Why We Fall: Cults, Groupthink & the Dark Side of Belonging
Both Valentina and I have always been drawn to shows about cults or groups that mask as a community but hide something a little more dubious. And it's worth nothing that most people don't aim to join a cult. What they are really serching for is a community. To find a sense of purpose, a leader who seems to have answers, a group that finally gets them.
In this episode, we get into what actually draws people into cults and groupthink, and why the human need to belong is both beautiful and exploitable.
We cover:
- The difference between a cult and something "cult-adjacent": and why shows like TLC's Sister Wives sit in that uncomfortable grey zone
- FLDS, Warren Jeffs, and what happens to a movement when its leader goes to prison (spoiler: it doesn't stop, it just finds a new prophet(s)
- Bill Gothard and the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) — the belief system behind The Duggars, and what happens to kids raised inside it
- Ruby Franke and Judy Hildebrand: how a Mormon momfluencer and a self-styled therapist built a closed loop of control, public normalisation of abuse, and a following that defended it
- Twin Flames Universe: the couple-founded "spiritual" program charging money to help people find their soulmate, and what that actually looked like in practice
- Why cults almost always position women as secondary, and whether you can name a single cult founded by a woman where the men were the ones expected to obey
- The role of shame, isolation, and lifelong conditioning in making it nearly impossible for people born into these environments to leave.
Mentioned in this episode: Sounds Like a Cult (podcast, Amanda Montell & Iza Medina) · Elisa True Crime (podcast) · Indagini (podcast) · Sister Wives (TLC) · Trust Me: The False Prophet (Netflix) · Evil Influencer (documentary) · Escaping Twin Flames (Netflix) · The Worst Ex Ever (Netflix) · 90 Day Fiancé (TLC)
Two Voices, No Filter is produced by Sentire Media and recorded at ZO Working, Sesto Fiorentino.