The Life After Podcast
Cults
Episodes
Thursday Nov 25, 2021
Thursday Nov 25, 2021
For this very special Thanksgiving episode, my ex-wife Jessi McCracken joins the show to deconstruct her high-pressure charismatic upbringing, the saga of our marriage and divorce, how Purity Culture sets unhealthy relationship expectations, coming out as queer, the life-altering power of therapy, co-parenting while deconstructing, and how chosen families become so important as we evolve into who we truly are.
Our 9-year-old son, Helo, stops by to say hello during the introduction and is my guest spotlighted in this episode's Special Intermission Interview!
Bookended with music by Nightlightr (CDBaby, iTunes, and Spotify) | Find links for The Life After Community (our secret Facebook group), subscribing, rating, and/or reviewing on iTunes here: linkin.bio/thelifeafterorg
Tuesday May 07, 2019
Cults Inside Out (Deprogramming x High Pressure Communities) with Rick Alan Ross
Tuesday May 07, 2019
Tuesday May 07, 2019
Renowned cult deprogrammer and expert Rick Alan Ross Ross joins Chuck, Brady and special guest host Corey Pigg (Season 1, Episode 20, host of Failed Missionary) to discuss the everything related to harmful cult communities. From how to define a cult and how they work, to assessing what is and isn’t a cult, to discussions about the effects of cults on politics and popular culture. Ross is a dynamic thinker, a clear communicator, and a true expert in his field.
Rick Alan Ross is the author of Cults Inside Out, the founder and executive director of the Cult Education Institute (culteducation.com), has acted as an expert cult consultant for everything from best-selling video game Far Cry 5, to Television and Movies. Rick has intervened in over 500 deprogramming cases aimed at getting people out of dangerous cults.
Find links for The Life After Community (our secret Facebook group), subscribing, rating, and/or reviewing on iTunes here: linkin.bio/thelifeafterorg
Tuesday Feb 20, 2018
Tuesday Feb 20, 2018
Indoctrination is one very essential topic that permeates everything we talk about on this show, but so far we haven’t really addressed it directly. It is so pervasive within religious systems that its almost impossible to talk about anything on this show without it looming in the background.
That makes it difficult to really define and nail down. OED defines it as “The process of teaching a person or group to accept a set of beliefs uncritically.” What you end up with is a long line of dominoes, each domino is one of the things you have to believe to in order for your religious system to remain whole. Indoctrination is the insistence that you don’t poke, prod, remove, or even too closely observe the any of the dominoes because what happens if you knock one over? The whole system is exposed.
Host Brady and Chuck sat down their friends, Tim Warzel and Jamie Lee Finch, to discuss the ever-present ghost called indoctrination.
To learn more about Jamie’s work, follow her on Twitter, @jamieleefinch or visit her website: jamieleefinch.com.
Find links for The Life After Community (our secret Facebook group), subscribing, rating, and/or reviewing on iTunes here: linkin.bio/thelifeafterorg
Friday Aug 11, 2017
Out of Control (Church Control x Personal Autonomy) with Kristen H.
Friday Aug 11, 2017
Friday Aug 11, 2017
Kristen retells her story of moving across the nation to join a religious community that eroded away her freedoms. After bouncing back from rock bottom, Kristen tells of how she got her life back.
Also, Brady and Kristen reflect on their horrible date from over a decade ago, on which he tried (and failed) to hold her hand in a Wal-mart parking lot.
Find links for The Life After Community (our secret Facebook group), subscribing, rating, and/or reviewing on iTunes here: linkin.bio/thelifeafterorg