Joshua Paddison: Unraveling America’s First Sex Cult Scandal (Part 1)

A Little Bit Culty

Sarah Edmondson & Anthony “Nippy” Ames

True Crime, Society & Culture, Education

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 20 October 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This episode is sponsored by Betterhelp.

Today’s guest is Joshua Paddison, a US historian, author, and bona fide expert in the wild world of American cults, spiritualist communes, and utopian experiments. Josh spent years hunting down primary sources and unearthing the surprising connections between 19th-century scandal, religious innovation, and the birth of cult culture as we know it. His tale includes international intrigue, breathwork mystics, spiritual seekers, and even sex scandals that laid the groundwork for the culty headlines we see today. If you’ve ever wondered about the OG roots of groupthink, word salad, or how the term “cult” even came to exist, buckle up—Josh is here to serve up the history lesson you never got in school, and stay tuned for more in Part 2 of our conversation.

Be sure to pick up Joshua Paddison’s book, Unholy Sensations: A Story of Sex, Scandal, and California's First Cult Scare.

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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. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.

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CREDITS:

Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames

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Transcript

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0:29.8	This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal, medical,
0:34.6	or mental health advice. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily
0:38.2	reflect the official policy or position of the podcast and are not intended to malign any religion,
0:42.9	group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone, or anything.
0:58.1	I'm Sarah Edmondson.
1:01.2	And I'm Anthony Nippy Ames, and this is a little bit culty.
1:06.4	We woke up from a cult, and that journey was captured in The Vow on HBO and in my memoir, Scarred.
1:18.7	Now, in this podcast, we break down the shame and secrets that make these experiences so destructive with honest conversations on how seemingly benign groups can cross into the cultiverse and how to spot and recover from trouble if it happens to you.
1:26.0	Each week, we bring an expert, survivors, and whistleblowers to explore red flags, resilience, and even share a few laughs because sometimes you got to laugh.
1:28.7	Subscribe to our Patreon for early and ad-free listening,
1:32.9	some live Q&A and exclusive content at patreon.com slash A Little Bit Culty.
1:35.6	Welcome to Season 8 of A Little Bit Culty.
1:40.1	Seeking down to the depths of the ocean.
1:50.0	Hanging on to win my love. I like all I could leave, but I don't know.
1:53.6	Welcome back to a little bit culty, everyone.
2:00.0	Today's guest is Joshua Patterson, a historian of American religion and professor at Texas State University.
2:05.2	With a PhD from UCLA, Josh has authored over 10 books and articles, including his latest work, Unholy Sensations, a story of sex, scandal, and California's first cult scare.
2:11.4	From the book insert. In 1891, a suffragist and social reformer named Elzeir Chevalier,
2:17.3	Chevalier, launched a moral crusade to destroy
2:20.1	Fountain Grove, a utopian spiritualist community in Northern California. Chevalier accused the colony's
	...

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