Episodes
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Introducing Challenging Leadership, a new podcast with Stephen and Jared. Check out Season 1 now - Season 2 coming soon.
https://pod.link/1712306504
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This is our last ever Cult Hackers podcast. We say goodbye and thank you to all our listeners and supporters over the years We also explore our final topic of the podcast, that of tribes, and ask whether we are experiencing the cultification of the internet through social media platforms.
If you'd like to keep in touch you can contact us at:
https://www.culthackers.com/contact
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Missing episodes?
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The UK has seen a week of rioting and civil disorder. What is the background, why are people rioting? And reflections from the previous episode about whether culture needs defending in light of these events.
Contact us: https://www.culthackers.com/contact
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Was my upbringing as a Jehovah's Witness a multicultural one? Does culture need defending? Should we accept all cultural differences? Is the UK an Islamic country as is claimed by J D Vance? Can different cultural practices live side by side? What is the link between culture and cults? Do businesses have cultures? All questions discussed in today's episode.
Links
Reach out to us an d let us know if we can read your email on the show: https://www.culthackers.com/contact
Riley's Jexit Episode about Race and Jehovah's Witnesses
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zddbVGPmzc0
Ted Cantle's Report about Community Cohesion
https://tedcantle.co.uk/pdf/Parallel%20lives%20Ted%20Cantle.pdf
Denise Wise LinkTree
https://linktr.ee/DeniseWise
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Rituals are powerful. They have been a part of our shared culture since the beginning - why? And how do cults use them?
To talk to us: https://www.culthackers.com/contact
To become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
References: The Psychology of Rituals: An Integrative Review and Process-Based Framework
Video of Speaker being dragged to the chair to take up his role.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k-BXhhCT6c
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Today's episode explores Nudge Theory, more correctly Behavioral Economics and how too many nudges can start to make us feel pushed around.
Referenced paper
https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w20007/w20007.pdf
Contact us: https://www.culthackers.com/contact
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Quitting is often treated as a sign of a weak character, but for those of us who quit a toxic cultic group it was one of the best things we've ever done. In this episode Stephen looks at some of the research on quitting and why we need to get good at knowing when to do it. Stephen also uses the topic to consider the fallout from the first US Presidential Election Debate, when it's time to bow out and the risks of groupthink and gaslighting.
Contact us at: https://www.culthackers.com/
References: Steven Levitt's podcast https://pod.link/1525936566/episode/bd425d4077c944aefaaca4a4a53bde60
Steven Levitt paper: Heads or Tails: The Impact of a Coin Toss on Major Life Decisions and Subsequent
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In this episode Stephen reflects upon what it's like to be prevented from voting, the psychological consequences of being a social bystander and having no stake in society, and the feeling of then being able to be part of the democratic process. Also reflections on democracy under attack.
Contact us
https://www.culthackers.com/contact
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Stephen reflects upon the infected blood scandal affecting thousands of people and how it relates to his own former religious beliefs, conspiracies and questions about institutions.
Kacey's Research Questionnaire and Information
BBC Reporting into children being exposed to infected blood
Copy of letter talking about uninfected patients being exposed released as part of the enquiry
https://www.infectedbloodinquiry.org.uk/
The British Blood Transfusion Service
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This special episode is about the Frank Herbert story, Dune, including the recent film adaptation. This story covers many of the topics we've been interested in over the years doing the podcast and we hope you enjoy this discussion about a shared favourite of ours.
More news to come soon about the future of the podcast.
Links
The latest movie directed by Denis Villeneuve
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15239678/
Mini series
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142032/
The novel
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44767458-dune
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After 267 episodes we've decided that's the end of season 1. In the final episode of the season Celine and Stephen explore why leavers of cults and coercively controlling religions feel the need to express themselves about their experience.
To reach out to us: https://www.culthackers.com/
To become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
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Our guest today is Kendra Petty, author of the memoir "I Can't Believe I'm Not Dead". Coercively controlled by her mother and a child member of a fundamentalist Christian group, only to leave and experience multiple threats to her life. It's an extraordinary story and Kendra is an engaging and fascinating guest.
Kendra's website https://kendrapettyofficial.com/
To reach out to us: https://www.culthackers.com/
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Celine raises the question whether there is a link between religious belief and long life. Following the Netflix series Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones the question of whether religious belief increases wellbeing is discussed by Stephen and Celine. Is there good data to suggest there is a link? If there is, is it a causal relationship or can it be explained through other factors. Is "belief" itself the key or is it what the belief might make you do? Also should we care about the "truth claims" that religions often make?
To reach out to us: https://www.culthackers.com/
To become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
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This week Celine and Stephen's guest is Carmel Mikol, a filmmaker, musician, artist and former Jehovah's Witness. Carmel talks about her own experience as a young Witness finding herself in an abusive marriage and her difficulties escaping the relationship and then leaving the group. Carmel talks about the misogynistic attitudes and policies within the group and the damage they can do to young women. She also provides the Governing Body with some helpful advice about how to make the organisation a more equitable environment and nicer place to be.
Her short film is called Apostasy https://www.carmelmikol.com/film
Carmel’s Instagram is @apostatefilm
To reach out to us: https://www.culthackers.com/
To become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
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A high profile case of people behaving appallingly on behalf of an organisation is big news in the UK, known as the Post Office scandal. The question of why people do unethical things to support the business, religion or cult to which they belong, has been researched and is multi-faceted. Today Stephen and Celine explore the psychological research into "Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior" as it relates to businesses but also cultic religious groups. They explore possible social reasons but also the Dark Triad of personality traits that may, in some cases, be at play.
To reach out to us: https://www.culthackers.com/
To become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
Next week's guest, Carmel Mikol's docuemtery film:
https://www.carmelmikol.com/film
References and links
explainer https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56718036.amp
Fehr, R., Welsh, D., Yam, K. C., Baer, M., Wei, W., & Vaulont, M. (2019). The role of moral decoupling in the causes and consequences of unethical pro-organizational behavior. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 153, 27-40.
Stone, D. L., Deadrick, D. L., Lukaszewski, K. M., & Johnson, R. (2015). The influence of technology on the future of human resource management. Human resource management review, 25(2), 216-231.
Chen, M., Chen, C. C., & Sheldon, O. J. (2016, April 21). Relaxing Moral Reasoning to Win: How Organizational Identification Relates to Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/apl0000111
LeBreton, J. M., Shiverdecker, L. K., & Grimaldi, E. M. (2018). The dark triad and workplace behavior. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 5, 387-414.
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Celine and Stephen are joined by Micki, AKA Apostate Barbie, from Instagram and Tic Tok. Micki tells us about her journey out of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Challenging an aunt about outlandish QANON conspiracy theories, made her consider her own beliefs - not the first time we've heard our guests speak of this type of exit, from Christian Fundamentalist beliefs. Micki talks about the help and support she has experienced from other former Jehovah's Witnesses and also some of her observations about ex Jehovah's Witness communities in general.
Micki's Social Media
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apostatebarbie/
Tik Tok: @apostatebarbie
Cult Hackers
To reach out to us: https://www.culthackers.com/
To become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
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A follow-up to the conversation Stephen had with Spencer Watson from the Truth Unrestricted Podcast about magical thinking. This time Stephen was a guest on Spencer's show and this audio is brought to you by his permission. They discuss developmental psychology and how babies and children develop an understanding of a world apart from themselves and then symbolic thought. Spencer proposes a concept called pseudo-tangibility to describe how we may be creating tangible models and symbols to explain intangible and sometimes magical beliefs.
To reach out to us: https://www.culthackers.com/
To become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
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Jan Frode Nilsen has a long-form interview with Stephen about his work exposing the damaging shunning policies of Jehovah's Witnesses, and his appearance as a witness for the Norwegian government in recent court cases. He also talks about his own experience as a former member raised in the group.
Documents related to the case on: Avoid JW website
Recording of elders visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RkXsh332Fo
To reach out to us: https://www.culthackers.com/
To become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
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Losing friends, making new ones, reuniting with old ones, all at the same time as finding yourself. Friendships can be a tricky thing after leaving a cult. This week some of the Cult Hacker Patreon supporters join Celine and Stephen on a panel of former Jehovah's Witnesses, to explore the process of finding and making friendships outside a high-control group. Maryann, Regina, Vincent, Tanya, Riley from the Jexit Channel and Scott from Witness Underground, discuss their own experiences of building a social world following isolation after leaving. They discuss their mistakes and lessons learned, and how they've come through the process. Christmas can also be a tricky time around friendships so the panel talk about their preferred way of either embracing it or escaping it.
To reach out to us: https://www.culthackers.com/
To become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
Other Links
Wikipedia article about the 'Friendship Paradox' as mentioned by Vincent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendship_paradox
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This short bonus episode is the audio version of a blog Stephen recently published on Medium. Many leavers of high control religions use 'waking up' as a metaphor for realising the group we had been a member of had been telling us lies, and that we had a warped worldview. The film 'The Matrix' holds resonance for many of us. In this short piece Stephen explores this, and another movie about dreaming and waking up - Inception. Upon leaving, knowing how to relate to the world is difficult and a learned suspicion of authority can sometimes lead us into fringe belief systems and Stephen reflects upon his own journey and what he learned.
The Medium Blog: The Medium Blog
To reach out to us: https://www.culthackers.com/
To become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/culthackers/posts
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