This week, the girls are joined by Laci Mosley, comedian, actress, and host of the Scam Goddess podcast and TV show (and author of Scam Goddess the book), to talk about the many types of frauds that are out there, from romance scams to financial fraud to Munchausen by proxy. She talks about what makes us susceptible to scams, and how much overlap there is between the way that scams and cults operate.

Laci shares about the time she got scammed by a psychic in an airport, how even the most smart, successful people get swindled, and the lessons we can all take from scammers to be a little scammier–but like in a good way.

SOURCES

Scam Goddess

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This week, Meagan and Lola sit down with Michelle McPhee, investigative reporter and host of podcast Kingdom of Fraud, to discuss how Jacob Kingston, a fundamentalist Mormon from the secretive polygamist sect known as the Kingston clan, or the “Order,” teamed up with a shadowy Armenian tycoon nicknamed “the Lion” to commit one of the largest fraud schemes in U.S. history.

She’ll explain how Jacob’s drive to prove himself as one of over 100 siblings within the insular Kingston hierarchy got him in over his head with Levon Termendzhyan, his unlikely partner in the massive scheme they embarked on: it involved renewable fuel tax credits, international money laundering, powerful political connections, and billions of dollars. Plus, how they finally got caught–with the help of a couple of Trust Me’s previous guests.

SOURCES

Kingdom of Fraud

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This week is part 2 with Anke Richter, journalist, author of Cult Trip, former member of Tantric group ISTA, and founder and director of New Zealand’s cult conference DeCult. In part 2 with Anke, she explains how the founder of International School of Temple Arts had constructed a sort of harem culture and was sleeping with all the women, where the line is between normal dating in a community vs. coercion, and how her journalistic investigation into a different tantra group while still actively in this one finally set off her alarm bells.

They discuss what’s positive about the tantric world, how the flip side of sex-positive groups can be a pressure to act sex positive when you don’t actually FEEL sex positive, and why she started cult conference Decult.

SOURCES

Cult Trip

DECULT

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Today is part 1 with Anke Richter, journalist, author of Cult Trip, former member of Tantric group International School of Temple Arts, and founder and director of New Zealand’s cult conference DeCult. In this week’s episode she shares how she began as a journalist investigating cults, but when she went to a tantric sex festival, she had a peak experience with ecstatic dancing that made her never want to go back to her old way of life.

She’ll talk about doing her first training in tantric pleasure, which got her deeper into ISTA and the idea of tantric polarity and exploring her feminine energy that she’d felt she’d been missing, and how the intensity and the highs she felt in these communities made real life seem boring. Plus, how there often aren’t a lot of sexual communities to choose from in general, which can create room for the sketchier ones to flourish.

SOURCES

Cult Trip

DECULT 

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This week is part two with Sophie Fergi, former child influencer featured in the Netflix docuseries Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing. In this episode, she shares what happened after she and her mom moved in with Piper Rockelle and Piper's mom Tiffany, how Tiffany's explosive rage became impossible to ignore, and what it was like filming long, highly controlled days--and then spending their nights cleaning up after more than 70 cats.

Sophie also reveals how Tiffany manufactured conflict between the other kids' parents, how her inappropriate behavior escalated through her bizarre animal characters, and why Tiffany secretly sent photos and inappropriate personal belongings to a fan named "Megan"—who was later revealed to be an adult man. Sophie discusses the breaking point that led her to leave, what it was like to be completely shunned by the Squad after she left, and the advocacy work she's been doing to protect other kidfluencers.

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This week is part one with Sophie Fergi, former child influencer who told her story in the Netflix docuseries Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing. In this episode, she explains how she first met YouTube kidfluencer Piper Rockelle, and how Piper’s mom Tiffany formed the “Squad,” a group of children making content together for their YouTube channels.

Sophie will share what it was like to film the videos, which included fake challenges, fake crushes and relationships, and carefully curated drama that blurred the line between reality and performance, and how she began to see red flags with Tiffany, who created characters - based on family animals - which she used to speak inappropriately to the kids.

Next week, she’ll talk about moving in with Tiffany and Piper, and how everything began to escalate.

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This week, the girls are back with Jasper Hoffman, writer, podcaster, and former Mennonite. In part two today, Jasper explains what the perfect Mennonite woman looked like, how concerns were raised when she wasn't compliant enough, and how over time she became depressed and developed an eating disorder in response to the pressures of the group.

She’ll share how her mom secretly found her a therapist on the outside, even though it was against the rules, and how that therapist helped her write a letter to withdraw her membership, which led to the harassment of her family. We’ll talk about how she tried to go back after she left but realized she really didn’t belong, and why she started the Plain People’s Podcast.

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The Plain People's Podcast

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This week, the girls are joined by Jasper Hoffman, writer, podcaster, and former Mennonite. In part one, she explains how her parents went from a being punk rock atheist and an anthropology major to homesteading, homeschooling, and going to church: first a non-denominational one, and then a Mennonite church that came to town for “Revival Week” when Jasper was a kid.

She’ll describe how it then escalated to her family moving to the Midwest, getting rid of all of their material possessions, and committing wholeheartedly to being Mennonites, with redacted encyclopedias and physical punishment in the basement for children who were considered rebellious–and why she was forbidden from going back to school.

Plus, stay tuned for part two next week, in which she tells her story of leaving the church.

SOURCES

The Plain People's Podcast

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This week, Lola’s mom Dr. Christine Marie (and the podcast’s very first guest!) comes back on the show to talk about moving to FLDS town Short Creek, how she and Lola’s stepdad Tolga earned the trust of new self-proclaimed polygamist prophet Sam Bateman, and what else was going on behind the scenes of what’s in the Netflix docuseries Trust Me: The False Prophet.

She’ll tell the girls about her frustrations with the speed of the case, what it was like going undercover with the FBI, the bravery of all of the women involved, and being there for the raid that finally landed him in prison for sexual abuse.

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In part two with Nikki G., she discusses more of the high-control groups she joined, the political project of the Seven Mountain Mandate that she was part of, the connection between biblical concepts of obedience and white supremacy, and how everyone joins cults, even if white people are the biggest group talking about it. Plus, the difference between “church hurt” and religious trauma.

SOURCES

Surviving the Black Church Podcast

Black Religious Trauma Recovery Network

Nikki G. Speaks

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This week, Nikki G., host of Surviving the Black Church and survivor of FIVE different high-control groups, discusses joining the first church on her cult-hopping journey, how she got initially pulled down the rabbit hole by conspiracy theories and the Book of Revelation, and the intensity and community that drew her to each group.

She tells the girls about her second and more radical group, IHOP (International House of Prayer), how she eventually learned the term “religious addiction,” and why the idea of “waiting for your Boaz,” or your perfect husband, can be so harmful for women in the church.

SOURCES

Surviving the Black Church Podcast

Black Religious Trauma Recovery Network

Nikki G. Speaks

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