A Little Bit Culty

In this episode, Cheryl Tuppa joins the pod to tell the story of her niece Briana’s seven-year entanglement with Twin Flames Universe—from a late-night Google search about soulmates to a full-blown high-control group that nearly swallowed her life and savings. A longtime cybersecurity specialist, Cheryl walks us through how a close, resourceful New England family still missed key early signs, then organized “Team Briana” behind the scenes, contacting ex-members, law enforcement, journalists, and cult consultants (Sarah included), and ultimately helped Briana escape and rebuild her life. We get into money, “divine dish” food control, the pressure to stalk “twin flames,” Jeff and Shaleia’s role in mass gender transitions and the Mind Alignment Program, recent FBI action against the group, and why being a “safe place to land” may be the single most important thing loved ones can do.​We also mention therapist and cult specialist Rachel Bernstein, who worked with Briana and has been a guest on our show. Also check out our previous episodes with ex-Twin Flames Universe member Keely Griffin and journalist Alice Hines, who both helped expose the group’s abuses and digital reach.And for creative arts therapy approaches, look up clinical psychologist Jennifer French.Be sure to follow Cheryl’s YouTube channel and join her mission to expose cults and other high control groups.Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of gender transition under high-pressure conditions, and disordered eating and food control.Also…let it be known that:The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.**PRE-ORDER Sarah and Nippy's newest book hereCheck out our amazing sponsorsJoin A Little Bit Culty on PatreonGet poppin’ fresh ALBC SwagSupport the pod and smash this linkCheck out our cult awareness and recovery resourcesWatch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, ScarredCREDITS:Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony AmesProduction Partner: Citizens of SoundCo-Creator: Jess TardyAudio production: Will RetherfordProduction Coordinator: Lesli DinsmoreWriter: Sandra NomotoSocial media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke KeaneTheme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel AsselinSUPPORT OUR SPONSORS:Don’t let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use code CULTY at monarch.com in your browser for half off your first year. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In Part 2 of our conversation with Andrew-Ryan Profaci, we pick up right where things get extra bananas: the “quantum hoax,” the moment he pulled back the curtain on Love Has Won’s manufactured enemies, fake spiritual threats, and collective delusion. Andrew-Ryan realized the whole thing was a miniature version of the way abusive systems run in the wider world. We walk through how he went from compliant “Father God” to sabotaging the belief system from the inside, confronting Amy’s contradictions, and trying to protect vulnerable newcomers like Bill, a 55-year-old who liquidated his house and retirement for the group and died with nothing left. He shares the heartbreaking endgame—Amy’s denied medical care, her mummified body found in a shrine, zero accountability for the remaining members—and how he rebuilt his life, survived stage 4 cancer, and distilled it all into a core message about authenticity, belonging, and why cults are a magnified version of dynamics most of us already live in.Be sure to read Andrew-Ryan’s book, The War on Love, and follow him on Instagram, Facebook, X, or TikTok.Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of medical neglect leading to death.Also…let it be known that:The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.**PRE-ORDER Sarah and Nippy's newest book hereCheck out our amazing sponsorsJoin A Little Bit Culty on PatreonGet poppin’ fresh ALBC SwagSupport the pod and smash this linkCheck out our cult awareness and recovery resourcesWatch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, ScarredCREDITS:Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony AmesProduction Partner: Citizens of SoundCo-Creator: Jess TardyAudio production: Will RetherfordProduction Coordinator: Lesli DinsmoreWriter: Sandra NomotoSocial media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke KeaneTheme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel AsselinSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode is sponsored by Betterhelp. In the first of this two-part episode, we finally go inside Love Has Won with someone who was actually there, and who tried to stop it from the inside out. We talk with Andrew-Ryan Profaci about how a lonely, spiritually curious guy dealing with addiction recovery, job loss, and a rabbit hole of conspiracies became “Father God–adjacent” in a group led by Amy Carlson, a woman who believed she was Mother God, destined to usher Earth into a new 5D age. Andrew walks us through the 10-day slide from chatroom seeker to walking into a trashed Colorado house at dawn, facing a drunk, drooling “deity,” and still deciding to stay because of intense, inexplicable experiences he couldn’t ignore. We dig into the daily grind, the alcohol-soaked nights, the Father God proposition, and the mind-bending “quantum hoax” that exposed just how far an insider would go to stay in the group—and with Mother God herself.Be sure to read Andrew-Ryan’s book, The War on Love, and follow him on Instagram, Facebook, X, or TikTok.Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of alcohol addiction.Also…let it be known that:The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.**PRE-ORDER Sarah and Nippy's newest book hereCheck out our amazing sponsorsJoin A Little Bit Culty on PatreonGet poppin’ fresh ALBC SwagSupport the pod and smash this linkCheck out our cult awareness and recovery resourcesWatch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, ScarredCREDITS:Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony AmesProduction Partner: Citizens of SoundCo-Creator: Jess TardyAudio production: Will RetherfordProduction Coordinator: Lesli DinsmoreWriter: Sandra NomotoSocial media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke KeaneTheme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel AsselinSUPPORT OUR SPONSORS:This December, start a new tradition by taking care of you. Our listeners get 10% off at BetterHelp.com/culty.Find gifts so good you'll want to keep them with Quince. Go to Quince.com/culty for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too.Don’t let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use code CULTY at Monarch.com in your browser for half off your first year.For a limited time, save on the perfect gift by visiting AuraFrames.com to get $35 off Aura’s best-selling Carver Mat frames—named number 1 by Wirecutter—by using promo code CULTY at checkout. This deal is exclusive to listeners and frames sell out fast, so order yours now to get it in time for the holidays! Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Amanda Montell returns for round two, diving into what she's learned since Cultish dropped: Instagram comment wars as tribal battlegrounds, "platforming" as a thought-terminating cliché, and why understanding opposing views could get you canceled. We bonded over podcast economics, navigated controversy around Sounds Like a Cult episodes on Waldorf and fertility, discussed which cult she'd have joined (artist-led, obviously), and took a truly unhinged detour into vampire raves, Gen Z slang, and the etymology of "no cap." Chaos, warmth, and peak cult-nerd energy abound.Be sure to follow Amanda on Instagram @amanda_montell and the Sounds Like a Cult podcast @soundslikeacultpod. Be sure to listen where you get your podcasts!Also…let it be known that:The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.**PRE-ORDER Sarah and Nippy's newest book hereCheck out our amazing sponsorsJoin A Little Bit Culty on PatreonGet poppin’ fresh ALBC SwagSupport the pod and smash this linkCheck out our cult awareness and recovery resourcesWatch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, ScarredCREDITS: Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony AmesProduction Partner: Citizens of SoundCo-Creator: Jess TardyAudio production: Will RetherfordProduction Coordinator: Lesli DinsmoreWriter: Sandra NomotoSocial media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke KeaneTheme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel AsselinSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Amanda Montell—author, linguist, and our reigning three-time champion guest—returns in studio to talk about the newly released paperback edition of Cultish, the book that launched a thousand cult-discourse hot takes and made us all think twice about our SoulCycle memberships. We dove into what it's like to write a cult book when you're 27, watch it blow up unexpectedly, and face the onslaught of feedback (good, bad, and "I want to ruin your life"). Amanda opened up about the changes she made for the paperback after years of listening, learning, and hiring her own sensitivity checkers, and why the brainwashing debate is way more nuanced than an X thread can handle. Plus: updates on married life, her forthcoming novel Where To Put Your Tongue (yes, really), and why OneTaste's "get off on any stroke" might be the culty-est thought-terminating cliché we've ever heard.Stay tuned Thursday for part 2, follow Amanda on Instagram @amanda_montell and the Sounds Like a Cult podcast @soundslikeacultpod. Be sure to listen where you get your podcasts!Also…let it be known that:The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.**PRE-ORDER Sarah and Nippy's newest book hereCheck out our amazing sponsorsJoin A Little Bit Culty on PatreonGet poppin’ fresh ALBC SwagSupport the pod and smash this linkCheck out our cult awareness and recovery resourcesWatch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, ScarredCREDITS: Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony AmesProduction Partner: Citizens of SoundCo-Creator: Jess TardyAudio production: Will RetherfordProduction Coordinator: Lesli DinsmoreWriter: Sandra NomotoSocial media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke KeaneTheme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel AsselinSUPPORT OUR SPONSORS:For a limited time, save on the perfect gift by visiting AuraFrames.com to get $35 off Aura’s best-selling Carver Mat frames—named #1 by Wirecutter—by using promo code CULTY at checkout. This deal is exclusive to listeners and frames sell out fast, so order yours now to get it in time for the holidays! Support the show by mentioning us at checkout! Terms and conditions apply.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.