David Farrier - Conspiracies, Cults, and Investigating Arise Church
Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation
Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts
4.5 • 2.6K Ratings
🗓️ 14 January 2026
⏱️ 73 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
This week, Trust Me is joined by David Farrier, journalist and filmmaker known for documentaries like Tickled and Netflix series Dark Tourist. He shares about his work studying strange subcultures and conspiracy theorists and what he’s learned along the way, and then dives into his investigation into Arise Church, the largest megachurch in New Zealand.
David explains how his interviews with ex members revealed the church’s systemic pattern of exploiting harrowing unpaid internships--with work hours that led to multiple members having mental breakdowns. He discusses the financial exploitation and sexual assault cover-ups that occurred, how it all got exposed, and what became of the church. Plus: a couple of tangents, including one about Hell House, the Christian church-run haunted house that simulates hell to scare you into joining.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is exactly right. |
| 0:07.5 | Trust me. |
| 0:08.8 | Do you trust me? |
| 0:10.6 | Would I ever lead you astray? |
| 0:12.1 | Trust me. |
| 0:13.1 | This is the truth. |
| 0:14.2 | The only truth. |
| 0:15.6 | If anybody ever tells you to just trust them, don't. |
| 0:19.4 | Welcome to Trust Me, the podcast about cult's extreme belief and manipulation from two |
| 0:24.1 | dark tourists who have actually experienced it. |
| 0:26.7 | I am Loa Blanc, of course. |
| 0:28.3 | And I'm Megan Elizabeth? |
| 0:29.5 | Of course. |
| 0:30.9 | Am I? Question mark? |
| 0:31.6 | It's a question. |
| 0:32.9 | Who are you really, Megan? |
| 0:35.3 | I don't know. |
| 0:35.9 | Today our guest is David Ferrier, journalist and filmmaker known for documentaries like |
| 0:39.8 | Tickled and the Netflix series Dark Tourist. |
| 0:42.6 | He'll tell us about some of his work studying strange subcultures and conspiracy theorists |
| 0:46.5 | and what he's learned along the way. |
| 0:48.1 | And then he'll delve into his investigation into a rise church, the largest megachurch in New Zealand, |
... |
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