Shira was the youngest of seven, the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, and riddled with guilt. Because growing up Orthodox Jewish in Brooklyn, she wasn't supposed to question the life she'd been given.

But she did.

And the incessant amount of rules didn't help: Cover your knees. Cover your elbows. Don't wear anything too bright. Don't wear pants. Don't eat cheeseburgers. (Burgers are cool, though.) Don't question. Collars buttoned to the top. She even had to wash her strawberries a certain way.

And then the blessings... A blessing the moment you open your eyes. A blessing before every sip of water. Another when you're done. A special cup to wash your hands before bread, no talking until you've blessed it, and a five-minute blessing when you're done eating it. (Pastries get their own blessing, of course.)

But some rules weren't simply arbitrary. And as Shira got older, some rules cut deeper.

Marry within your community. Cover your hair once married. Sit separately from the men. Accept that men mattered more. Their voices counted. Their presence counted. Their authority counted. Women were expected to cover up, quiet down, marry young and have babies.

Shira is a singer, and in her world, women weren't allowed to sing in front of men. Or touch men they wasn't related to. Or even count toward the ten people needed for communal prayer.

And it wasn't dating an outsider that finally broke her free. It was one heartbreaking experience that left her questioning everything she'd ever been told was true.

But it would be almost three decades before that would happen. And along the way, somehow the girl who had spent her childhood wanting out kept trying to make herself fit in.

Because getting away from the community was one thing.

Risking losing the people she loved was something else entirely.

But when your menstrual cycle can end with your underwear in a rabbi's hands…

well, eventually you might find yourself asking:

Wait… was I in a cult?

______________

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When we left Evie, she had just landed in Germany with Mary and Liam on a mission from "the gods" to save the world… only to have her money, passport, ID and credit cards disappear almost immediately.

And then somehow, things manage to only get worse from there.

With Evie now stranded in a foreign country, Mary takes on the role of her self-appointed "manager," setting income demands, controlling her schedule and eventually pushing her to sell her body in more ways than one... all to do what?

Give all her earnings to pay for the group to live, of course. All of it.

So how does one go from small town Texas to eventually asylum housing in Germany?

Listen to find out. This is Part 2 of Evie's wonderfully bizarre, funny, and heartbreaking story. And the moment she finally begins asking the question at the center of this entire show: "Wait, was I in a cult?"

____

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Evie was only 17 when she met Mary. First, Mary was her friend. Then her girlfriend. Then her friend again. And eventually... her cult leader.

Evie didn't know it then, but apparently there was something about Mary.

Something that got Evie to mess around with pagan rituals like a couple of bored teenagers in Texas... and eventually got Evie to complete missions from "the gods," practice astral projection, and take direction from a water spirit named Flo. All in the name of "saving Texas."

And then somehow...

... got her to QUIT HER JOB, get rid of her WORLDLY POSSESSIONS, and MOVE TO GERMANY to SAVE THE WORLD.

This is Part 1 of 2. And this is only the beginning of where this experience takes our wonderful earnest guest with an infectious laugh, Evie. So be sure to stick around for Part 2 next week.

____

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By high school, church wasn't just Shannon McElroy's faith, it was her community and her future. She was going to be a Christian counselor.

Then her youth group took her to something called "Acquire the Fire": a massive Christian youth conference that was part rock concert, part revival, and for Shannon, one hell of a spiritual high.

Before long, she'd be leaving college to join Teen Mania's Honor Academy. A year-long "internship" in rural Texas that promised purpose, ministry, and a chance to change the world. All she had to do was pay hundreds of dollars a month for the privilege of working for them... for free.

All she had to do was pay hundreds of dollars a month for the privilege of working for them... for free.

As you can imagine, what Shannon thought she'd signed up for was not exactly what she got.

Like the retreat where they simulated a prison and made her do wall sits. For Jesus.

And that was just one of their so-called "Life Transforming Events."

Now, to be fair, they did transform her. Just not the way it said in the brochure.

Twenty-five years later, Shannon, now a professor, therapist and social worker, still finds herself untangling from what one very intense year at Teen Mania instilled in her.

__________

FOLLOW SHANNON
Website → mendedbeing.com
Instagram → @mendedbeingcounselingllc
Facebook → Mended Being

More Teen Mania stories → Recovering Alumni

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Daniella Mestyanek Young was born three generations deep into the Children of God and today, she finally gets out.

At 15-years-old, she lands in Texas with no real education, no money and no friggin' idea how life on the outside works.

But true to form, she badasses her way through it. And excels.

Somehow, the girl who escaped one extreme, hierarchical world becomes an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army, deploys to Afghanistan, and helps make history for women in combat.

But on her very first day of basic training she thinks:

"Oh... I've joined another cult."

Part Two of Daniella's incredible story is about what happens after you escape.

Because getting out of a cult is one thing.

Figuring out who the hell you are once you're free is another.

_________

FOLLOW DANIELLA
Her website → Knitting Cult Lady
Instagram → @daniellamyoung_
YouTube → @KnittingCultLady
Her books, Uncultured and The Culting of America → here

FOLLOW US
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TikTok → @wasiinacult

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Join our Patreon!
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Boll & Branch makes organic cotton sheets woven to keep you cool all night.
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Free shipping and 365-day returns → quince.com/cult

Daniella Mestyanek Young was born three generations deep into the Children of God, yet somehow, that was only the beginning.

She would go on to become a US Army intelligence officer, help make history for women in combat, become Harvard educated in organizational psychology, and write two books.

But first, she had to survive her childhood.

In Part One, Daniella takes us inside the Children of God world she was born into: child labor, child performers, massive communes, David Berg's increasingly deranged teachings, and a family history so complicated Daniella has a name for it... sex cult math.

And one rainy day at 12 years old, one casual comment from her mother about glasses changed what Daniella thought she knew about her own family forever.

_________

FOLLOW DANIELLA
Her website → Knitting Cult Lady
Instagram → @daniellamyoung_
YouTube → @KnittingCultLady
Her books, Uncultured and The Culting of America → here

FOLLOW US
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TikTok → @wasiinacult

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At 21, Stephanie Vaughn wanted to make some extra money. Then she won a "raffle" at her gym for a free case of energy drinks.

Lucky her, that free case won her entry into one of the biggest and most influential MLMs in the world...

AMWAY.

And the Amway lead her to the LTD, the Amway-affiliated training organization Stephanie says would eventually take over nearly every part of her life.

For nine years, Stephanie chased the promise of becoming a "Diamond": financial freedom, early retirement, and the life she was told was waiting for her if she just worked hard enough.

Instead she endured control on every level, including how much she slept, when she could visit family and even... who she was allowed to love.

FOLLOW STEPHANIE

Instagram: @steph.vaughan

TikTok: @steph.vaughan

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When Audrey finally left in 2020, she thought the separation from her siblings would be temporary. Six years later, nine of them are still living in the family home, cut off from their big sister.

So now Audrey has stopped waiting.

She's taking matters into her own hands, finding increasingly creative, and at times risky, ways to remind her siblings that she's still out there... that there is life beyond the front door.

A big, messy, beautiful world they've barely been allowed to see. And when they're ready to walk into it, their big sis will be there, waiting with open arms.

FOLLOW AUDREY
Follow her story as it unfolds → TikTok @audreyinreallife

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Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) → patreon.com/wasiinacult

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