Was I In A Cult?

When we got the email inviting us to interview journalist Natalie Robehmed about her new CBC + Campsite Media podcast, Allison After NXIVM, we weren’t sure what to do. Talking about Allison Mack — someone who caused very real harm, including to people we’ve had on this show - is complicated.  And honestly? We didn’t want to accidentally platform or sanitize that harm. But then we listened. And what we found wasn’t a redemption story. It was complexity. It was discomfort. It was a journalist tracing how someone can be both a victim and a perpetrator. In this conversation, Natalie takes us behind her interviews with Allison: childhood exploitation, Hollywood pressures, the hunger to be “the best,” and the dynamics of NXIVM’s inner circle that turned all of that into something horrifying. We’re not here to tell you how to feel about Allison Mack. But we are here to sit in the space where victimhood and violence blur - the space where a person realizes the monster they were running from is the one they learned to be. FOLLOW US For more culty content - follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult LISTEN TO "ALLISON AFTER NXIVM"  Hear Natalie's full 7-part investigation into Allison Mack (or search Allison After NXIVM wherever you get your podcasts. SUPPORT THE SHOW If you believe in what we’re doing - shining a light on manipulation, coercion, and the messy psychology behind it - please rate, review, and share the podcast.  Want to be part of our inner circle? Join us on Patreon for ad-free episodes, bonus content, and our eternal gratitude for helping us keep these stories alive. HAVE A CULTY STORY? We’d love to hear from you - drop us a line at [email protected]. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

She survived a violent polygamist cult. She survived a husband who collected wives like property. She survived the blood atonement doctrine that stalked her childhood like a shadow. But this is the part of Pamela Jones’s story where she does the impossible: she runs. In this final chapter of our three-part series, Pamela plans an escape nearly as dangerous as the life she’s leaving behind—nine children in tow, no legal paperwork for half of them, almost no money, and the very real fear that leaving could mean death. This episode isn’t just about leaving a cult. It’s about rebuilding an identity from scratch. It’s about motherhood as revolution. It’s about reclaiming a life she was told she never owned. And it’s the story of what Pamela built on the other side—freedom, love, a business, and a legacy that’s inspiring other women to walk out of the same darkness she escaped. Her transformation is staggering. Her resilience is unforgettable. Her ending is exactly what she deserved. Pamela’s memoir, The Dirt Beneath Our Door, is linked in the show notes. _____________ FOLLOW US For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW If you believe in what we’re doing (and want to help us keep shining light on the dark corners of control and charisma), please rate, review, and share the podcast. It helps more than you know. Want to go deeper down the rabbit hole? Join us on Patreon for ad-free episodes, bonus content, and our eternal gratitude for helping us keep these stories alive. HAVE A CULTY STORY? We’d love to hear from you — drop us a line at [email protected]. CONNECT WITH PAMELA JONES You can follow Pamela Jones — speaker, author, survivor, and all-around badass — here:Her Book: The Dirt Beneath Our DoorWebsiteLinkedInInstagramFacebook See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In Part Two of Pamela Jones’ extraordinary story, the so-called “escape” she dreamed of at fifteen turns into a new kind of prison. After growing up under the violent rule of the LeBaron brothers — a murderous offshoot of Mormon fundamentalism — Pamela marries young, believing it will be her salvation. Her husband David doesn’t just take her innocence — he takes her freedom, her home, and her dignity. She raises babies on rationed potatoes, lives under the threat of blood atonement, and tries to stay safe inside a community run by fear, hierarchy, and men who call their control “God’s will.” But years later, and many sister wives later, something in Pamela begins to shift. A spark. A voice. A quiet rebellion forged from decades of silence. This is the part of her journey where the cracks in the doctrine begin to show… and where Pamela realizes the only person coming to save her is herself. Next week: the escape — across a border, across a belief system, and into a life she was never meant to reach. ____________ FOLLOW US For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW If you believe in what we’re doing (and want to help us keep shining light on the dark corners of control and charisma), please rate, review, and share the podcast. It helps more than you know. Want to go deeper down the rabbit hole? Join us on Patreon for ad-free episodes, bonus content, and our eternal gratitude for helping us keep these stories alive. HAVE A CULTY STORY? We’d love to hear from you — drop us a line at [email protected]. CONNECT WITH PAMELA JONES You can follow Pamela Jones — speaker, author, survivor, and all-around badass — here:Her Book: The Dirt Beneath Our DoorWebsiteLinkedInInstagramFacebook See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

She was born into one of the most dangerous polygamist cults in modern history — led by the infamous Ervil LeBaron, aptly nicknamed “The Mormon Manson,” a man who believed in murder for salvation. Her father had eleven wives, fifty-seven children, and a thousand secrets. This is Pamela Jones. She was six when she became a caretaker. Eleven when she learned to fear bullets. And fifteen when she thought marriage might save her. It didn’t. But what makes her story unforgettable isn’t just the horror she survived — it’s the woman she became after it. In this first episode of her stunning three-part story, Pamela pulls back the curtain on the LeBaron cult and shows us how she found light, power, and freedom in the rubble. Because sometimes, the ones born into darkness become the ones who burn the brightest. FOLLOW US For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW If you believe in what we’re doing (and want to help us keep shining light on the dark corners of control and charisma), please rate, review, and share the podcast. It helps more than you know. Want to go deeper down the rabbit hole? Join us on Patreon for ad-free episodes, bonus content, and our eternal gratitude for helping us keep these stories alive. HAVE A CULTY STORY? We’d love to hear from you — drop us a line at [email protected]. CONNECT WITH PAMELA JONES You can follow Pamela Jones — speaker, author, survivor, and all-around badass — here:Her Book: The Dirt Beneath Our DoorWebsiteLinkedInInstagramFacebook See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

**Note: This episode originally aired in September 2021. Stick around til the end for a catch up interview with Daniel 4 years later.** With rockstar aspirations, Daniel O'Brien wasn't looking for anything but a good time. But when heartbreak rocked his world, he tripped into something that lifted his spirits and rallied his hopes - the Jehovah's Witnesses. Before he knew it, Daniel had traded his guitar for a green Bible and found himself rapidly rising through the ranks of the religion. A wife, and two kids later, he was a fully indoctrinated, high ranking Elder in the church. But when Daniel realizes that he's part of a life much different than the one he originally signed up for, he knows that he must leave. The only problem is... he can't. _____ FOLLOW US For more culty content, follow us on Instagram & TikTok: → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW If you believe in what we’re doing — please rate, review, and share the podcast. It helps more than you know. And if you’d like to go a step further, join us on Patreon. You’ll get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and our eternal gratitude for helping us keep these conversations going. → Join us on Patreon. HAVE A CULTY STORY? We’d love to hear from you. → [email protected] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.