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Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation

Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

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Trust Me is a weekly interview podcast about cults, extreme belief, and the fine line between devotion and delusion—told through firsthand accounts from the people who lived it. Hosted by two women who’ve been in cults themselves, Lola Blanc and Meagan Elizabeth, the show features survivors from groups like Heaven’s Gate, the Manson Family, NXIVM, OneTaste and more–sharing personal stories of how they got in, how they got out, and everything in between. Each week, they invite these guests al ...
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A podcast about growing up in and leaving the Moonies (AKA the Unification Church). As told by the kids who grew up there with me. Please consider supporting the show here: patreon.com/fallingoutpod fallingoutpod.com twitter.com/fallingoutpod insta: @fallingoutpod Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/falling-out. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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My name is Ares Meyer. I grew up in the Unification Church and left after many years. Throughout my life, I have met so many interesting and cool people and I want to share them with the world. We discuss our lives, our journeys, our passions and our hobbies! Enjoy! Please check out my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheAresMeyerPodcast Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ares-meyer/support
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This is a podcast for those who are learning Japanese. I’ll talk about an article of News Web Easy per episode for about 20 mins. 🔶The first 5-min for small talk and reading aloud an article for "beginner learners" 🔶The next 15-min for an explanation of the article for "N4-level le" 🔶After 20-min for providing deep background or information for "intermediate learners" Here is my listener's thought why they think we should listen to this podcast even if we cannot understand it well.⇨https://w ...
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We all would like to think that we're immune to being persuaded, but were that true, advertising wouldn't work, the best candidates would always get elected, and our personal relationships would always be equitable. On Belief examines why, with so much information available to us to dissuade us from joining harmful groups. I ask people who have had first hand experience with harmful groups and sects how they were seduced, how they were tricked, and how they got out.
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Take a deep dive into a featured guest’s personal history; the pivotal moments of their childhood and adulthood that defined them and the crucial and sometimes painful decisions they made that forever changed the course of their lives. Each episode of And Then Everything Changed is an intimate conversation; sometimes funny, sometimes profound. Hosted by Ronit Plank. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ More about HOME ...
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Artist and writer Akina Cox shares about her childhood growing up in the Unification Church, also known as the Moonies. They discuss the background of the church and its late leader Reverend Moon, how her parents both joined after hitchhiking in the 70s, and what it was like growing up in the group. She shares how it felt participating in a mass we…
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Attorney Carol Merchasin didn’t set out to expose cults, but after investigating allegations about a high-control Buddhist organization and discovering that the abuse had run more rampant than she’d imagined, she became a lawyer and focused her practice on getting justice for survivors of cults and abusive groups. Carol discusses the legal ins and …
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🌟グループレッスンをしています🌟クラスメートといっしょに日本語を練習しませんか❓🔗 https://www.italki.com/en/group-class/6605894/japanese?classtype%5B0%5D=2 🔗赤澤大臣「アメリカが関税の割合を直すと言っている」 https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/ne2025080811583/ne2025080811583.html 🔗Japan PM Ishiba briefed by chief trade negotiator on tariff talks in US https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20250810_02/ 🔗Why don't …
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Artist and writer Akina Cox returns to share more about her experience growing up in the Unification Church (also known as the Moonies), its physical punishment rituals, and where the church stands now. The girls then transition from the topic of her particular cult to a discussion on the cult-like patterns of the current American political landsca…
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🌟グループレッスンをしています🌟クラスメートといっしょに日本語を練習しませんか❓https://www.italki.com/en/group-class/6605894/japanese?classtype%5B0%5D=2 🔗「日本人にっぽんじんも外国人がいこくじんも生活せいかつしやすい社会しゃかいにしたい」 https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/ne2025071512165/ne2025071512165.html 🔗Japan govt. launches new office to deal with foreign resident issues https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20250716_01/…
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🌟グループレッスンをしています🌟クラスメートといっしょに日本語を練習しませんか❓https://www.italki.com/en/group-class/6605894/japanese?classtype%5B0%5D=2 🔗東京とうきょうの駅えきで「日傘ひがさ」を借かりるサービス https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/ne2025071112050/ne2025071112050.html🔗Parasol rental service begins at major train stations in Tokyo 🔗Why don't you join⁠⁠ my Group lesson⁠?⁠https://www.italki.com/en/group-c…
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Trust Me is the podcast that pulls back the curtain on cults, high-control groups and the psychology of belief. Hosted by cult survivors Lola Blanc and Meagan Elizabeth, the show features raw, first-hand accounts from people who’ve been manipulated, love-bombed and pulled into systems of control—and lived to tell the tale. Each week, Lola and Meaga…
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Trust Me has joined Exactly Right Media. Hosts Lola Blanc & Meagan Elizabeth will be back with new episodes on Wednesday, July 30th. You’re a teenage girl in the late 60s, bouncing between communes, when a charismatic man and his group of young women welcome you with open arms. You were looking for a family, and now you’ve found one. In part one of…
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Trust Me has joined Exactly Right Media. Hosts Lola Blanc & Meagan Elizabeth will be back with new episodes on Wednesday, July 30th. End time prophecies? Memorizing the bible? Required church vacations your family can't afford? Snap Judgment host and creator Glynn Washington shares his experiences growing up in the apocalyptic religion the Worldwid…
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Trust Me has joined Exactly Right Media. Hosts Lola Blanc & Meagan Elizabeth will be back with new episodes on Wednesday, July 30th. What do you model your life after? For producer, actor, and former supermodel Hoyt Richards, it was the teachings of a charming man from Nantucket who spoke about the impending apocalypse and a distant star named Arct…
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Trust Me has joined Exactly Right Media. Hosts Lola Blanc & Meagan Elizabeth will be back with new episodes on Wednesday, July 30th. In their first ever episode, Lola and Meagan interviewed Christine Marie, Lola's mom, about her and Lola's experiences believing in a self-proclaimed Mormon prophet. They discuss how they came to believe in him, their…
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🌟グループレッスンをしています🌟クラスメートといっしょに日本語を練習しませんか❓https://www.italki.com/en/group-class/6605894/japanese?classtype%5B0%5D=2 🔗ロサンゼルスのデモ アメリカの政府が軍を出すhttps://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/ne2025061012085/ne2025061012085.html 🔗 National Guard troops deployed in LA on Trump's order 🔗Why don't you join⁠⁠ my Group lesson⁠?⁠https://www.italki.com/en/group-class/6605894/j…
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🌟グループレッスンをしています🌟クラスメートといっしょに日本語を練習しませんか❓https://www.italki.com/en/group-class/6605894/japanese?classtype%5B0%5D=2🔗日本と中国で魚の輸出のルールを決めた https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/ne2025053011592/ne2025053011592.html 🔗Japan, China agree on requirements for resuming Japanese seafood imports https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20250530_08/🔗Why don't you join⁠⁠…
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🌟グループレッスンをしています🌟クラスメートといっしょに日本語を練習しませんか❓https://www.italki.com/en/group-class/6605894/japanese?classtype%5B0%5D=2 🔗人気の「小型カート」渋谷区がルールを作る https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/ne2025053011493/ne2025053011493.html 🔗Tokyo's Shibuya Ward to tighten rules for street go-kart businesses https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20250529_19/ 🔗App: Hellotalk, you c…
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🌟グループレッスンをしています🌟 https://calendly.com/lt068028 🔗「子どもが幸せな国」日本は14番 https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20250514/k10014804721000.html 🔗Japan ranks 14th in UNICEF report on child well-being https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20250514_08/ 🔗Why don't you join⁠⁠ my Group lesson⁠?⁠https://www.italki.com/en/group-class/6605894/japanese 🔗App: Hellotalk, yo…
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🔗裁判所が「旧統一教会」に解散命令 https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/ne2025032512177/ne2025032512177.html 🔗Tokyo court orders former Unification Church to disband https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20250325_13/🔗Why don't you join⁠⁠ my Group lesson⁠?⁠https://www.italki.com/en/group-class/6605894/japanese 🔗App: Hellotalk, you can visit my profile and check my str…
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今回は、ずっと聞いてくれているリスナーを、ポドキャストによんで、いっしょにはなしました。このポドキャストもとても長くなりました。みなさん本当にありがとう! 最近、PCをかえたので、ストリーミングの設定がうまくできなくて、あまりポドキャストがつくれていません。If you are good at StreamLab and kind enough to help me out, please message me! I am not sure how have I been managing these technical matters so far.... lt068028[a]gmail.com…
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Today our guest is Amanda Rae, host of YouTube channel by the same name and former member of the Kingston Clan, or the Order, a polygamist group in Utah, not to be confused with the FLDS. Some of you may remember our previous guest Priscilla from the same group - both of these gals were on Escaping Polygamy. Amanda’s going to tell us who the Kingst…
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Today our guest is Maggie Rowe, former writer on Arrested Development and author of Sin Bravely, a book about her experiences with moral scrupulosity, or sin-focused OCD. We talk a lot about OCD on this show, so here’s a guest who wrote an entire book about growing up with religious obsessions! She’ll tell us about her first obsessions about what w…
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Former evangelical Christian and pastor's son Caleb Ward continues his story of growing up in evangelical culture in the early 2000s. We discuss some of the touchstones of his youth including Heritage USA (Disneyland for Christians) and Christian rock event Creation Festival, as well as his fear of losing his virginity before marriage, what hell to…
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Former pastor's son Caleb Ward joins Lola and Meagan to share his experience about the height of evangelical culture in the early 2000s in a church called Kingdom Life Ministries. Caleb discusses growing up in an environment where everyone was speaking in tongues and having loud prophecies in the middle of church, the pressures that come with being…
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Today is part 2 with Uriah Wesman, former member of THREE different cults. This week he’ll talk to us more about cult #2, the Hearts Center (which was an offshoot of cult #1 from last week), what it was like being a rebellious emo kid slowly starting to realize inconsistencies in the church, and how his dad discovered cult #3 in Canada, the Ideal S…
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🔗日本で働く外国人 12年続けて増えた https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/ne2025013111530/ne2025013111530.html 🔗Japan had record 2.3 million foreign workers in 2024 https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20250130_28/ 🔗App: Hellotalk, you can visit my profile and check my streaming schedule. ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://hellotalk.com/u/Wien2022⁠⁠⁠ 🔗⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/p…
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Creator of the one man show 3 Cults Walk Into a Bar, Uriah Wesman, shares about his FIRST cult experience in Church Universal and Triumphant, how they combined Christianity and New Age ideas, the paranoia that was created by beliefs surrounding demons, his mom's mental deterioration that led her to accuse his father of being a demon, and his parent…
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Today our guests are historian Philip Deslippe and writer Stacie Sutkin, who together have done investigative reporting on 3HO (“happy, healthy, holy organization”), Kundalini yoga, and Yogi Bhajan. They’re going to tell us how they got started writing about 3HO, both interacting with Kundalini yoga in different ways, who Yogi Bhajan was and whethe…
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Episode 23: Lola Blanc & Meagan Elizabeth continue to interview Frank Lyford, former member of Heaven's Gate. In part 2, they discuss the growing number of red flags he began to notice after one of the leaders died, including talk of castration, and what led to his decision to finally, after 18 years, break away. He also tells the girls what it was…
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Episode 22: Lola & Meagan interview Frank Lyford, survivor of Heaven's Gate who left after 18 years--just a few years before discovering his friends and loved ones in the group had died by suicide. In part 1, he tells the girls how he began following the leaders Ti and Do, what it was like living a nomadic lifestyle with his "check partner," and wh…
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Cult interventionist and founder of People Leave Cults, Ashlen Hilliard, talks about her path to working in cult intervention and recovery, her personal religious experience that led her to this work, how interactions with Mormons in Utah affected her worldview, how she defines what a cult is, why accusing a group of being a cult isn't always helpf…
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