60 episodes
Was I In A Cult? PodcastOne
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- True Crime
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4.5 • 2.7K Ratings
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Hosted by Tyler Measom and Liz Iacuzzi, Was I In A Cult? is a documentary-style podcast showcasing individuals who have been in, and most importantly, successfully left a cult. Told first-hand by the experiencer themself, these are raw, riveting and inspirational tales of what it means to be a survivor. Using levity and info-tainment, the show humanizes the cultic experience and may leave some of our listeners asking themselves…“Wait…Was I In A Cult?” If you or someone you know has been in a cult and want to share your story, contact us at info@wasiinacult.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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Bikram Yoga: “Smells Like Wet Carpet”
After finding her passion in Bikram Yoga while in her 20s, Jennifer Boeder aspires to become a Bikram teacher and plops down $5000 to sign up for the two-month teacher training.
But after only a few days of being trapped in a smelly, windowless warehouse and getting yelled at by sycophantic trainers, she starts to see the truth. Turns out the "great and powerful guru," Bikram Choudhury, is less great and powerful, and more toxic and tyrannical. From the degrading remarks to the unbearable conditions, Jennifer’s story highlights the dark side of a supposed path to enlightenment.
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Merch has arrived! Click here to check it out.
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Thanks to everyone who supports our show. It really helps us. Can’t afford to contribute monetarily? Reviews and ratings help a bunch. Thank you.
If you would like to support us, head to our Patreon
Follow us: instagram/TikTok @ wasiinacult
Find Jennifer: @jenniferruth
Have your own story and want to be on our show?
Email us: info@wasiinacult.com -
My Dad’s A Cult Leader: “The Failed Love Movement"
A couple weeks ago we published an episode featuring Ashleigh Teeter, who was ostracized from her family because of her cult leader father. Today we feature her youngest brother's story of growing up in that house long after Ashleigh was gone. 14 years her junior, Mattie was just a young boy when her sister was deemed demonic by his father. And for almost 25 years the siblings never spoke to each other. Today we welcome Mattie to share his heartbreaking story… a boy who was never allowed to talk to a girl without brutal consequences.
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Today, Mattie and Ashleigh are not only reunited but they host a podcast about their upbringing together. It’s called “The Cult Next Door” and is available wherever you get your podcasts.
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Thanks to everyone who supports our show. It really helps us. Can’t afford to contribute monetarily? Reviews and ratings help a bunch. Thank you!
If you would like to support us, head to our Patreon
Follow us: instagram/TikTok @wasiinacult
Listen to Mattie & Ashleigh's podcast: The Cult Next Door @cultnextdoorpodcast (insta/tiktok)
Have your own story and want to be on our show?
Email us: info@wasiinacult.com -
MLM LuLaRoe: “What’s Your Why?” (UPDATE)
**NOTE: This episode originally ran in 2022**
She's a hustler, baby. And she just wants you to know. Roberta Blevins was taught to be a self-starter. Inspired by her self-made father, she knew that if you put your mind to it, anything can happen. And it's true. Anything can happen. But that's the problem with anything. Anything sometimes includes MLM's. Multi-level marketing (schemes). This is a story of a dynamite go-getter and how she crawled her way into a box of fart leggings and eventually... crawled her way out.
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Roberta hosts her own podcast: Life After MLM. Check it out! @lifeaftermlmpodcast
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Find us on Instagram/Tiktok: @wasiinacult (Instagram for the legging pic!)
Help keep this show going by supporting us on Patreon
Have your own story and want to be on our show?
Email us: info@wasiinacult.com
Follow Roberta: @therealrobertablevins -
A Cult Divided: “Running to Freedom"
Today's episode dives into the extraordinary story of Ashleigh Teeter, who grew up in the World Wide Church of God... a cult in its own right. But when the church splits due to a new leader’s ideas, Ashleigh’s world gets turned upside down. She witnesses her own father become a cult leader, and then get ostracized from her nuclear family for almost 25 years. Why? Listen to find out.
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Ashleigh hosts her own podcast about her upbringing. It’s called “The Cult Next Door” and is available wherever you get your podcasts.
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Thanks to everyone who supports our show. It really helps!
If you don’t yet, but would like to, head to our Patreon
Follow us: instagram/TikTok @wasiinacult
Listen to Ashleigh’s podcast: The Cult Next Door @cultnextdoorpodcast (insta/tiktok)
Follow Ashleigh: @ashleighrb5
Have your own story and want to be on our show?
Email us: info@wasiinacult.com
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Try VIIA Hemp! https://bit.ly/viiainacult and use code INACULT! (15% off) -
US Air Force: “Not Just a Pretty Face, Sir.”
WARNING: This episode discuss sexual assault.
A girl with a dream, Amanda was recruited from high school into what she thought would be the path to fulfilling that dream. But a superior's abuse of power forced her life in a different direction. This is a powerful and important story shared from an often underrepresented perspective: a woman in the US military. Told with grace, strength, humility, and humor, it is an absolute pleasure providing Amanda with a platform to let her story be known.
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Thanks to everyone who supports our show. It really helps! If you don’t yet, but would like to, head to our Patreon (thank you and thank you)
Follow us: instagram/TikTok @wasiinacult
Have your own story and want to be on our show? Email us: info@wasiinacult.com -
S-Factor Pole Dancing - PT2: “Emotional Roadkill”
Welcome to PART 2 of Jessica Hopper’s journey into and out of a pole dancing cult. This episode takes us to the peak of the cult, including protégés, unpaid labor, surreal bookclubs, emotional breakdowns, and coercion retreats. The leader, Sheila, is quite “pole"-arizing, to say the least. Jessica’s breaking point, comes at an unexpected but important time in history, and leads to her eventually breaking free. A wonderfully articulate soul who shares her story with a no-holds-bar type of attitude, Jessica’s wit and vulnerability shine through in her retelling. Thank you again for showing us, Jessica, that cults can live literally anywhere.
Support us and our show on Patreon
Follow us: instagram/TikTok @wasiinacult
Follow Jessica: instagram: @jesshopperpole
Have your own story and want to be on our show? Email us: info@wasiinacult.com
Customer Reviews
Too many ads
Been listening from the beginning. Still good content but more and more ads and ads are longer
Nuanced and thoughtful
Love the wide coverage of all kinds of cults and cult experiences. Eye opening and super helpful in the religious indoctrination to deconstruction process 🫶
plus, Tyler and Liz crack me up.
Used to be great
Way too many ads now. Latest episode took 8 minutes to get to the actual topic and then there was a 2+ minute ad.
Used to love this show and dynamic but the Rachael Reign episode started showing me its decline in quality. I don’t mind jokes but I feel like Liz didn’t even listen to her or give a thoughtful, if funny, perspective and just mocked the accent for half the episode. None of them since have really stepped up to the usual quality.
The backlog is worth listening to if you can stand the ads.