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
Jan 16, 2022
Jan 16, 2022
51 min
Sapphire Phoenix was raised as an 'exemplary' Jehovah's Witness until he found himself disfellowshipped and outside the organisation and his circle of family and friends. Sapphire talks about his experience and the realization that he wanted a different life. Now a singer-songwriter we feature two of his latest tunes.
Instagram: @officialsapphirephoenix
Jan 12, 2022
Jan 12, 2022
52 min
Today Celine and Stephen talk about being wrong and why it's so often hard to accept. They look at the psychology of being wrong and how some cognitive biases may feed into the reasons why we don't always notice it when we are. Celine and Stephen also start the show with a side discussion about the joy of watching young people listen to progressive rock music for the first time, Virtual Reality, states of flow and scary video games. An eclectic episode!
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Links
Psychology Today: Why is it so hard to admit when we are wrong?
Biases
https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/
Ambrose Cynthia YouTube Channel listening in Firth of Fifth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5lKBO8TMAs
Beat Saber
https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/2448060205267927
Little Nightmares
https://store.steampowered.com/app/424840/Little_Nightmares/
Jan 9, 2022
Jan 9, 2022
1hr 2 min
Growing up as a Jehovah's Witness or other fundamentalist religious group members are taught a particular view about the role of women, but what does the Bible really say? Upon leaving we have decisions to make about what our opinion now is and how that might affect our decisions and attitudes. Today Celine and Stephen talk again to Producer Bob, a born in ex Jehovah's Witness about her experience when in, and how she feels about it now.
Jan 5, 2022
Jan 5, 2022
59 min
Does the 2014 movie Whiplash starring Miles Teller and JK Simmons depict a cultic relationship? One of our favourite movies with fabulous music great acting and a compelling story the movie is the story of a young man's rise to jazz drumming greatness, but there's a darker side to the story? On today's podcast we explore whether what we are watching is a sort of cult or at least a coercive relationship.
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Jan 2, 2022
Jan 2, 2022
1hr 8 min
It's a fascinating and emotional episode this week, as Lizzie tells us about her life being raised within an Amish community in Ohio and how she ran away to start a new life. Lizzie is now a Health Coach with her own business called Undiet Yourself.
Lizzie's Website: https://undietyourself.live/
Lizzie's Instagram: @lizzieens
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Dec 31, 2021
Dec 31, 2021
30 min
Recorded just before Christmas Day, Stephen's favourite podcasts of the year plus other recommendations to help make sense of a complicated, confusing but wonderful thing we call the world.
Happy New Year to all our listeners from Stephen and Celine.
Video version available at https://youtu.be/1jywnBWcx2A
Featured Podcasts
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Freakonomics - pod.link/354668519
People I mostly admire - pod.link/1525936566
Philosophize this - pod.link/659155419
Kermode & Mayo - pod.link/73802698
You're dead to me - pod.link/1479973402
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Podcast Friends
Falling out - pod.link/1550448436
The Free Thought Prophet - pod.link/1355376385
The World of Work Podcast - pod.link/1446563591
I was a teenage fundamentalist - pod.link/1558606464
Mindshift - pod.link/1199559501
Not too busy to write - pod.link/1550576952
Provisional Aspirations - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onbsOOYRP78
Dec 29, 2021
Dec 29, 2021
1hr 8 min
As a Jehovah's Witness dad didn't really 'do' New Year, but upon leaving he observed the common tradition of the New Year's Resolution. What does the research suggest about how effective they are and what makes them more likely to be successful?
We also discuss a 'tweet of the week' addressing the question of whether all religions are cults.
Become a patron for just £1 per month ($1:50)
Links
https://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/
Norcross, J. C., Ratzin, A. C., & Payne, D. (1989). Ringing in the New Year: The change processes and reported outcomes of resolutions. Addictive Behaviors, 14(2), 205-212.
http://www.changeologybook.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/ringing-in-the-new-year.pdf
Dec 25, 2021
Dec 25, 2021
2hr 27 min
Early in 2021 Stephen talked to his daughter, Celine about his life as a Jehovah's Witness, being raised in the group, getting married to a fellow JW, struggling with doubts and finally leaving around the time she was born. The story originally spanned three separate episodes so this Christmas we've put all three together into a single episode.
Dec 22, 2021
Dec 22, 2021
43 min
Sarah, joins Stephen for our Christmas Special as we think about the joys and 'tricky bits' of celebrating Christmas after leaving a cult, especially one that banned it. We think back to our own experience and how we came to feel about it. We finish with a song Celine and I recorded back in 2019.
Video for the song can be accessed here.
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Dec 18, 2021
Dec 18, 2021
1hr 5 min
Clint Heacock was raised in a Fundamentalist Christian group. As a young man he studied theology and Bible studies in various academic settings and completed his PHD in 2011 with his dissertation being a rhetorical-critical study of the book of Ezekiel. He is a former pastor of an Evangelical church and served in full time ministry.
He moved to the UK and started a podcast called 'The Preacher's Forum'. Already deconstructing his fundamentalist beliefs he found during the podcast that he was questioning everything. He changed the name of the podcast to MindShift and now explores christian deconstruction, religious trauma and dominion theology.
We talked to him about his story and about his research into Dominion Theology and what it means for politics in the US and beyond.
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