Tales From A Cult Insider Jared Garrett

I needed to record some truly final thoughts while actually on Best Friends property. So I recorded on my phone near a highway and you'll hear cars going by and me being reflective as I take the final step of the journey this podcast has taken me on. 

I can't overstate how much it means to me that you have taken this journey with me. I hope you've gained hope and optimism for the future and have gotten a glimpse at the amount of power you have in your life to change and improve and make yourself what you want. 

My new show, The Lance, is going to be live in about two days. Join me and my family members and friends as we geek out over our favorite stories in every medium. And our least favorite stuff in every medium. No malice, no mean-spiritedness, just jousting and using verbal lances to have a great time. 

Love, blessings, and peace. Life is short. Love unabashedly. Find beauty. 

Your support is also beautiful! Please review, share, spread the word. You can support by clicking the link or even Venmo at @Jared-Garrett-writes. 


---

Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tales-from-a-cult-insider/support

This is the grand finale episode, recorded in Kanab, only seven miles from Best Friends. Poetic by design! And with a live, not exactly studio, audience! 

This is a wrap-up episode aimed to provide some closure to myself and all of you wonderful listeners. I think it worked. I share my deepest feelings about all of this and I have hope and optimism and am blessed with all I could ever need. 

-- also yes, there's a bit of a bonus 'outro' episode after this...

Please review, share, spread the word. You can support by clicking the link or even Venmo at @Jared-Garrett-writes.


---

Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tales-from-a-cult-insider/support

This is the final of three long, deep episodes with my wonderful sister, Emma. You can find more of her perspective and also her excellent talents on TikTok at spicyemmapanada. 

We make sure we say what needs to be said, not out of malice but because we will tell the story and we are responsible for telling all of it, both for ourselves and for the world to have truth. So join us for the ride. And stay tuned for the final episode in a few short days, recorded in a super cool location!  


---

Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tales-from-a-cult-insider/support

My sister Emma joins me for another wide-ranging, mildly cathartic episode in which we dive into the trauma of constant instability and how that looks today. We also talk about how the cult did our parents dirty and really was a wrecking ball of crap. 

Start for the silly inside jokes, stay for the sweet chat about The Little Mermaid. Which is obviously more than a chat about a movie with a series of questionable messages. 


---

Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tales-from-a-cult-insider/support

The podcast is back. Not epilogues, not bonus episodes. Back with stories and more truth that needs telling. Back with my sister, Emma, for at least the next several episodes. 

I'm still not trying to bring down the whole thing that used to be the cult that we grew up in. But I'm not happy about keeping some of the story untold out of a desire to 'be nice' or whatever. So when I heard my sister telling some of what she experienced, stuff I didn't know about, I knew it was time to, well, throw a punch or two. 

So here we are. My wonderful sister Emma and I talking about her experience and me being somewhat surprised at some of the significant commonalities between us. 

As ever, please review this podcast and share it all over the place. 


---

Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tales-from-a-cult-insider/support

Back in January of 2020, before all the crazy, I was contacted by Bob Smietana, who was then the Editor-in-Chief of Religion News Service, a rather impressive and wonderful news outlet that reports on the religious angle of all the newsworthy stuff going down. Bob had found this podcast and was interested in discussing my childhood and experiences and we ended up doing an interview some weeks later. He also talked to my dad and sister. The article ultimately came out on October 14 and you can find it here:  https://religionnews.com/2020/10/14/process-church-final-judgment-best-friends-animal-rescue-foundation-faith-jared-garett-latter-day-saint-cult-scientology-satanist-pet-rescue/

I shared it around and had some fascinating reactions. First off, it sounds like my dad and a few other former members aren't happy with how 'Satanist' the cult sounds. Additionally, there's at least one factual error. More importantly, one of the guys I grew up with got Facebook-angry and I wound up doing an informal poll of others that I grew up with regarding how we grew up. 

Turns out we have very different takes on our experience. 

I'll address all of these things in this episode, as well as share my own thoughts as I read my own words and experience as filtered through a very good journalist's brain and writing. 

As ever, please consider supporting this podcast in any of several ways: clicking on the support link, reviewing, telling your friends, and sharing with your family at your holiday gatherings! And on your snapchat. And Tik Tok. And all the things. 


---

Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tales-from-a-cult-insider/support