Celine and Stephen explore the ever-present belief that the end is nigh, starting with Stephen's former group Jehovah's Witnesses, including... more

Part 2 of our special collaboration with the World of Work Project's Jane Stewart and James Carrier. This week we... more

In part 2, Andrew continues his discussion with Celine and Stephen. Andrew Pledger is a podcaster, activist, writer and life... more

Andrew Pledger is a podcaster, activist, writer and life coach who left a fundamentalist Christian cult. He raises awareness about... more

This is a special collaboration between Cult Hackers and The World of Work Project, exploring cultic practices in the workplace.... more

To lift the mood this week Stephen and Celine review three of their favourite comedy movies, all with tangentially cult... more

Jolyn Armstrong is a certified trauma recovery coach and has an interesting personal perspective, having gone through the experience of... more

Today Stephen briefly considers a week of hell, and then Cult Hackers revisits an episode from the archives exploring the... more

Today Celine and Stephen explore a group they've not talked about before, Christian Science. Hilary Alexander was raised as a... more

After leaving a cult or fundamentalist group with an all-encompassing belief system, it’s great fun to explore science and philosophy... more

In this week's episode we explore how cults use power to ensure the obedience of their followers, drawing from French... more

Assimilation, group identity and leaving is hard. In this bonus episode taken from our short series, Cults on Film, Stephen... more

Jennifer French is a mental health counselor and podcaster. She was a member of a Christian Mystical Cult and as... more

Celine and Stephen explore how cults use the promise of happiness to attract people and keep them on the hook.... more

Sherrie D'Souza is the International Development Director and board member of 'Recovering From Religion' an organization that specialises in helping... more

Welcome to the first official episode of Cult Hackers (formerly 'What should I think about..?') For our first show we... more

In the last ever episode of 'What Should I Think About...?' (soon to become Cult Hackers), Andrew Jasko, M.Div. joins... more

Did Jesus have a work-life balance problem? What are the 'work' commitments for members of cults? As a former Jehovah's... more

Taking action against cults and spiritual abuse requires changes in law and policies often at the National or State level.... more

Prompted by a Tweet, Celine and Stephen explore the judgement that Jehovah's Witnesses literature can cause psychological damage and that... more

Darin Challacombe is a social scientist and researcher in the field of terrorism. He recently gave a talk at the... more

Does it matter what cults believe? Or is it only what they do that matters? Should we respect beliefs that... more

What function do heroes serve? Why were we not allowed to have posters of our heroes on our bedroom walls?... more

On this special episode, author Ali Millar talks about the release of her wonderful new book 'The Last Days' and... more

How many core emotions are there? How do we understand them? How do they come into play when people leave... more

Kat Wallace is a 4th generation ex Jehovah's Witness and speaker at the recent ICSA conference, who struggled growing up... more

Did Google just create a conscious A.I.? If it has, what would that mean? Today Celine and Stephen explore the... more

Two conference speakers, the winner of an award, and the conference attendee first-prize winner! Today's special episode  welcomes Daniel O'Brien,... more

This week's episode looks at the question of abortion and the recent Supreme Court decision in the USA. It's a... more

Ex Jehovah's Witness Alisha tried to simply leave the religion she was raised in and build her own life. The... more

The promise that you can be transformed into the person you've always wanted to be is a tempting one. This... more

One of the most emotional interviews ever on our podcast, author Kimberley L Miller talks movingly about her life as... more

In today’s episode I spend a very pleasant afternoon having a walk and a chat with a friend of the... more

When you are a fundamentalist Christian, Theocracy sounds like a great idea but when you leave, the reality becomes clear.... more

The 'What should I think about..?' podcast goes 'sight & sound' this week on this special edition of the show,... more

High control religious groups often discourage games, warning about the 'dangers' of being influenced by Satan or the world. But... more

I (Stephen) had an online conversation recently with a friend who had recently experienced a family loss. We chatted and... more

Ex Jehovah's Witness Poet and Podcaster Leon Helsby tells his story of leaving the organization, why he finds poetry so... more

Celine and Stephen get into some pop psychology to see what we know, what we think we know but don't,... more

Today we interview Marcia and Riley (AKA Jexit) about falling in love with someone who was a member of a... more

This week Celine and Stephen review, and do a cult reading of the 1999 movie, Fight Club, directed by David... more

Author, Mary Mahoney talks about her 31 years in the Children of God. She tells Celine and Stephen about her... more

As if this world isn't confusing enough, today Celine and Stephen explore virtual worlds and our seemingly unavoidable destiny with... more

Becky Armstrong-Corbett is a qualified psychotherapist and solution focused clinical hypnotherapist. Raised as a Jehovah's Witness she was sexually abused... more

Today Celine and Stephen decide to take a sober and even-handed approach to the question of how we should research... more

Daniel O'Brien is an educator, musician and ex Jehovah's Witness elder. He talks to Stephen about his experience being recruited... more

As it's Stephen's birthday today , 'birthdays' is the theme of this week's chat. As a Jehovah's Witness child, birthday... more

Ashlen talks about her experience as a born-in member of a small Christian Fundamentalist group called the Churches of Christ,... more

Riley from the Jexit YouTube channel joins Stephen today to analyse the 2002 movie Equilibrium, directed by Kurt Wimmer, starring... more

Today Celine and Stephen are joined by Jordan Robertson from the Shunned Experience to talk about the history of atheism.... more

We manage risk every day but how we calculate it is often difficult to understand. Our attitude towards risk is... more

Producer Bob joins us to talk about the use of signs and symbols in religions, cults and the social world... more

As a member of totalistic group or cult, morals and ethics are to a large degree determined by the Group.... more

Daniel Schricker grew up in the Kwasizabantu Mission and since leaving has written a number of blogs about the psychological... more

This emergency podcast comes out on the day Russia launches an attack upon Ukraine. It's natural to feel some anxiety... more

Celine and Stephen review Midsommer, a movie released in 2019, directed by Ari Aster and starring Florence Pugh. There are... more

Jake Vaughn from the Alt Worldly YouTube Channel talks about his waking up process from the Jehovah's Witnesses, and the... more

Do some born-in cult members experience greater harm than others because they happen to have certain personality traits? Psychology suggests that... more

Erika Bornman, author of Mission of Malice talks to us about her life growing up in Kwasizabantu, a non-denominational Christian... more

Two completely different topics today on the podcast.    Time Stamp 00:00: Segment 1. The medical condition and psychological impact of serious... more

The guest today is Min Grob from CCChat Magazine. Min experienced a coercively controlling relationship and talks about the behaviours... more

The 1940's film Gaslight about the systematic attack by a man on his wife's psychological wellbeing, provided us with the... more

Darren Slade has a fascinating story. Although not raised in a religious household as a young person he loved religious... more

What is science? How does it work? Can we trust it? Who does it? And can we trust the scientists?... more

Today's guest is Brent Lee who describes himself as a recovering conspiracist of 15 years. Brent explains how he became... more

The Milgram experiments of the 1960s tried to answer the question of how seemingly normal people can do the most... more

Sapphire Phoenix was raised as an 'exemplary' Jehovah's Witness until he found himself disfellowshipped and outside the organisation and his... more

Today Celine and Stephen talk about being wrong and why it's so often hard to accept. They look at the... more

Growing up as a Jehovah's Witness or other fundamentalist religious group members are taught a particular view about the role... more

Does the 2014 movie Whiplash starring Miles Teller and JK Simmons depict a cultic relationship? One of our favourite movies... more

It's a fascinating and emotional episode this week, as Lizzie tells us about her life being raised within an Amish... more

Recorded just before Christmas Day, Stephen's favourite podcasts of the year plus other recommendations to help make sense of a... more

As a Jehovah's Witness dad didn't really 'do' New Year, but upon leaving he observed the common tradition of the... more

Early in 2021 Stephen talked to his daughter, Celine about his life as a Jehovah's Witness, being raised in the... more

Sarah, joins Stephen for our Christmas Special as we think about the joys and 'tricky bits' of celebrating Christmas after... more

Clint Heacock was raised in a Fundamentalist Christian group. As a young man he studied theology and Bible studies in various... more

The term 'Self Efficacy' describes the amount of belief an individual has that they can achieve something. In study after... more

This week in the series of Cults as Organizations Stephen explores Herzberg's Two Factors, and Expectancy Theory, often used in... more

Patrick Ryan found himself deeply involved in Transcendental Meditation during the 1970s until he started to believe he was part... more

Today Celine and Stephen explore dreams. Religion, psychoanalysis, neuroscience and psychology all attempt to explain what happens when we dream... more

Today is a very personal episode with a very special guest because it's Sarah, Celine's mum and Stephen's wife. Warning... more

Today Celine and Stephen argue! Is there such thing as free will? Is everything predetermined at the moment of the... more

This week's interview is with filmmaker Scott Homan, Writer, Cinematographer and Director of the documentary movie Witness Underground about a... more

To celebrate the 100th episode of the 'What should I think about..?' podcast and the 1 year birthday, Celine and... more

Donna Stevenson was raised as a Jehovah's Witness and describes herself as a "happy Witness", but her experiences as a... more

As a Jehovah's Witness Stephen was raised to be a pacifist. Upon leaving the group ex members find themselves trying... more

In organisational studies, "Wicked problems" are a type of problem that's hard to define and wickedly difficult to solve. In... more

Gillie Jenkinson PhD is a leading accredited psychotherapist, specialising in cult recovery and recovery from spiritual abuse. She shares with... more

Producer Bob and Stephen review the Voltaire lecture given by Nichola Raihani about how deeply embedded is the instinct to... more

Angela Lathwell was raised in the Children of God cult. She describes speaking out about the cult as the last... more