Joshua Paddison: Unraveling America’s First Sex Cult Scandal (Part 2)

A Little Bit Culty

Sarah Edmondson & Anthony “Nippy” Ames

True Crime, Society & Culture, Education

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 22 October 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Think cult scandal is just a modern phenomenon? Think again. In Part 2, historian Joshua Paddison unpacks America’s original sex cult, Fountain Grove—complete with group bathing, soulmate mysticism, financial abuse, and a scandal that turned “cult” from a neutral word into a headline-grabbing accusation. Josh guides us through all the weirdness: the rise and fall of Thomas Lake Harris, survivor red flags, bitter public smear campaigns, historical cover-ups, and the jaw-dropping parallels between 1890s California communes and today’s cult headlines. Plus: why California became cult central, how cult terminology shapes survivor stories, and what historians wrestle with when labeling new religious movements. This one’s got epic takedowns, wild twists, and enough historical intrigue to keep you curious for days.

Be sure to nerd out on Josh’s book, Unholy Sensations: A Story of Sex, Scandal, and California's First Cult Scare.

Also…let it be known that:

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

Production Partner: Citizens of Sound

Co-Creator: Jess Tardy

Audio production: Will Retherford

Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore

Writer: Sandra Nomoto

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Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin

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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.
1:44.7	Hanging on to win my love. I, everybody to part of the part of I was-cult story actually was at Fountain Grove
2:04.1	in Santa Rosa, California. Tell us all about it. What happened? What did Chevalier find there?
2:10.5	Here's what's important, Josh. Normally, we have a survivor story. We can't do that here.
2:14.5	You're going to represent her journey. She went in because she was a seeker
2:19.1	and she wanted to grow and she heard it with this great mystic. What were some of the red flags
2:23.5	that she saw along the way that she would later realize were indications of something nefarious
2:28.4	going on? So she spent the summer of 1891 in Santa Rosa with Harris and his followers. And there were about 30 total followers
	...

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