Cult Chat - the new kiwi cult awareness podcast by PlainsFM

Join Dr Caroline Ansley, Lindy Jacomb and Liz Gregory as they traverse the cultiverse. Journey with them as they unpack the cult playbook, talk to leavers of coercive and controlling groups in New Zealand, and share their stories. On Cult Chat our hosts talk with experts to gain greater understanding of cultishness and call for Kiwis to cult-proof their lives. Cult Chat is a home-grown Kiwi podcast where each of the hosts are uniquely positioned to host a survivor-centric podcast, bringing their individual experiences of high control groups to the conversation.

 

Our hosts have each spent years advocating for awareness, education and safety for survivors of harmful groups, and have had their own challenges in the cultisphere.

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Cult Chat - a culty collaboration

Lindy founded the Olive Leaf Network in 2023, a volunteer-run charity that seeks to provide aid and advocacy for former members of high-demand religious groups in Aotearoa, and to raise awareness about their experiences.  Lindy was born and raised in the Exclusive Brethren (now Plymouth Brethren Christian Church) and was excommunicated after leaving at 20 years old.  With lived experience of religious trauma and spiritual abuse, a deep interest in the sociology of religious idealism and a passion for advocacy for the wounded, Lindy is thrilled to be part of Cult Chat. 

In 2015 Caroline founded the Centrepoint Restoration Project. The project aims to support child survivors and to advocate for acknowledgement and accountability for the harm that happened at Centrepoint. She is passionate about highlighting concerns for former and current children of high-demand groups, in particular where abuses are  apparent.  With personal childhood experience of harm at Centrepoint, Caroline was interviewed in the 2021 TVNZ docu-drama “Heaven & Hell: The Centrepoint Story” which won Best Director Documentary/Factual in the New Zealand TV Awards 2021.  With her deep care for the vulnerable, her experience as a medical health professional, and her quiet resistance towards systems of power that enable abuse, Dr. Caroline is a gentle force to be reckoned with on Cult Chat. 

 

Liz founded the Gloriavale Leavers Support Trust after years of informally supporting and  working with leavers from Gloriavale. She now manages this charitable trust, providing ongoing support to Gloriavale leavers as they integrate into wider society and rebuild their lives.  She also actively advocates for changes in social services and government action to better protect New Zealanders from structures that enable harmful group control. Liz’s enthusiasm, passion for change,  and roll-your-sleeves-up attitude to the messiness of tricky societal situations makes her a delightful part of the Cult Chat trio.

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Follow Cult Chat on Facebook, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and PlainsFM

Join us on our adventure around the cultiverse whichever way works for you. You can subscribe and follow the fortnightly episodes through Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or you can listen through the PlainsFM website, the community radio station where the podcast is made with the support of NZ on Air funding.

You can also follow or like the Cult Chat facebook page for regular additional content, and links to the episodes, and an opportunity to become part of our community of listeners. Please leave a review or comment to let us know what you think of the podcast, or what you might like to hear in the future.