A Little Bit Culty

In this episode, writer, licensed psychotherapist, and leadership consultant Blair Glaser joins us to talk about what she calls a “near cult” experience: 16 months living at Gurumayi's Siddhi Yoga ashram in South Fallsburg, New York, in the 1990s. Blair arrived hoping to chop vegetables and chant, but instead became the caretaker for one of the swamis, a role that quietly con...

Today we re-air our conversation with Theranos whistleblower Erika Cheung, with a new intro where we share our thoughts on A24's new documentary, You Can See Everything.

Erika arrived at Theranos headquarters at 22, a freshly minted UC Berkeley grad who saw Elizabeth Holmes the way much of Silicon Valley did: a visionary about to upend healthcare. Her dre...

In this episode, litigator Carol Merchasin joins us to explain how the law actually works when someone tries to hold a high-control group accountable, and why coercion is the hinge everything turns on. Carol spent years defending companies against sexual harassment claims before an investigation into sexual misconduct in a Buddhist community, Shambhala, pulled her into this w...

In Part 2 of our conversation with journalist and author Chet Hardin, we trade the NXIVM rabbit hole for another deeply disturbing case of charisma, coercion, and a self-appointed king with a seriously dark side. Chet joins us to discuss his book, The Vampire’s Cult: The Untold Story of Obsession, Control, and a Shocking Small-Town Murder, which explores the world of...

Journalist and author Chet Hardin joins ALBC to revisit the early days of reporting on NXIVM, Keith Raniere, and the machinery of intimidation that kept members insulated from outside scrutiny. Chet was only a month into his job at Metroland when attorney Joe O’Hara called with a story about a group “some people might call a cult,” leading him to Toni Natalie, Rick Ross, and ...