Cult Chat

Lindy has an interesting chat with Rose Stanley about burnout, boundaries, the need for a sane spirituality and how to rebuild with clarity, courage, and compassion. The Cult Chat team then joins the discussion to unpack what healthy spiritual life really looks like. This episode offers a gentle, practical guide to staying sane and whole in faith spaces.

This week we meet Jonas, stand-up comedian, former Jehovah’s Witness, and goat-farmer living in Norway. Laugh along with the Cult Chat trio as they learn what it is that goats and worldly people have in common, and exactly how Jonas decides which parts of being in a cult are ok to joke about. This episode comes in advance of Jonas’ trip to New Zealand in January where he will be staging a peaceful protest at the Annual Jehovah's Witness convention and touring NZ with his Doomsday comedy show.

Why are there often more women than men in cults, and is it harder for women to leave? What is reproductive coercion? How is it used in cults to control the freedoms and choices of women? Join the Cult Chat trio for this important conversation as they explore the unique vulnerabilities that women have in cults and how these vulnerabilities are often targeted and exploited. Trigger warning - discussion of suicide.Show notesPodcast - Cult Chat Episode 24 - Coercive Control - What is it? https://youtu.be/HO5TRYdZCX4?si=-X5pB7RIBx2ly6PJPodcast - Cult Chat Episode 25 - Coercive Control - Is it Legal? https://youtu.be/z93AopyG6Pk?si=OHvQLFzEnyYkhwLoWebsite - Cult-Informed Professional Network -  www.cipnetwork.orgPodcast - Cult Chat Episode 77 - Life for Women in 2x2s with Veronica & Lindsay (P2) https://youtu.be/ZRwOSFL_VKo?si=lVFcaOGCyjUQUuvJJournal article - The health impacts of women's low control in their living environment: A theory-based systematic review of observational studies in societies with profound gender discrimination - Pennington et al Health Place Journal 2018 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29482064/Thesis - Understanding Reproductive Coercion in Cults and Destructive Group Settings by Ashlen Weltz https://library.internationalculticstudies.org/24nbuck/~~PdfSource/0Article - As Belgium Races to Save U.S.A.I.D. Contraception, Some Supplies Are Reported Ruined - New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/world/europe/belgium-usaid-contraception.htmlWebsite - Briell Decker - FLDS survivor and wife of Warren Jeffs - https://www.brielldecker.com/about-1

Get ready for a challenging but extremely important conversation with Debbs Murray, founder of Eclipse Family Violence Services. Caz and Debbs chat about the overlap between the world of family violence and cultic harm and how coercive control presents  similarly and differently in these parallel contexts. Trigger warning - discussion of suicide and sexual violence.Show NotesWebsite: https://www.eclipsefamilyviolenceservices.co.nz/Documentary: American Murder - Gabby Petito https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35590630/Legislation: Family Violence Act 2018 - https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2018/0046/latest/lms112966.htmlBook: One Soul One Survivor by Debbs Murray - https://www.eclipsefamilyviolenceservices.co.nz/debbs-story

Join us for Part two of our brave interview with Veronica and Lindsay as they share what life was really like for women growing up in the 2x2's (The Truth, The Way, The Church With No Name). Hear their stories of rules (but no rules), control, silence, resilience, and freedom. Then listen in to the Cult Chat Trio as they discuss the interview.