Was I in a Cult?

Latest Episodes:

Polycule Coven Cult - PT2: "Do the Gods Provide Housing?" Oct 19, 2026

Show notes

When we left Evie, she had just landed in Germany with Mary and Liam on a mission from "the gods" to save the world… only to have her money, passport, ID and credit cards disappear almost immediately.

And then somehow, things manage to only get worse from there.

With Evie now stranded in a foreign country, Mary takes on the role of her self-appointed "manager," setting income demands, controlling her schedule and eventually pushing her to sell her body in more ways than one... all to do what?

Give all her earnings to pay for the group to live, of course. All of it.

So how does one go from small town Texas to eventually asylum housing in Germany?

Listen to find out. This is Part 2 of Evie's wonderfully bizarre, funny, and heartbreaking story. And the moment she finally begins asking the question at the center of this entire show: "Wait, was I in a cult?"

____

FOLLOW USInstagram → @wasiinacult TikTok → @wasiinacult

SUPPORT THE SHOWJoin our Patreon! Ad-free episodes, bonus content, behind-the-scenes conversations, and our forever gratitude.

HAVE A CULTY STORY?Email us → info@wasiinacult.com

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS!

Quince makes elevated everyday essentials at 50-80% less than similar brands! Free shipping and 365-day returns → quince.com/cult

Boll & Branch makes organic cotton sheets woven to keep you cool all night. 15% off plus free shipping → bollandbranch.com/cult, code: CULT

Polycule Coven Cult - PT1: "There's Something About Mary" Oct 12, 2026

Show notes

Evie was only 17 when she met Mary. First, Mary was her friend. Then her girlfriend. Then her friend again. And eventually... her cult leader.

Evie didn't know it then, but apparently there was something about Mary.

Something that got Evie to mess around with pagan rituals like a couple of bored teenagers in Texas... and eventually got Evie to complete missions from "the gods," practice astral projection, and take direction from a water spirit named Flo. All in the name of "saving Texas."

And then somehow...

... got her to QUIT HER JOB, get rid of her WORLDLY POSSESSIONS, and MOVE TO GERMANY to SAVE THE WORLD.

This is Part 1 of 2. And this is only the beginning of where this experience takes our wonderful earnest guest with an infectious laugh, Evie. So be sure to stick around for Part 2 next week.

____

FOLLOW USInstagram → @wasiinacult TikTok → @wasiinacult

SUPPORT THE SHOWJoin our Patreon! Ad-free episodes, bonus content, behind-the-scenes conversations, and our forever gratitude.

HAVE A CULTY STORY?Email us → info@wasiinacult.com

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS!

Quince makes elevated everyday essentials at 50-80% less than similar brands! Free shipping and 365-day returns → quince.com/cult

Boll & Branch makes organic cotton sheets woven to keep you cool all night. 15% off plus free shipping → bollandbranch.com/cult, code: CULT

Teen Mania: "I Clean Sh*t For God" Sep 21, 2026

Show notes

By high school, church wasn't just Shannon McElroy's faith, it was her community and her future. She was going to be a Christian counselor.

Then her youth group took her to something called "Acquire the Fire": a massive Christian youth conference that was part rock concert, part revival, and for Shannon, one hell of a spiritual high.

Before long, she'd be leaving college to join Teen Mania's Honor Academy. A year-long "internship" in rural Texas that promised purpose, ministry, and a chance to change the world. All she had to do was pay hundreds of dollars a month for the privilege of working for them... for free.

All she had to do was pay hundreds of dollars a month for the privilege of working for them... for free.

As you can imagine, what Shannon thought she'd signed up for was not exactly what she got.

Like the retreat where they simulated a prison and made her do wall sits. For Jesus.

And that was just one of their so-called "Life Transforming Events."

Now, to be fair, they did transform her. Just not the way it said in the brochure.

Twenty-five years later, Shannon, now a professor, therapist and social worker, still finds herself untangling from what one very intense year at Teen Mania instilled in her.

__________

FOLLOW SHANNONWebsite → mendedbeing.com Instagram → @mendedbeingcounselingllc Facebook → Mended Being

More Teen Mania stories → Recovering Alumni

FOLLOW USInstagram → @wasiinacult TikTok → @wasiinacult

SUPPORT THE SHOWJoin our Patreon! Ad-free episodes, bonus content, behind-the-scenes conversations, and our forever gratitude.

HAVE A CULTY STORY?Email us → info@wasiinacult.com

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS!

Quince makes elevated everyday essentials at 50-80% less than similar brands! Free shipping and 365-day returns → quince.com/cult

Babbel teaches the words and phrases you'd actually use in real conversations, in bite-sized lessons. Up to 60% off → babbel.com/WASIINACULT

Zenni makes stylish prescription glasses and sunglasses, starting under $30. 15% off your first order plus free shipping on US orders over $65 → zenni.com/podcast, code: PODCAST15

Children of God PT2: "Witnessing... But With Chicken" Sep 14, 2026

Show notes

Daniella Mestyanek Young was born three generations deep into the Children of God and today, she finally gets out.

At 15-years-old, she lands in Texas with no real education, no money and no friggin' idea how life on the outside works.

But true to form, she badasses her way through it. And excels.

Somehow, the girl who escaped one extreme, hierarchical world becomes an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army, deploys to Afghanistan, and helps make history for women in combat.

But on her very first day of basic training she thinks:

"Oh... I've joined another cult."

Part Two of Daniella's incredible story is about what happens after you escape.

Because getting out of a cult is one thing.

Figuring out who the hell you are once you're free is another.

_________

FOLLOW DANIELLAHer website → Knitting Cult Lady Instagram → @daniellamyoung_ YouTube → @KnittingCultLady Her books, Uncultured and The Culting of America → here

SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Ad-free episodes, bonus content, behind-the-scenes conversations, and our forever gratitude.

HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → info@wasiinacult.com

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS!

Boll & Branch makes organic cotton sheets woven to keep you cool all night. 15% off plus free shipping → bollandbranch.com/cult, code: CULT

Quince makes elevated everyday essentials at 50-80% less than similar brands. Free shipping and 365-day returns → quince.com/cult

Children of God PT1: Sex Cult Math Sep 07, 2026

Show notes

Daniella Mestyanek Young was born three generations deep into the Children of God, yet somehow, that was only the beginning.

She would go on to become a US Army intelligence officer, help make history for women in combat, become Harvard educated in organizational psychology, and write two books.

But first, she had to survive her childhood.

In Part One, Daniella takes us inside the Children of God world she was born into: child labor, child performers, massive communes, David Berg's increasingly deranged teachings, and a family history so complicated Daniella has a name for it... sex cult math.

And one rainy day at 12 years old, one casual comment from her mother about glasses changed what Daniella thought she knew about her own family forever.

_________

FOLLOW DANIELLAHer website → Knitting Cult Lady Instagram → @daniellamyoung_ YouTube → @KnittingCultLady Her books, Uncultured and The Culting of America → here

SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Ad-free episodes, bonus content, behind-the-scenes conversations, and our forever gratitude.

HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → info@wasiinacult.com

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Larineco offers gum that actually makes your teeth stronger. Up to 50% off → buylarine.com/wasiinacult

Amway: "Sleep is for Sissies... and Diamonds' Aug 24, 2026

Show notes

At 21, Stephanie Vaughn wanted to make some extra money. Then she won a "raffle" at her gym for a free case of energy drinks.

Lucky her, that free case won her entry into one of the biggest and most influential MLMs in the world...

AMWAY.

And the Amway lead her to the LTD, the Amway-affiliated training organization Stephanie says would eventually take over nearly every part of her life.

For nine years, Stephanie chased the promise of becoming a "Diamond": financial freedom, early retirement, and the life she was told was waiting for her if she just worked hard enough.

Instead she endured control on every level, including how much she slept, when she could visit family and even... who she was allowed to love.

FOLLOW STEPHANIE

Instagram: @steph.vaughan

TikTok: @steph.vaughan

SUPPORT THE SHOW Patreon: patreon.com/wasiinacult

HAVE A CULTY STORY? info@wasiinacult.com

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! They keep the show free!

BOLL & BRANCH — Buttery-soft organic cotton sheets that sleep cool and get softer every wash. 15% OFF + free shipping · code CULT https://bollandbranch.com/cult

ZENNI — Cute, affordable prescription glasses & sunnies you'll want in every style. 15% OFF + free shipping ($65+) · code PODCAST15 https://zenni.com/podcast

LARINECO — Craveable chewing gum that actually makes your teeth stronger. 50% OFF · code WASIINACULT https://buylarine.com/wasiinacult

SMILESET — A straighter smile from your couch, for a fraction of the cost of braces. Extra DISCOUNT! (under $1,200) smileset.com/wasiinacult

QUINCE — Designer-quality cashmere and more at prices that feel like a steal. Free shipping + 365-day returns https://quince.com/cult

A Single-Family Cult: "Beyond The Front Door" Aug 17, 2026

Show notes

Every cult calls itself a family. Audrey's actually was one. For Audrey, there was no guru, no religious doctrine, and the only members were her ten other siblings. And the leader? Her parents, particularly her mother. But from the outside, they looked pretty "normal": a big family living in an ordinary Idaho subdivision, houses close together, neighbors on all sides. Except not one of them was ever allowed to have a friend. And eventually, they weren't allowed to have interactions with anyone outside the family. As the isolation tightened, Audrey got older and increasingly aware that the outside world looked nothing like the one she'd been taught to fear. At 18, she finally made it to community college, where little tastes of independence began to crack open everything she'd been raised to believe. And eventually, one small act of defiance would force her to make an enormous choice: follow her parents rules, or lose her family.

When Audrey finally left in 2020, she thought the separation from her siblings would be temporary. Six years later, nine of them are still living in the family home, cut off from their big sister.

So now Audrey has stopped waiting.

She's taking matters into her own hands, finding increasingly creative, and at times risky, ways to remind her siblings that she's still out there... that there is life beyond the front door.

A big, messy, beautiful world they've barely been allowed to see. And when they're ready to walk into it, their big sis will be there, waiting with open arms.

_________________

FOLLOW AUDREY Follow her story as it unfolds → TikTok @audreyinreallife

SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) → patreon.com/wasiinacult

HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → info@wasiinacult.com

Gloriavale: "Gloria Fail" (UPDATE) Aug 10, 2026

Show notes

**NOTE: This episode originally aired in 2024, but a LOT has happened inside this cult since then. None of it surprising, all of it sick, and we'll fill you in on all of it. Jason Christian was born into Gloriavale — a self-proclaimed utopic Christian community of more than 500 people on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. His grandfather, Hopeful Christian, was the leader. Shut out from the outside world and forced to work on the farm at the age of six, Jason was primed to live a life without actual freedom, as this group of true believers was all he knew. But when it was time for him to marry a woman in the community that was chosen for him, Jason made a different choice. ____________________________ FOLLOW US

Instagram → @wasiinacult TikTok → @wasiinacult

SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Ad-free episodes, bonus content, behind-the-scenes conversations, and our forever gratitude.

HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → info@wasiinacult.com

UFO-Tantric-Doomsday-Alien-Fairy-Angel-Sex Cult - Pt2: "Jump Ship" Aug 03, 2026

Show notes

Everyone gathered on the deck the day Yo promised the mothership was finally coming. They waited… but alas, it never came.

In PART 2, the magical fairy tale capsizes. Laurien becomes one of Yo's chosen women, and soon finds out exactly what that costs.

And when she finally tries to leave, they abandon her at a foreign train station with a stolen passport, no money, and 25 cents for a phone call.

She got out. But getting out wasn't the end. Decades later, the experience still leaves her caught somewhere between grief and longing, showing us all just how powerful belief can be. Especially when it's backlit by yachts, beautiful people and the glistening sea.

The group, by the way, is still going strong, but mostly on land now, in an apartment complex in Ibiza. Cult paella anyone??

____________________________

FOLLOW LAURIEN Her book, The Golden Shawl → Brave New Books

SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Ad-free episodes, bonus content, behind-the-scenes conversations, and our forever gratitude.

HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → info@wasiinacult.com

UFO-Tantric-Doomsday-Alien-Fairy-Angel-Sex Cult - Pt1: "Whatever Floats Your Pleasure Boat" Jul 27, 2026

Show notes

Laurien had already been in one cult before she was old enough to understand what a cult was.

At 22, she was invited onto a fleet of white "pleasure" yachts traveling the rivers of Europe, not knowing the warm, beautiful, angelic fairies gazing deep into her eyes would become her new family. And then she met the 60-year-old Frenchman leading this pleasure cruise who called himself "Yo." Yo claimed he channeled messages from extraterrestrials, and taught that beauty was the path to enlightenment, which was rich coming from a man with a belly, an open blouse and ridiculous facial hair. The rules? No meat, no coffee, no alcohol, and no sex.

Unless, of course... it was with him (how original).

In PART 1, Laurien takes us inside a French UFO-tantric-doomsday-alien-fairy-angel sex cult. A cult she knows was filled with abuse and coercion, and yet still sees as one of the greatest adventures of her life.

____________________________-

FOLLOW LAURIEN Her book, The Golden Shawl → Brave New Books

SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Ad-free episodes, bonus content, behind-the-scenes conversations, and our forever gratitude.

HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → info@wasiinacult.com

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected