Akina Cox - Part 1: Unification Church, Mass Weddings, and Unpaid Labor

Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation

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True Crime, Talk Radio, Comedy, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 30 July 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

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Summary

Artist and writer Akina Cox shares about her childhood growing up in the Unification Church, also known as the Moonies. They discuss the background of the church and its late leader Reverend Moon, how her parents both joined after hitchhiking in the 70s, and what it was like growing up in the group.

She shares how it felt participating in a mass wedding ceremony, moving to the border of North and South Korea, and the stark contrast between Reverend Moon’s lavish lifestyle and the unpaid labor demanded of members. Plus, how going to college sparked her first real doubts about the church, and the Unification Church’s surprising financial ties to American politics.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is exactly right.
0:07.4	Trust me. Do you trust me?
0:10.5	Would I ever lead you astray?
0:12.1	Trust me.
0:13.0	This is the truth. The only truth.
0:15.5	If anybody ever tells you to just trust them, don't!
0:19.3	Welcome to Trust Me, the podcast about cultts, extreme belief, and manipulation from two
0:24.1	future brides who've actually experienced it.
0:26.8	I am Lola Blanc.
0:27.8	And I am Megan Elizabeth.
0:29.8	Today, our guest is Akina Cox, artist and writer who grew up in the Unification Church,
0:34.4	also known as the Moonies.
0:36.1	In part one today, we'll talk to her about the background
0:38.3	on the church and leader Reverend Moon, how her parents both joined by getting rides from members
0:43.4	in the 70s and getting a subsequent invitation to dinner, and what it was like being a member of
0:48.1	this group growing up. She'll tell us about the mass wedding ceremony that she participated in,
0:53.7	how her family moved to the border
0:55.3	of North and South Korea, the lavish lifestyle the Reverend Moon was living while its members
1:00.7	were often working long hours without pay, and how she began to question the church when she went
1:06.2	to college. And next week in part two, we will talk more about our current political landscape and the salon article she wrote about the parallels she sees between her upbringing and a cult and the Trump administration's ice crackdowns.
1:18.9	Before we get to our guests, we do have a big announcement.
1:23.0	What is it, Lola?
	...

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