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.
Episodes
18 episodes
S3: The Price for Freedom - Cerese’s Pilgrimage
Please note this episode has been edited to keep some names and identifiers confidential.Having grown up in a religious cult, Cerese shares the confusion, doubts, and even self hate - especially as an adolescent - feeling betrayed by her...
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Season 3
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Episode 7
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55:39
S3: Finally Free: Lori Unravels Her Binds to a Controlling Virtual "School"
Lori shares her story of how she became deeply involved in an online school that blurred the line between education and coercion. She opens up about the power of community, the subtle ways control takes hold, and the moment she realized she had...
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Season 3
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Episode 6
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42:24
S3: Breaking Free: Mariama’s Journey of Healing and Self Discovery
In this powerful episode, Mariama shares her deeply personal journey of growing up in a high-control religious group. She reflects on her upbringing, the constraints on personal expression, and the challenges of finding her identity while under...
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Season 3
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Episode 5
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53:45
S3: Finding Home: Elad's Journey Into and Out of Hasidic Judaism
Elad shares how he grew up a secular Jew with Israeli parents and went on a spiritual journey, seeking meaning and community. This led him to a Hasidic community where he found “beauty, truth and beautifully true people.” Over time, though, he ...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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46:35
S3: Rebecca’s Story: The Profound Impact of Religious Cults on Personal Identities
Rebecca’s story transcends individual experience to illuminate universal themes of resilience, identity, and healing. It underscores the power of community, self-discovery, and the ongoing process of healing from psychological and emotional wou...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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34:13
S3: Ciara’s Story: Is it a Sin to Talk About It?
Grappling with existential questions about the origins of her thoughts, the influence of external forces on her autonomy, and her experiences within a religious cult, Ciara reflects on themes of control, deception, and the struggle for personal...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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1:00:04
S2: STRATEGIES - Get Out or Help Someone You Love Get Out
Today we explore strategies you can use to get out of a cult or help a loved one get out. To setup the framework for our discussion, we look at numbers and definitions. The numbers are huge. Up to 10,000 cults still exist today in the United St...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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44:32
S2: EMOTION CONTROL - Emotional Backfire
The subject of today’s podcast is Emotion Control. Like it or not, as human beings, we creatures tend to respond emotionally. Comfort, praise, recognition, and a sense of belonging are among our top stimuli. Our yearning for these is manna from...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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37:44
S2: THOUGHT CONTROL - They Co-Opted my Brain!
As smart, functioning adults, we like to think that we are in control of our own thoughts. This is not always the case. As we know from Gerette’s book An Everyday Cult and from this podcast, we know that destructive cults use any numbe...
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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37:32
S2: INFORMATION CONTROL - Standing up to Scrutiny
Controlling information is a critical way authoritarian leaders and cult leaders control the hearts and minds of their followers. This week we discuss how they do it and how you can take some agency regarding the information you consume. <...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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34:24
S2: BEHAVIOR- Love is Stronger Than Mind Control
Our focus today is Behavior Control, the first methodology in the BITE model, which refers to control of Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotion. Dr. Hassan developed BITE as a model for evaluating degrees undue influence. As functioning ad...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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40:41
S2: INFLUENCE - from mild to extreme and everything in between
Can understanding the nature of influence support people in cult recovery? Dr. Steve Hassan, former cult member, author, educator, and world authority on cults will be our honored guest throughout this season . His pu...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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41:51
S1: Everyday Cults. Everyday People. Episode Six: Waking Up Again and Again
We explore what Gerette has identified in her book as the final stage of cultic involvement: Waking Up Again and Again. In this ongoing phase, one becomes fully aware of the reality of cultism. Awake, cult survivors remain ever watchful for the...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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39:41
S1: Everyday Cults. Everyday People. Episode Five: Snapping
In this episode of Everyday Cults. Everyday People, we explore what Gerette identified in her book as the fourth stage of cultic involvement: Snapping—as in snapping out of it. This is the period of dawning recognition; it’s ...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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27:43
S1: Everyday Cults. Everyday People. Episode Four: Asleep
Everyday Cults. Everyday People explores the five stages of cultic involvement identified by Gerette Buglion in her new memoir An Everyday Cult. In this episode, we discuss what she calls “Asleep,” the third stage of cultic involvement....
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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29:33
S1: Everyday Cults. Everyday People. Episode Three: Drifting
In this, our first season of Everyday Cults. Everyday People we explore the five stages of cultic involvement Gerette identifies in her new memoir An Everyday Cult. Last week, our subject was Falling—as in falling for the tric...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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31:11
S1: Everyday Cults. Everyday People. Episode Two: Falling
Just as no one intentionally falls in love with an abuser, no one intentionally joins a cult—we fall for them. Falling, in this case, refers to both falling in love and falling asleep. Gerette fell. Her fall lasted eighteen years. ...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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22:30
S1: Everyday Cults. Everyday People. Episode One: Everyday Cults 101
What is a cult? How are they created? Who joins a cult? Why? How can we recognize a cult if we’re in one? In this introductory episode, cult survivor Gerette Buglion, author of An Everyday Cult, delves into her experience living in a cult for e...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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27:04