Let’s Talk About Sects
Hosted by: Sarah Steel
https://www.youtube.com/@letstalkaboutsects
Deep-dive investigative stories featuring various cults and high-control religious groups are explored in this podcast. Let’s Talk About Sects was the Winner of the Independent True Crime Category of the 2019 Australian Podcast Awards. Each episode looks at a different cult from around the world, using a narrative story telling approach and documentary style, sometimes featuring interviews with former members or experts. The host is a journalist and author, who wanted to provide a platform for survivors.
Growing Up in Polygamy
Hosted by: Sam Zitting Wyson & Melissa Zitting Wyson
https://www.youtube.com/@growingupinpolygamy
The mission of this podcast is “to create compassion for religious communities that are misunderstood, marginalized, and/or abused by their leaders, as well as empower those who have left, like Sam, by giving them a platform to share their stories with the world”. Sam grew up as a member of the FLDS, in a family of one father, four mothers, and thirty-six children. He left at age 18. His wife, Melissa shares an outsider’s perspective and asks questions that many outsiders of high-control religious groups have.
Beyond the Surface
Hosted by: Sam Sellers, Anchored Counseling Services
https://www.youtube.com/@anchoredcounsellingservices
Beyond the Surface, a podcast by a former member of the Exclusive Brethren, or Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, explores religious trauma, cult recovery, leaving church, losing (or reshaping) faith, and the long, messy work of reclaiming self, identity, and agency. Sam is queer woman and is not only a survivor or religious trauma, but is a therapist who supports people throughout Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, as her clients are on their journeys. She specializes in religious trauma and cult recovery.
Podcasts for Your Journey
Many former members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, as well as survivors of other high-control religious groups, have found community and connection through podcasts. Finding your voice, sharing your story, and having a platform to let your truth be told is both empowering and healing.
Below are some podcasts which have been helpful for former members or for those thinking of leaving. Your journey is your own. But, these recommended resources may be useful to you.
Check out these podcasts, where you can listen to survivors share their stories of leaving and living on the outside, with the freedom to live where they want, love who they want, and do what they want. Many who choose to leave—or are forced to leave—are glad to discover that the outside world is not what they have been told, that people are kind, and that life can be quite beautiful.
Have a listen for yourself. Each podcast host’s and guest’s story, opinions, and views are their own and do not necessarily reflect the values, positions, or policies of Brave Horizons Network.
Get a Life Podcast - Ex-cult Conversations
Hosted by: Cheryl Bawtinheimer, Richard Marsh, & Lane Admiraal
https://www.youtube.com/@getalifepodcast
Listen in on conversations with former members of the PBCC, Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, formerly Exclusive Brethren. Ex-members open a window into the world's most powerful and influential cult and it's links to the Conservatives, crime, corruption and pedophilia. Discussions peel back the hidden layers within these cults and reveal the real trauma that occurs behind closed doors. Join members on their journey toward understanding, healing and personal development. Get A Life Podcast - Ex-cult Conversations is owned by Larkrise Archives, an Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporation.
Wikkid Person
Hosted by: Mike Moore
https://www.youtube.com/@wikkidperson
Mike D. Moore is a former member of the Exclusive Brethren, now PBCC. He left in the 1990s after being shut up and withdrawn from—confined and excommunicated. He was called a “wicked” by the high-control religious group, and playing off of that word, he named his podcast “Wikkid Person”. Since leaving, he has written music, blogs, stories, poems, and parodies. In his podcast and other work, he shares his experiences, religious trauma, toxic indoctrination, strict fundamentalist control, and healing.
Cult Chat
Hosted by: Dr. Caroline Ansley, Lindy Jacomb, & Liz Gregory
https://www.youtube.com/@cultchat
Listen in on discussions surrounding coercion, control, and all things cultish. This podcast based out of New Zealand brings together a medical doctor who was a child in the Centrepoint cult, but now runs a website advocating for former members; a former member of the PBCC who is now part of the Olive Leaf Network, which supports leavers of high-demand religious groups; and the leader of the Gloriavale Leavers Support Trust. They “traverse the cultiverse,” with episodes about many issues and groups.
Chris Shelton MSC
Hosted by: Chris Shelton, MSc
https://www.youtube.com/@chrissheltonmsc
Coercive control, cult recovery, and critical thinking are the focus of this podcast. The host, Chris Shelton was in the Church of Scientology for twenty-seven years, seventeen of which were in the groups elite branch known as the Sea Org, where members sign a one billion year contract. After leaving Scientology and talking to psychologists, sociologists, and former members of other cults, he earned his MSc, Master of Science in Coercive Control, and now works as a cult-recovery educator.
Recovering from Religion
Hosted by: Staff & Volunteers of Recovering from Religion
https://www.youtube.com/@recoveringfromreligion
Recovering from Religion was founded in 2009 by Dr. Darrel Ray. A rotating group of staff members and volunteers host the podcast, which focuses on offering hope, healing, and support to individuals who are struggling with questions, doubt, and non-belief. “RfR” is based out of the United States, and has a website and 24/7 helpline in addition to their podcast. They hope to help people in the process of transitioning in life from a high-control religion, and they recommend the Secular Therapy Project.