Esoterica

Pope warns Vatican staff an ‘elegant demon’ lurks among them

Pope Francis warned Vatican bureaucrats on Thursday to beware the devil that lurks among them, saying it is an “elegant demon” that works in people who have a rigid, holier-than-thou way of living the Catholic faith.

Francis used his annual Christmas greeting to the Roman Curia to again put the cardinals, bishops and priests who work in the Holy See on notice that they are by no means beyond reproach and are, in fact, particularly vulnerable to evil.

Francis told them that by living in the heart of the Catholic Church, “we could easily fall into the temptation of thinking we are safe, better than others, no longer in need of conversion.”

. . .

Beyond that, Francis appeared to also want to take broader aim at arch-conservatives and traditionalists who have become the pope’s biggest critics. Francis blasted their way of living the faith, insisting that being Catholic doesn’t mean following a never-changing set of dicta but is rather a “process of understanding Christ’s message that never ends, but constantly challenges us.”

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Hot Mess Express: Karen Unterreiner on Dating Keith Raniere

We all have exes we wish we could forget—the narcissists, the psychopaths, the ruthless, small-handed cult leader currently serving #120years in prison. It’s a tale as old as time! But few people have lived that story quite like Karen Unterreiner did when, at only 18-years-old, she became romantically intertwined with Keith Raniere. Over the next 40 years, she’d go on to become a top level NXIVM trainer, a key figure of the Executive Success Programs’ leadership committee, and an overseer of administration (bookkeeping) and IT.

Now free of Raniere’s coercive control (read: fuckery), Unterreiner has spent the last five years recovering and discovering her true self. For today’s episode, we spoke with her about dating an actual monster, how NXIVM functioned as a company, (and why it was messy), and whether or not the technology they used was actually any good, or more like rubbing two sticks together.

Episode available since December 26, 2022

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Parent Traps: Diane Dierks & Dr. Rick Voyles on Co-Parenting Dilemmas

If conflict resolution were easy, North and South Korea would no longer be at war, Princes Harry and William would be enjoying tea time together, and videos of irate plane passengers losing their God damn marbles would no longer fill our TikTok feeds. But we all know that resolving or letting go of hot blooded arguments is no easy task. Enter licensed marriage and family therapist Diane Dierks with Dr. Rick Voyles, the CEO of the Center of Dispute Solutions, and their fabulously insightful podcast “Co-Parent Dilemmas,” which aims to provide practical solutions to families struggling with co-parenting.

We’re lucky to have these two experienced smarties on the show with us to discuss a specific and controversial topic: what some refer to as “the alienating parent,” which relates heavily to one of our favorite topics on this show (although least favorite things in like, “real life”), the cult of one. Now, the National Center for State Courts defines parental alienation as “a strategy whereby one parent intentionally displays to the child unjustified negativity aimed at the other parent.” But why has the term brought up some of that good ol’ conflict we mentioned amongst clinicians today, dividing those who use the term and those who refuse to? And what effects does it have on the children themselves? Tune in and learn with us…or we’re going to have our own conflict to resolve!

Episode available since December 19, 2022

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Perfect Prey: Dr. Christine Cocchiola on Coercive Control

The Latin root for the word “coercive” literally means to surround, encompass, restrain, confine, and so on. So what does “coercive control” look like in real life, you ask? Well, it could involve isolating someone away from friends and family, depriving them of basic human needs (food, water, etc.), humiliating them, managing someone else’s finances, and the like. If it’s a shitty way of controlling another human, like having an invisible chain wrapped around their ankles, it’s coercive control. If you want a pop culture reference, look no further than Britney Spears’ “Toxic” family usurping her finances and personal agency for her nearly 14-year conservatorship.

But does it still feel abstract? Then you need to listen to today’s episode, complete with special guest Dr. Christine Cocchiola, a coercive control advocate, researcher, educator, and survivor, (meaning she’s able to speak on the subject from both personal and scholarly levels). During our talk, she breaks down how narcissism, shame, egos, and “perfect preys” play out with everyone from romantic partners to people in power, such as cult leaders.

Are you perhaps being controlled by someone without even realizing it? Maybe! Could that be detrimental to your life! Absolutely! So tune in to find out.

Episode available since December 12, 2022

Esoterica

Rare cosmic collision acted like one of the ‘factories of gold’ in the universe

“When we followed this long gamma-ray burst, we expected it would lead to evidence of a massive star collapse,” Fong said. “Instead, what we found was very different. When I entered the field 15 years ago, it was set in stone that long gamma-ray bursts come from massive star collapses. This unexpected finding not only represents a major shift in our understanding, but also excitingly opens up a new window for discovery.”

Neutron stars are compact cosmic objects, so researchers never expected them to contain enough material to create a gamma-ray burst that could last nearly a minute.

The explosion occurred in a galaxy about 1 billion light-years away from Earth. Since the event happened relatively close, astronomically speaking, astronomers used multiple telescopes to glean unprecedented detail.

“We found that this one event produced about 1,000 times the mass of the Earth in very heavy elements. This supports the idea that these kilonovae are the main factories of gold in the Universe,” said Dr. Matt Nicholl, an associate professor at the University of Birmingham in the UK and coauthor of one of the Nature Astronomy studies, in a statement.

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The Redeemer: Cathrine Moestue on Shame & Radical Identity Change

If you could be a part of the team that ends world hunger, wouldn’t you be? That’s what Cathrine Moestue thought she was signing up for back in 1984 and 1985, when the then 19-year-old moved from Oslo, Norway to the outskirts of Stockholm, Sweden, and met an English teacher who claimed he knew how to end the devastating famine taking place in Ethiopia at the time. The man told her he was from Paraguay and was the leader of a revolution. The rest, my friends, is culty history.

Today, Moestue is a clinical psychologist, as well as the author of chapter 11 in the book Radicalization; Phenomenon and Prevention that came out in Norway, and parts of her own story are also featured in the book FAR OUT by Charlotte McDonald Gibson.

Episode available since December 05, 2022

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Stolen Innocence: Elissa Wall on Growing up FLDS (Part 1)

Many people became aware of the horrors taking place within the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (if you were really in touch with God s/he’d have given you a better name) after watching Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey on Netflix. Our guest on today’s show, Elissa Wall, had to live through them.

Born into a polygamous family within Salt Lake City, Utah’s FLDS—which is how we’ll be referring to it from here on out— Wall was only 14 when church leaders orchestrated a marriage between the child and her 19-year-old cousin, Allen Steed. Unfortunately, such marriages were insanely frequent within the church, with girls as young as 12-years-old being groomed and forced to marry older men. Much of this is thanks to human trash can Warren Jeffs, president and prophet of the FLDS, who can also add convicted child rapist to his list of titles. At one point, Jeffs had 78 “wives,” 24 of whom were children. Now, he’s serving life in prison, with no small help from Elissa Wall.

Wall’s autobiography is titled, Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs. The book became a New York Times bestseller and is a fascinating but heart wrenching look into the truly fucked up world of Warren Jeffs.

Episode available since November 28, 2022

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Spot A Spider: Dr. Amy Saltzman on Identifying Webs of Abuse

Fact: Studies suggest that one in four females and one in six males are sexually abused before the age of eight. What the actual fuck? So there must be tons of material out there educating children on what abuse looks like, and what they should do if they are abused, right? Wrong—such resources have been virtually non-existent thus far. Today’s guest and actual angel on Earth (but not in a culty way), Dr. Amy Saltzman, is working on changing that with her Spot a Spider series, designed specifically for children and teenagers to help identify when abuse is actually taking place—something that’s far less obvious than one might think.

Dr. Amy Saltzman is a former competitive gymnast, a physician, a mindfulness coach, author, and victim/sur-thrivor of decades of covert emotional abuse.

Episode available since November 21, 2022

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Toxic All-Around: Melanie Hunt & Kim Shore on Abuse in Canadian Gymnastics

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Our guests today want you to know that culty shit is rampant in high performance gymnastics, and it didn’t all magically go away with Larry Nassar’s prison sentence. How are these abusive creeps still slipping through the system and continuing to get access to young athletes? How do you protect your kid from harm if they develop a passion for the sport? Kim Shore is the founder of Gymnasts for Change Canada, a collective that emerged on the heels of the #metoo movement in 2017 after several former elite athletes publicly shared their experiences of abuse. She’s joined by fellow advocate and former Canadian national team gymnast Melanie Hunt, who is sharing her own grisly account of psychological, physical, and sexual abuse at the hands of her coaches during her fifteen-year career. The duo chats with us about their stories and their shared mission of eradicating abuse from the sport that they love. Because the scariest thing about gymnastics should be the balance beam. This episode is a must-hear for parents who are raising student athletes in any sport, but be warned: It’s not easy listening. Audience discretion advised.

Episode available since November 14, 2022

Esoterica

Detective Leah Remini Just Dropped Another Scientology Bombshell

When Remini left the church, she said her “first goal” was to find her missing friend. “In 2013, after I left Scientology, I filed a missing person’s report with the LAPD on Shelly,” Remini began. “By the time I filed the report, it had been nearly eight years since I had seen or heard from Shelly.” She recalls being told she “didn’t have the rank” to ask about Shelly, when Remini inquired as to why she wasn’t present at Cruise’s wedding. “Shelly was always with her husband. She was his shadow, not only because she was married to him but also because she was his top aide. For her not to be in attendance was not only unusual but also unimaginable.”

Mere hours after filing the report, Remini said she found out the case had already been closed via the press, and the LAPD was uncooperative when she prompted them for further information. “When I asked if detectives had spoken to or had seen Shelly themselves, I was told that was “classified” by the LAPD,” she tweeted. “I was told to file a public record request if I wanted further information. I spent $50k in attorneys fees filing various requests. My requests for information from the LAPD were shut down. I still don’t know anything about the circumstances of this investigation,” she continued.

The most unsettling detail in the thread, however, is Remini’s memory of meeting with LAPD veteran Cory Palka. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because Palka is currently being investigated for his close (read: entirely inappropriate and deeply suspect) relationship with CBS and its besmirched CEO, Les Moonves. Palka is alleged to have colluded with Moonves and other executives in fighting a former employee’s accusations that Moonves had sexually assaulted her.

. . .

Palka, Remini recalls, was the officer to whom she filed the report about Shelly. Even then, she suspected he had ties to the institution. “When I met with Cory Palka about Shelly, he had a letter on his desk thanking him for all his help with Scientology matters and inviting him to come and have lunch, as a guest, at the Celebrity Center.”

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Leaving the Fold: Dr. Marlene Winell on Religious Trauma Syndrome

Dr. Marlene Winell knows all too well that exiting a controlling religion can trigger a devastating life crisis. As a college student, she moved away from the fire and brimstone fundamentalist Christianity she was raised in, and the fallout of her exodus was so dramatically upending that she felt compelled to dedicate her life’s work to studying the very phenomenon that she’d later coin: ‘Religious Trauma Syndrome.’ In this episode of A Little Bit Culty she chats with us about symptoms that arise in response to traumatic or stressful religious experiences, and what can be helpful along the road to recovery after leaving the fold.

More About Our Guest:

Dr. Winell is a psychologist, educator, and writer whose background includes 30 years of experience in human services, in both community and academic settings. She holds a doctorate in Human Development and Family Studies from Pennsylvania State University and is the author of Leaving the Fold: A Guide for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving their Religion. Leaving the Fold has become a leading self-help book in the field of religious recovery - and examines the effects of authoritarian religion (namely fundamentalist Christianity) on individuals who leave the faith. She’s also the founder of Journey Free organization, which is dedicated to helping people transition out of harmful religions, recover from trauma, and rebuild their lives. We’ve developed programs for both individuals and groups. If you are recovering from religious harm, we have great respect for your strength and courage. Please know that you are not alone and things can get better.

Episode available since November 07, 2022