Latest Abuseofpower Podcast Episodes
Annie Taylor - The Garden: Commune or Cult
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - November 22, 2023 20:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsAnnie Taylor, Executive Producer of Discovery's The Garden: Commune or Cult, shares about her time living in an off the grid community that went viral on TikTok for accusations of being a cult and disturbing allegations about a cat. Annie tells how she and the crew showed up and gradually earned...
Alice Hines & Lorraine - Desperately Seeking Soulmate: Escaping Twin Flames Universe
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - November 15, 2023 19:08 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsJournalist Alice Hines and former Twin Flames Universe member Lorraine, both featured in the Amazon docuseries Desperately Seeking Soulmate: Escaping Twin Flames Universe, discuss the online community that was Twin Flame Ascension, what attracted people to it, how founders Jeff and Shaleia becam...
Jill Duggar Dillard & Derick Dillard
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - October 25, 2023 15:11 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsMembers of the Duggar family, former cast members of TLC's 19 Kids and Counting, and Counting The Cost authors, Jill Duggar Dillard & Derick Dill discuss the family's involvement in the very strict Institute in Basic Life Principles, what it was like being on TV at such a young age, how her dad ...
Marlene Winell - Leaving The Fold, Religious Trauma, and Emotional Recovery
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - October 18, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsPsychologist, educator, and Leaving The Fold author, Marlene Winell, talks with Lola & Meagan about how she came to study the negative impacts of religion, how some basic concepts of Christianity can be harmful, why authoritarian structures of religion can sometimes lead to trauma, how we can ra...
Listener Stories - Independent Baptist Movement & Capoeira Teacher
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - October 11, 2023 16:01 - 56 minutes ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsTwo new listener stories! One from Shelly about her time in the Independent Baptist Movement under pastor Jack Hyles and the cult recovery work she is doing now, and one from Claire about the manipulation she experienced under her capoeira teacher. Trust Me is brought to you by Progressive! Quo...
Daniella Mestyanek Young, Part 2 - Military Life & Parallels to The Children of God
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - October 04, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsIn part two of her interview with Lola & Meagan, Children of God survivor and military veteran, Daniella Mestyanek Young, talks about joining the military after high school, being a woman in a hyper masculine culture, and unsettling parallels between what she saw in the military and the Children...
Daniella Mestyanek Young, Part 1 - Children of God, 9/11, & Escaping the Cult
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - September 27, 2023 08:00 - 57 minutes ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsIn part one of her interview with Lola & Meagan, Children of God survivor and military veteran, Daniella Mestyanek Young, discusses being raised in the Children of God, the various forms of punishment she and the other children experienced, how child sexual abuse was not only encouraged but part...
Andrew Seidel - Christian Nationalism & Information Warfare
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - September 20, 2023 17:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsConstitutional attorney, author, and YouTuber Andrew Seidel joins Lola & Meagan to discuss Christian Nationalism, why its based on a myth, how it led to cultural shifts in the U.S. during the 1950s, its impact on the Supreme Court today, the practice of cherry picking ideas from the Bible, the w...
THROWBACK: Post-Traumatic Growth with Richard Tedeschi
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - September 13, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsUNC Charlotte professor and psychology researcher Dr Richard Tedeschi discusses his pioneering work on post-traumatic growth, how his field is different from resilience, how core beliefs are involved in our trauma, what "integration" means, and the value of an "expert companion," having a missio...
Simon Kent Fung - Dear Alana & Conversion Therapy
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - September 06, 2023 17:47 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsTech and media expert Simon Fung joins Lola and Meagan to discuss the heartbreaking story behind his new podcast, Dear Alana. When Alana Chen took her own life in 2019, Simon read about her in the news and was shocked by the similarities in their stories and experiences with conversion therapy. ...
Dr. Marc Feldman & Jordyn Hope - Munchausen by Proxy aka Medical Child Abuse
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - August 30, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsDr. Marc Feldman, professor of psychology and expert in Munchausen by Proxy, talks to the girls along with survivor Jordyn Hope for an information-packed episode. Dr. Feldman discusses why he prefers the term medical child abuse (MCA), some of the more extreme cases he's seen, red flags he looks...
Kyle & Kari, Part 2 - The 2x2s: Uncovering Widespread Sexual Abuse
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - August 23, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsIn part two of their interview, Kyle and Kari, former members of the 2x2s (the group that Meagan grew up in), talk about the Facebook group they created for people leaving the group, which created a forum for people to share their stories for the first time. They discuss the overseer who was fou...
Kyle & Kari, Part 1 - Deconstructing The 2x2s
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - August 16, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsFormer members of the Two by Twos Kyle and Kari (the group that our Meagan grew up in) discuss the apocalyptic focus on the religion, personal stories of deconstructing their beliefs, the peculiar structure of the group led by pairs of ministers called "workers", how Kyle and Kari joined and met...
Martin - Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, & The I.D.W.
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - August 09, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsThere's order. And there's chaos. Simple, right? Today our new friend Martin shares how he used to be a big fan of Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro, how he found videos as a teenager that helped him feel empowered as he searched for identity, the impact they had on his worldview, some of the idea...
Guinevere Turner, Part 2 - Group Exile, Culture Shock, & Recovery
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - August 02, 2023 09:27 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsIn part two of her two-part interview, Guinevere Turner, renowned screenwriter (writer of films like American Psycho and Charlie Says), actress, and author of new memoir When The World Didn't End, talks about getting kicked out of the group and living with her mother after years of barely knowin...
Guinevere Turner, Part 1 - The Lyman Family, Compound Life, and Queen Jessie
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - July 26, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsIn part one of her two-part interview, Guinevere Turner, renowned screenwriter (writer of films like American Psycho and Charlie Says), actress, and author of new memoir When The World Didn't End, talks about growing up in the Lyman Family cult, bouncing around between different compounds, and b...
Emily Lynn Paulson - Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - July 19, 2023 20:37 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsWhen #BossBabe culture goes wrong. Author of Hey, Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing and former member of an MLM she calls Rejuvinat, Emily Paulson, shares how she was first introduced to the group by a friend from school, how it seemed to be the pe...
Madison McGhee - The Dark Side of Sorority Life
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - July 12, 2023 08:30 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsEver joined a sorority? It's all Greek to us! Former sorority member and Ice Cold Case podcast host Madison McGhee shares how she always dreamed of joining a sorority, which one she chose after growing up Christian, what the process of joining was like, being the only person of color in the soro...
Christy Carlson Romano - Child Actors & the Toddler to Trainwreck Pipeline
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - July 05, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsFrom Even Stevens to Kim Possible, Disney Channel legend and Vulnerable podcast host Christy Carlson Romano talks about the difficulties of being a working actor from such a young age, what it was like to be well-known, and the pressures of stage parents. She also discusses the "toddler to train...
Lindsey Williams, Part 2: Going to IBLP Headquarters & The Downfall of Bill Gothard
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - June 21, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsShiny Happy People's Lindsey Williams shares how Institute in Basic Life Principles leader Bill Gothard would recruit young girls to headquarters, the inappropriate questions he asked and physical boundaries he repeatedly crossed, how controlling he was over who Lindsey dated, the website where ...
Lindsey Williams, Part 1: Shiny Happy People, The Institute in Basic Life Principles, and Meeting Bill Gothard
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - June 14, 2023 09:30 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsMakeup artist, podcaster, and former Institute in Basic Life Principles member, Lindsey Williams (who is featured in Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets), delves into the Duggar family connection into the IBLP, being home schooled using "wisdom booklets", how physical punishment was a tena...
Allison Miller - Interstitial Cystitis, Orthorexia, and an Alternative Medicine Cult
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - June 07, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsA Million Little Things star Allison Miller shares with Lola & Meagan how she was once a client of a culty alternative medicine clinic run by a couple who claimed to know how to heal her chronic bladder condition, Interstitial Cystitis (also known as Painful Bladder Syndrome). They dig into the ...
Jimanekia Eborn - Reclaiming Your Sexuality After Trauma
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - May 31, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsJimanekia Eborn, sex educator, trauma counselor, podcast host, and founder of non-profit Tending the Garden, shares the traumas she's experienced in her own life, what her healing journey has been like, and what led her to help others in her work. They discuss sex after trauma, going on self-dat...
Mubin Shaikh, Part 2: 9/11, Reinterpreting Islam, and Going Undercover
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - May 24, 2023 08:00 - 59 minutes ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsIn part two of their conversation with deradicalized extremist and former Canadian government operative, Mubin Shaikh, Lola and Meagan dig into Mubin's meet-cute with his now-wife (who was not Muslim when they met), how little she knew about his extremism, why 9/11 was the turning point in his r...
Mubin Shaikh, Part 1: Islamic Extremism, Meeting the Taliban, and Getting Radicalized
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - May 17, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsMubin Shaikh, deradicalized Islamic extremist and former security intelligence & counter-terrorism operative, discusses his upbringing balancing secular and Muslim life in Toronto, the party he threw as a young man that made him feel ashamed enough to become more deeply religious, and how an enc...
Jennings Brown & Justice - Liana Shanti's Conspiracy Sisterhood
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - May 10, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsJournalist Jennings Brown returns, this time with a guest who goes by Justice, to talk about a new internet cult leader named Liana Shanti and her social media presence, which targets women with wellness cleanses, women's empowerment, wild conspiracy theories, and grandiose claims about her supe...
Kara Goucher - Alberto Salazar and the Nike Oregon Project
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - May 03, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsAccomplished Olympic runner and The Longest Race author Kara Goucher shares how she and her partner were invited to join the prestigious Nike Oregon Project and coach Alberto Salazar, how Alberto's methods seemed effective at first but became more controlling and inappropriate over time, what le...
Perfectionism & Purity
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - April 27, 2023 11:48 - 52 minutes ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsNo one is perfect. Not even Lola and Meagan. Today the ladies delve into the extreme belief of perfectionism, its connection to purity culture, Lola and Meagan's firsthand experience with OCD and religious trauma, how to address your inner cult leader, the intersectionality with cancel culture...
Robert Fitzpatrick - The History of MLMs
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - April 19, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsTime to level up. MLM expert and author of Ponzinomics, the Untold Story of Multi-Level Marketing, Robert Fitzpatrick, discusses the history of MLMs including why they took off in the 80s, their connection to the American Dream and economic inequality, the biggest scams he's seen over the years...
Priscilla Tucker, Part 2: Escaping the Kingstons, Forced Rehab, and a Billion Dollar Tax Fraud
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation - April 12, 2023 08:00 - 55 minutes ★★★★★ - 224 ratingsIn the second half of their conversation with Kingston Clan survivor Priscilla Tucker, Lola and Meagan learn more about the leader of the group, why being sent to a bad kid camp turned out to be a positive experience for Priscilla, and how she worked for billion-dollar fraudster Jacob Kingston, ...
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