Hear from ‘Bad Vegan’s’ Sarma to Scientologist whistleblowers: ‘A Little Bit Culty’ dives deep into the can’t-look-away world of modern cults
Sarah Edmondson and Anthony “Nippy” Ames met and fell in love in a self-help organization. Only, it turned out to be the infamous mega-cult, NXIVM. They managed to escape together, and on the way out, they helped shut it down. You can hear their story as NXIVM whistleblowers on the HBO docu-series The Vow, which hones in on the group and its enigmatic leader, Keith Raniere.
Now, they host their podcast, “A Little Bit Culty,” where they speak with other former cult members and whistleblowers along with experts on cultic abuse and coercive control. From toxic religions to the troubled teen industry, MLMs, and even Bad Vegan, “A Little Bit Culty” is a wealth of knowledge on the so-called cultiverse.
Now with three seasons and over 40 episodes, “A Little Bit Culty” shows no signs of slowing. In every episode, Sarah, Nippy, and guests explore different cults and cult-like groups over the course of an hour-long episode. The two also speak with advocates and clinicians who share steps towards recovery for those who found themselves sucked into these groups.
Hear about cults you know and ones you’ve never heard of. “A Little Bit Culty” speaks with people who were in groups like the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement and the Twin Flames Universe – those who found themselves under the influence of Bentinho Massaro or were swayed by MLMs like LuLaRoe.
They speak with people like former-Scientologist-turned-Scientologist-mythbuster Jon Atack about avoiding human predators and recognizing manipulation and abusive relationships. Dr. Alexandra Stein joins them to talk about the relationship between neuroscience, attachment, and indoctrination.
As one of the world’s leading experts on ideological extremism and dangerous social relationships as well as a former cult member, she explains why she thinks no one is immune to manipulation or cult tactics.
Much like the podcast “Sounds Like A Cult” (whose co-host Amanda Montell has been featured multiple times), this show dives into things that aren’t exactly cults but are simply “A Little Bit Culty.” With Amanda, they’ve touched on when fans become fanatics and take on cult-ish tactics. They’ve spoken to people like “Snapped” podcast host Lucy Taylor about Greek life, who left her sorority “after seven months inside a toxic stew of rampant sexual assault, slut-shaming, misogyny, and racism.”
And maybe you’ve heard of a little Netflix documentary called Bad Vegan. The docuseries follows the story of celebrity restaurateur Sarma Melngailis from her meteoric rise to fame as a vegan chef to her disturbing fall from grace.
If you’ve watched the documentary, then you know that her story is heartbreaking, wild, and nearly unbelievable. But some people, including the employees that may never see the money she owes them, aren’t sure whether they believe her. She eventually pled guilty to stealing over $2,000,000 from investors, scheming to defraud, and criminal tax fraud charges.
Bad Vegan tells the story of how she became entwined with her now ex-husband Anthony Strangis, a gambler who gaslit her out of millions of dollars. He weaved intricate stories about his past life, which involved the CIA, secret identities, and many people wanting him dead, and even promised that he could make her dog live forever in order to con her out of everything she was worth.
Sarah and Nippy sit down for an exclusive, 90-minute-long interview with Sarma about the things Netflix didn’t air. They talk about what drew her to Anthony, the man who ended up being a serial con-artist and career criminal who abused and manipulated multiple women.
As survivors and whistleblowers themselves, Sarah and Nippy are always asking interesting questions to give listeners a deeper look inside the inner-workings of various cults and extremist groups.
Every episode of “A Little Bit Culty” is full of valuable information on how to spot abusive tactics and recover from them. Sarah and Nippy are extraordinarily informative, respectful, empathetic, and even delightfully funny in their podcast “A Little Bit Culty.”
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