Dinner for Vampires: The Star of a Cult TV Show on Leaving a Real Life Cult
A Little Bit Culty
Bethany Joy Lenz became a household face during the meteoric rise of the teen CW soap “One Tree Hill.” However, as she appeared in homes across the country every week, she was leading a double life with her participation in a culty Bible group for a decade. Lenz found her voice to break free and had the inspiration to write a personal memoir on the experience, “Dinner for Vampires,” sharing for the first time publicly her experience in the group and her struggles to break free. In this episode, Sarah and Nippy talk with Bethany about the surprising connections between her...
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The Cult of True Crime: Terry Dunn Meurer and "Unsolved Mysteries"
A Little Bit Culty
Today’s show puts a different spin on our usual subject matter. We’re going to discuss something that has millions of followers and has become a world-wide obsession: true crime! Alright, it isn’t a cult (technically!), but it’s definitely infiltrated our minds and media. Our guest today is Terry Dunn Meurer, the co-creator and executive producer of Unsolved Mysteries—the OG in crime-related television. Terry’s talks about the evolution of true crime in media, and the massive surge of interest it’s seen in recent years. Fascination with true crime is...
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Culty Voicemail Roundup: ALBC Listeners Speak (10/14/24 EDITION)
A Little Bit Culty
This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Visit to get started today. Hey campers, we hope your October’s been spooky so far. We’ve got a batch of listener voicemails to check out, so pull up a chair and we’ll get into it. Today’s callers want to talk about a real potpourri of culty stuff. We cover Arbonne, Optavia, BDSM and consent, Eckhart Tolle, and as always, a little bit of the hot NXIVM goss to round out the hour. Also… let it be known that: The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy...
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Diet Wars: Wade T. Lightheart on Culty Nutrition
A Little Bit Culty
This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. We’re calling it now, we’re gonna get some flack on this one. It’s no surprise, but anytime we mention diet, fitness, or nutrition, we hear about it in our DMs. There’s some tension here, we know it, we see it, and we hear you. And it makes sense. In the world of health and diet, there’s a lot of snake oil salesmen out here. The cult of nutrition is very real. Today’s guest is a friend who is familiar with the false gurus that flock to the fitness space. Wade T. Lightheart is the co-founder of supplement brand...
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The Cult Next Door: Mike King on the Zion Society
A Little Bit Culty
Well, this is a first for us. Today, we’re covering the Zion Society, which was a cult run by a landscaper, Arvin Shreeve. Based out of Ogden, Utah, Shreeve and his followers had some of the most manicured lawns in the neighborhood. But, behind lush green lawns hid sinister secrets. This polygamist sect had about 100 members at its peak, hiding in plain sight in a quiet suburban cul-de-sac. Former lieutenant Mike King was the one to discover them. With a tip from one of the former followers, Mike helped put Shreeve and many of his followers behind bars for life. Mike King...
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Dancing for the Devil: Andrea Marks on the 7M TikTok Cult
A Little Bit Culty
If you haven’t seen the Netflix series “Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult,” it’s worth a watch. It follows Robert Shinn and his Los Angeles-based church, Shekinah, which has engaged some heavy-hitting social media stars to make a ton of money for his church. The families of those social media stars — who have been cut off from their loved ones by Shinn — think that Shekinah is a cult. And, well, we agree that it sure does seem a little culty. This week, we talked with Andrea Marks — a journalist who has covered both Robert Shinn and his church for Rolling Stone, and who...
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Patreon Unlocked: Tia Levings on Escaping Tradlife
A Little Bit Culty
Usually what happens behind the Patreon, stays behind the Patreon. But, not today! In this preview behind the paywall, we’re featuring one of our favorite people, who just so happens to be a newly-minted New York Times bestselling author! Tia Levings released her memoir ‘A Well-Trained Wife’ in August, and the book became an instant bestseller. The deeply personal memoir details Tia’s experience in and eventual escape from Christian Fundamentalism. If this sounds familiar, you may have heard Tia when she appeared on the pod for a two-part interview (listen to & ...
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Speaking Way Up: Nikieta Lambert, Erika Cheung & Jessica Willis Fisher
A Little Bit Culty
This episode is sponsored by Better Help! Ready for another remix? This episode features highlights with some of the bravest women to grace our feed. From escaping childhood abuse and religious cults, these outspoken women did what was right in the moment, despite the immense pressure and abuse weighing down on them. Nikita Lambert spent 15 years climbing the ranks at the evangelical International Churches of Christ (ICOC) before she became an outspoken voice against the institution. At 22, Erika Cheung joined the ranks at Theranos, only to blow the whistle less than...
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To the Moon and Back: Lisa Kohn and the Unification Church
A Little Bit Culty
Lisa Kohn likes to tell a story about these great seats she once had at Madison Square Garden — at her mother’s mass wedding. Yes, Lisa — the award-winning author of “” — grew up in the Unification Church, also known as “the Moonies,” with her mom and a life of “sex, drugs, and squalor” in New York City’s East Village. She talks with Sarah and Nippy about her experiences in the church, what was happening during those mass weddings in the 1970s, and what it means to be “under the influence of faith.” Also… let it be known that: The views and opinions...
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Post Narc Therapy: Robin Stern, Dr. Ramani & Dr. Christine Cocchicola
A Little Bit Culty
This episode is sponsored by Better Help! The doctor is in! This week’s remix episode features conversations on personality disorders, controlling behaviors, and more. Suspecting a narcissist in your midst, or recovering from a controlling relationship? This episode might be perfect for you. This week, you’ll hear snippets from three different mental health professionals. Dr. Robin Stern is a psychological sleuth who not only wrote a book about gaslighting, but literally coined the widely used term. Then licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Ramani Durvasula helps us flip...
info_outlineToday’s episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.
Julie Bogart homeschooled her five children for seventeen years and participated in a Cincinnati homeschool co-op of 100 families with over 300 youngsters. But it wasn’t merely homeschoolers that were a little bit culty in her life. With experiences of missionary evangelical Christianity, the New Thought movement, Scientology, and four years as an e s t devotee, Julie Bogart’s got some culty notches in her belt. Now she’s helping cult-proof parents and their kids by teaching families to think well. In this episode, Julie shares insight into susceptibilities for cult-jumping, our perceptions of “trusted” authority/expertise, and the power of wonder and curiosity.
We’re also reminded of the parental golden rule: seek therapy yourselves before subjecting your kiddos to any kind of psychotherapy. For a deep dive into those waters, rewind to our episode with Meg Appelgate who navigated the Troubled Teen Industry firsthand.
NOTES:
Julie Bogart has devoted her life to the triumvirate of writing, kids, and parents and is known for her common sense parenting and education advice on how to raise critical thinkers. She created Brave Writer, an online writing and language arts program that coaches folks to discover their own original thoughts. She has scores of professional writing credentials including a weekly column for United Press International, Brave Writer's Home Study Courses, and two books, The Brave Learner and Raising Critical Thinkers. Mother of five and grandmother to three, Julie lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.
You can find her on Twitter and Instagram.
Also…
Let it be known far and wide, loud and clear 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.
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CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Producer: Will Retherford
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Writer: Holly Zadra
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin