Living Cult Free: The Podcast
Welcome to "Living Cult Free: The Podcast," where survivors of high-control groups share their raw, unfiltered stories. No narrators, no sensationalism—just pure, unadulterated survivor accounts. Listen to the voices often eclipsed by cult leaders and hear the truth, one story at a time.
This podcast was originally called: Everyday Cults, Everyday People and produced by C. Jane Taylor and Gerette Buglion. To hear Gerette riff about the stages of cultic involvement as described in her memoir, An Everyday Cult, listen to Season One, Episodes 1-6.
To check out helpful conversations with Dr. Steve Hassan about the Influence Continuum and the BITE model, head over to Season Two, Episodes 7 - 12.
Living Cult Free: The Podcast
S4: Love is Stronger Than Mind Control: Hoyt Richards
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
When a cult leader put his towel next to Hoyt’s on a beach in Nantucket, the then 16 year old’s life changed dramatically as he was slowly drawn deeper and deeper in. This is a story of coercive control that took over everything, how he ultimately escaped, and reclaimed what was stolen from him - including his connection to the love of his life.
Find Hoyt at his Instagram and catch the documentary featuring Hoyt on HBO!
You can find Living Cult Free on social media, especially on Instagram, at livingcultfree Our website is livingcultfree.com where the mission is to support the creative expression of survivor stories and empower advocacy through education.
At the website above, you can:
- Contact us to share your story
- Meet who runs and collaborates with Living Cult Free
- Make a donation to help further Living Cult Free’s mission
Thank you for your support!
©2026 Living Cult Free
Intro & outro by Jon Snow; Original Music by Esther Friedman
Editing and production by Vanessa Hennessey
Huge thanks to Living Cult Free’s intern, Nikki Kattamuri, and the Living Cult Free Board of Directors.
Music and sound by: Anton Vlasov, Clavier-Music, Deane Patterson, Dvir Silverstone, Freesound_community, Leonid Timachev, Michael Koreli, Music-for-Videos, NiKneT_Art, Spin Opel, Universfield, Zec53
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of Living Cult Free. The material and information presented here is for general information purposes only. The Living Cult Free name and all forms and abbreviations are the property of its owner and its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific organization, product, or service.