about the spooky and supernatural are re-evaluated. There's also an example of a 'cold reading' from Derren Brown's book Tricks of The Mind
To become a patron
https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
References
Tricks of the Mind
- Publisher : Channel 4; Reprint edition (8 Oct. 2007)
- ISBN-10 : 1905026358
- ISBN-13 : 978-1905026357
Saturday Oct 22, 2022
Saturday Oct 22, 2022
Today Celine and Stephen explore a group they've not talked about before, Christian Science. Hilary Alexander was raised as a Christian Scientist and in this interview she talks about the process of leaving and making sense of the world afterwards. Christian Science – not to be confused with Scientology – is a religion that was started by Mary Baker Eddy in the late 19th century and as you’ll hear from Hilary has some pretty unusual beliefs that lead to some dangerous practices – perhaps the most important of these is the refusal by many adherents to use modern medicine or medical procedures.
If you'd like to support the podcast you can by becoming a patron for just $1.50.
https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
Wednesday Oct 19, 2022
Wednesday Oct 19, 2022
After leaving a cult or fundamentalist group with an all-encompassing belief system, it’s great fun to explore science and philosophy and it’s not long before the quantum world is likely to attract attention. Today Celine and Stephen have the company of a special guest to explore quantum physics and try to separate the science from the woo.
You can support this podcast by becoming a patron for just $1.50
https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
Videos about quantum physics
The Double Slit Experiment
Apertures and Diffraction - Exploring Wave Motion
Quantum Physics Explained
Saturday Oct 15, 2022
Saturday Oct 15, 2022
In this week's episode we explore how cults use power to ensure the obedience of their followers, drawing from French and Raven's Bases of Power and the work of Max Weber.
To support the podcast you can become a patron for just $1:50
https://www.patreon.com/culthackers
French and Raven review on the six bases
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_56.htm
University of Regina article
https://uregina.ca/~gingrich/o12f99.htm
Thursday Oct 13, 2022
Thursday Oct 13, 2022
Assimilation, group identity and leaving is hard. In this bonus episode taken from our short series, Cults on Film, Stephen explores the science fiction favourite baddie, the Borg, from the movie Star Trek First Contact and the TV Series Star Trek Voyager, as a metaphor for cults and coercive control.
You can become a patron for just $1.50
https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
More about the movies and TV shows in this episode
Star Trek First Contact
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117731/
Star Trek Voyager
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112178/
Saturday Oct 08, 2022
Saturday Oct 08, 2022
Jennifer French has a Masters in the Psychology of Coercive Control and is host of the Project Hope Podcast. She was a member of a Christian Mystical Cult and as a result became estranged from her family for over a decade. She talks openly about her experience of joining and leaving her group and the long process of reconnecting with her family. It's an emotional episode.
To become a Patron
https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
Jennifer's website
https://www.jennifer-french.com/project-hope-podcast
Saturday Oct 01, 2022
Saturday Oct 01, 2022
Celine and Stephen explore how cults use the promise of happiness to attract people and keep them on the hook. Also what is the science on happiness? Is happiness genetic? Is it dependant upon external factors? Does money make you happy? Are married people happier? All this and lots more in this week's episode.
Become a patron for just $1.50
https://www.patreon.com/culthackers
Links
Low expectations
Explaining Happiness
https://www.pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.1633144100
The discontented pony
http://ponymadbooklovers.blogspot.com/2018/07/book-review-by-tintin-discontented-pony.html
Wednesday Sep 28, 2022
Wednesday Sep 28, 2022
Sherrie D'Souza is the International Development Director and board member of 'Recovering From Religion' an organization that specialises in helping people deal with the effects of leaving damaging religious groups and making sense of life afterwards. Sherrie was raised as a Jehovah's Witness and speaks about her childhood, growing up and becoming an adult within the group as well as the difficulty of leaving.
Recovering from Religion Website
https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/#rfr-welcome
Become a Patron of Cult Hackers
https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
Saturday Sep 24, 2022
Saturday Sep 24, 2022
Welcome to the first official episode of Cult Hackers (formerly 'What should I think about..?') For our first show we have a wonderful and knowledgeable cult hacker, former cult member Nicola Ranson.
The Netflix documentary series Wild Wild Country became a worldwide hit with its fascinating story of a cultic group's strange journey from free love to bio terrorism. Nicola Ranson is now a mental health professional and author, with her memoir 'A slice of orange' coming out in 2023. She was a member of the Rajneesh group for ten years and talks about her attraction to the group, life within it, her journey out and how she made sense of her life after leaving.
To become a patron
https://www.patreon.com/culthackers
To contact us
Nicola Ranson