Christian Patriarchy: "The OG 'Trad Wife'"
Was I in a Cult?
Liz Iacuzzi
4.5 • 3.5K Ratings
🗓️ 4 May 2026
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Four hours into a hostage situation between a man and a woman, the man walks out the door. In that moment, the woman's primal instinct kicks in: "Grab your kids and RUN."
Later, she learns that action may have saved her life. He wasn't just leaving. He was going to get a gun. And the man? It was her husband.
At 33-years-old, Tia Levings walked away from the Christian Patriarchy system that dictated her body, her voice, and her life for 13 years.
If there were ever a guest who embodies the entire ethos of this show, it's Tia Levings. A badass is an understatement.
Now a New York Times bestselling author of "A Well-Trained Wife" and featured in "Shiny Happy People," Tia joins us to unpack:
'Trad wives' and how this movement is far from just churned butter on Instagram. The wedding night she finally has language for. The daughter she lost. How, and more importantly why, the Christian Patriarchy movement has surged over the past decade.
And her new book. "I Belong to Me." The survival guide she wishes she had access to when she first got out. It's now our #1 recommendation for anyone leaving a high-control group. A non-judgmental, non-preachy, non-guru self-help book? Who knew?!
Tia is brilliant, funny, and unflinchingly honest. And if you leave with one thing, let it be her words: "If you can't speak in your power, you can't f*ck in your power."
NOTE to our Patreon subscribers:
You can watch the full, unedited two-and-a-half-hour interview with Tia now on our Patreon. Thank you for being on this journey with us.
Website: tialevings.com
Socials @TiaLevingsWriter: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook
Substack: tialevings.substack.com — where she does real-time religious deconstruction
TIA'S BOOKS:
"I Belong to Me: A Survivor's Guide to Recovery and Hope After Religious Trauma"
"A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy" (now in paperback)
FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult
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HAVE A CULTY STORY?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The views, information, or opinions expressed by the guest appearing in this episode solely |
| 0:04.4 | belong to the guest and do not represent or reflect the views or positions of the hosts, |
| 0:09.4 | the show, podcast one, this network, or any of their respective affiliates. |
| 0:15.3 | When you're in the cult, you're constantly avoiding discomfort, you're dissociating from it, and healing means you're going to look at it, and you're going to hold it, and you're constantly avoiding discomfort, you're dissociating from it, and healing means you're going |
| 0:22.9 | to look at it, and you're going to hold it, and you're going to hopefully overcome it. |
| 0:27.7 | So that means you have to be willing to look in the dark rooms and the parts of your character |
| 0:32.3 | that fell for it and or are reacting. |
| 0:35.7 | Of course, you were reactive. |
| 0:37.0 | You were stirred up and jabbed at every single day by someone who is high control. |
| 0:41.1 | It's almost impossible to heal in that environment. |
| 0:43.7 | And so you have to leave it in order to heal from it. |
| 0:57.7 | Welcome back to our show, everyone. |
| 0:58.8 | I'm Tyler Meesam. |
| 0:59.5 | Hey, guys. |
| 1:01.0 | I'm Liz Ayacuzzi. |
| 1:02.8 | Liz is joining us south of the border. |
| 1:03.8 | I am. |
| 1:07.3 | I'm in Mexico and I'm a happy person right now. |
| 1:08.6 | And she's never happy. So this is all it takes. Leave America. Be happy. |
| 1:14.6 | But we're more, we're more happy because we're back with you. Yes. After a very long few weeks, |
| 1:22.1 | didn't it feel so long. It was so long. I just had to pull out my microphone and spew music facts to no one. It's a very humbling, |
| 1:30.3 | very humbling. Kind of what I think I do on this show. But nonetheless, we're back. |
... |
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