Episode 2: Bad Grandpa
REAL
Naomi Channell
4.8 • 725 Ratings
🗓️ 29 January 2025
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
David Berg's 'Children of God' cult now had thousands of members across the globe. But he didn't want them to consume media from the outside world, so he produced his own.
He sent hundreds of letters, books and videos out to his followers, encouraging them to take part in deeply disturbing and abusive practices. Within this media, was the darkest children's tv show the world has ever seen... and it was being seen by thousands of children in the cult.
This is Bad Grandpa.
WARNING: This series contains descriptions of abuse against minors, sexual abuse, suicide and murder. Whilst the descriptions are not explicit, please take extra care whilst listening.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this podcast, please see the organisations below who can help and support you:
https://www.mind.org.uk/ - Mental health support
https://www.spuk.org.uk/ - Suicide Prevention UK
https://www.samaritans.org/ - The Samaritans
https://www.thesurvivorstrust.org/ - For people who have been the victim of sexual abuse (UK)
https://www.rainn.org/ - Sexual Abuse Support USA
https://988lifeline.org/ - Suicide Prevention USA
https://www.nasasv.org.au/support-directory - Sexual Abuse Support Australia
https://www.suicidepreventionaust.org/ - Suicide Prevention Australia
https://www.rcni.ie/useful-links/ - Sexual Abuse Support Ireland
https://www.pieta.ie/ - Suicide Prevention Ireland
https://www.thefamilysurvivaltrust.org/ - Support for cult survivors (UK)
https://www.peopleleavecults.com/services/support-groups - Support for cult survivors & Intervention (global)
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is a true crime podcast and is not suitable for all audiences. Please use discretion. |
| 0:07.9 | This series contains descriptions of sexual assault against minors, murder and suicide. Whilst the |
| 0:15.8 | descriptions are not explicit, please take extra care whilst listening. This is the second episode in a six-part |
| 0:25.4 | series. If you haven't listened to the first episode, please go back to the beginning so you can |
| 0:30.4 | follow along. David Berg was controlling the minds and actions of his followers in his organisation called the Children of God, |
| 0:41.2 | and he was doing so from a remote hideaway in Portugal. He was contacting his organisation through |
| 0:49.2 | letters and comics. There were over 130 different communes based in over 70 countries. And nobody was |
| 0:58.7 | questioning his teachings. So he became braver. He'd already got the women in the group |
| 1:04.9 | to prostitute themselves in order to entice men into the organisation. |
| 1:15.4 | But now, David wanted to interact with the children. |
| 1:22.2 | And he did so for a self-made TV show that he created called Life with Grandpa. |
| 1:32.3 | Life with Grandpa is, without a doubt, the most disturbing and deranged children's TV show that's ever been made. |
| 2:24.5 | I'm I'm Life with Grandpa, what can be more fun, living where there's love for everyone, |
| 2:28.4 | learning lessons each and every day. |
| 2:37.4 | The song you can hear is one of many that are part of the series Life with Grandpa. David Berg commissioned the show in the mid-80s and VHS tapes of this puppet-led series were sent to children in communes belonging to the |
| 2:45.9 | children of God across the world. David didn't allow any other media to be consumed by his followers. |
| 2:54.7 | He wanted to control everything they watched, read and listened to. |
| 2:59.3 | The format of the show was this, a family of humanoid puppets who were deeply religious |
| 3:06.0 | and would teach the viewer's life lessons through |
| 3:09.4 | musical numbers, sketches and stories. Grandpa was seen as the matriarch of the family. He had a long |
| 3:17.2 | white beard and looked like a very average Caucasian grandpa from the 1980s. He also had a wife who was known as Mother Maria |
| 3:27.3 | and three children, a girl named Davida and two boys called Tetchi and Davito. There were two |
... |
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