ABOUT THIS PODCAST 🔗
From silent compounds to subway attacks, from charismatic prophets to catastrophic ends, Hidden Cults is a documentary-style podcast that digs deep into the world's most extreme, elusive, and explosive fringe groups. Each episode unpacks a different cult with investigative depth, emotional clarity, and gripping storytelling. You'll hear the full timeline: from the origins and ideology, to the rise of control, to the final descent into chaos. We're not here for the sensational. We're here for the truth. If you've ever wondered how ordinary people fall into extraordinary belief systems, and what happens when those systems implode, you're in the right place. New episodes weekly. Listener stories always welcome. Anonymity guaranteed.
Listener stories: hiddencultspodcast@gmail.com
International Resources
United Kingdom
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/hidden-cults--6633392/support.
Listener stories: hiddencultspodcast@gmail.com
International Resources
- International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA)
https://www.icsahome.com
Provides information, recovery support, referrals, and events for survivors and concerned families. - Open Minds Foundation
https://www.openmindsfoundation.org
Offers education and support about undue influence and manipulative organizations. - The Hotline (USA – Domestic Abuse)
https://www.thehotline.org
📞 1-800-799-7233 — 24/7 support for victims of domestic, emotional, and religious abuse. - Freedom of Mind Resource Center (Steven Hassan)
https://freedomofmind.com
Resources on cult recovery, exit counseling, and mind control education. - FaithTrust Institute
https://www.faithtrustinstitute.org
Support and resources for survivors of religious abuse, especially within faith communities.
- Cult Recovery Hotline (ICSA)
📞 1-239-514-3081
Referral and support line for ex-members, families, and researchers. - RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network)
https://www.rainn.org
📞 1-800-656-4673 — Confidential support for trauma survivors.
- Cult & Trauma Support Resources 🧠
- Info-Cult / Info-Secte (Montreal-based, Canada-wide) Website: https://infosecte.org
- Phone: 📞 514-274-2333
- Email: infosecte@qc.aira.com
- Canada’s leading organization for individuals and families affected by cults, coercive groups, and spiritual abuse.
- Offers confidential support, referrals, and information in English and French.
United Kingdom
- The Family Survival Trust
https://familysurvivaltrust.org
Support and advocacy for those affected by cults and coercive control. - Cults Information Centre and Family Support
https://cults.org.uk
UK-based information and guidance for cult survivors and families. - Mind UK (Mental Health Support)
https://www.mind.org.uk
📞 0300 123 3393 — Non-judgmental mental health advice and support.
- Cult Information and Family Support (CIFS)
https://www.cifs.org.au
National support for individuals and families affected by cults.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/hidden-cults--6633392/support.
Hosts:
Update frequency:
weekly
Average audio length:
41 minutes
English
United States
65 episodes
since May 24, 2025
episodic
IN THIS PODCAST 🔗
LATEST EPISODE 🔗
In Toowoomba, Australia, a small Christian sect led by Brendan Stevens rejected medicine in favour of divine healing. In January 2022, those beliefs ended in tragedy when nine-year-old Elizabeth Struhs died after her insulin was withheld. This episode examines the rise of The Saints, life inside th…
PREVIOUS EPISODES 🔗
Founded in Israel in 1988, Lev Tahor presented itself as a return to pure Judaism under the leadership of Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans. Over the following decades, the group crossed continents, relocating from Israel to the United States, Canada, Guatemala and beyond as legal pressure and child welfare in…
The Superior Universal Alignment began in Brazil in 1981 as a small UFO-inspired religious movement led by the self-proclaimed prophet Valentina de Andrade. Promising spiritual enlightenment, extraterrestrial salvation, and escape from an approaching apocalypse, the group rejected traditional Chris…
Colonia Dignidad began as a secluded German religious settlement in rural Chile, promising faith, hard work, and a better future. Behind its fences, however, Paul Schäfer built one of the most abusive cults of the twentieth century. Families were separated, children were systematically abused, memb…
The Sullivan Institute began in New York during the 1950s as an unconventional psychotherapy movement that promised personal liberation, emotional growth, and freedom from traditional social constraints. Under the leadership of Saul Newton and Jane Pearce, it attracted artists, intellectuals, thera…
In 2010, a recently released ex-convict named Larry Ray moved into his daughter’s dormitory at Sarah Lawrence College. What began as friendly dinners, life advice, and mentorship slowly evolved into one of the most shocking cult cases in modern American history. Over the next decade, Ray manipulate…
Tonight on Hidden Cults, we explore 3HO, the Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization, the spiritual movement founded in 1969 by Yogi Bhajan. What began as a counterculture yoga movement promising a path to be healthy, happy, and holy grew into a worldwide network of ashrams, businesses, schools, and spir…
Tonight on Hidden Cults, we examine Japa Meditation Ireland and the rise of Irish spiritual teacher Dennis Curran. What began as meditation groups built around mantra practice, healing, and personal growth expanded into a nationwide movement attracting hundreds, and possibly thousands, of followers…
Tonight on Hidden Cults, we explore Desteni, the bizarre internet-era movement founded by Bernard Poolman in South Africa. Blending channeling, reptilian conspiracies, self-forgiveness rituals, and extreme mind-control ideology, Desteni attracted followers searching for truth, transformation, and f…
The Nation of Yahweh began in Miami in the late 1970s under the leadership of Yahweh ben Yahweh, born Hulon Mitchell Jr., who preached that Black Americans were the true Israelites of the Bible and that he was the chosen son of God sent to lead them. What started as a movement focused on identity, …
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Nik Hunter, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.
PODCAST SEARCH ENGINE
You can use our website to search 3,821,058 podcasts and 195,323,021 episodes by people, places, or topics.
If I have seen further than others, it is by listening to podcasts and standing upon the shoulders of
giants.
‐ Isaac "Llamacorn" Newton
PODCAST IS CLAIMED
This podcast page is claimed and managed by
@hidden_cults
EDIT
Thank you for helping to keep the podcast database up to date.
