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A Little Bit Culty

Attachment Theory: Dr. Alexandra Stein on Terror, Love & Brainwashing

A Little Bit Culty

Sarah Edmondson & Anthony “Nippy” Ames

True Crime, Society & Culture, Education

4.62.7K Ratings

🗓️ 13 December 2021

⏱️ 82 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A Little Bit Culty – Think you’re immune to culty shit? Dr. Alexandra Stein begs to differ. She’s one of the world’s leading experts on ideological extremism and dangerous social relationships, and she makes a very convincing case that under the right set of circumstances almost anyone can be radically manipulated to engage in otherwise incomprehensible and often dangerous acts. In this episode, she joins us to discuss her experience as a former cult member, and the relationship between neuroscience, attachment, and indoctrination. More about today’s guest: Alexandra Stein, Ph.D. is a social psychologist, writer and educator specializing in cults, totalitarianism and extremism. She is currently a visiting research fellow at London South Bank University and has previously taught at Birkbeck University of London, Westminster University and the University of Minnesota. Dr. Stein is a trustee of The Family Survival Trust, a UK charity working to raise awareness about cults and support those affected. She is the author of two books: Terror, Love and Brainwashing: Attachment in Cults and Totalitarian Systems, and Inside Out, a Mmemoir of Entering and Breaking out of a Minneapolis Political Cult. Learn more about her work at her official website and follow her on Twitter @alexandraistein ~ The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything. ~ A Little Bit Culty is proud to support the #IGOTOUT project, which empowers survivors of cultic abuse to share their stories online as a catalyst for education, prevention, and healing. Learn more at igotout.org ~ For more information on A Little Bit Culty and co-hosts Sarah Edmondson and Nippy “Anthony” Ames, visit our official website at alittlebitculty.com. Follow us on Instagram & Twitter @alittlebitculty ~ CREDITS: Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames Production Partner: Citizens of Sound Producer: Will Retherford Associate Producer: Jess Tardy Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin Additional Music Score by Will Retherford Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

The views and opinions expressed by a little bit culty are those of the hosts

0:04.1

and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast.

0:08.1

Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion

0:13.2

and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization,

0:17.6

business individual, anyone or anything.

0:19.8

Hey everyone, I'm Sarah Edninson.

0:31.5

Hi, I'm Anthony Aims Sarah's husband, aka Nippy.

0:34.4

And we're here to talk about things that are just a little bit culty.

0:38.6

We were in a cult and we woke up and it was all captured in a

0:42.4

docu-series called the Bow on HBO, also in my memoir, Scarred.

0:46.4

And then we made this podcast. I guess you'd say we're technically a cult show now.

0:50.8

But not your typical cult show. We're not so much about the grizzly details.

0:54.4

We are about kicking the doors down on the shame and the secrets that make these

0:58.8

culty things so destructive. We're here to have frank conversations about how cool things can

1:03.6

cross over into the cultiverse. How does spot trouble when you see it and what

1:07.4

happens when it comes to recovering from something culty if that happens to you?

1:11.1

Each week we'll call on experts, advocates, fellow survivors and whistleblowers to help us

1:16.2

unpack what's going on in the cultiverse. We're here to share what we know on everything

1:20.2

from red flags to resiliency and to have a few laughs along the way. Because sometimes,

1:25.0

you gotta laugh. Thank God. Now we have a lot to cover, so let's get this show rolling, shall we?

1:29.9

A little bit culty season two drops new episodes every Monday on the Acast app,

1:34.4

or wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode.

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