Speaking of Cults
A podcast about cults, coercive control and recovery. Formerly called the Sensibly Speaking podcast, in this weekly show host Chris Shelton interviews cult survivors, psychologists and other professionals and specialists about the topics of cult recruitment, retention and recovery.
Episodes
Episodes
Saturday Aug 21, 2021
The Origins of QAnon
Saturday Aug 21, 2021
Saturday Aug 21, 2021
This week I welcome Gavin Fox to help explain more about the origins of QAnon on 4chan/8chan and the jump to mainstream social media. We have a wide ranging discussion about this and hope it helps bring some more clarity to what is a very unclear and bizarre movement. Enjoy!
The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #308: The Origins of Qanon appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.
Saturday Aug 14, 2021
Sensibly Speaking Podcast #307: Jon Atack is Opening Our Minds
Saturday Aug 14, 2021
Saturday Aug 14, 2021
This week I welcome back channel favorite Jon Atack to discuss more aspects of Hubbard and Scientology as well as get an overview of Jon’s new book, Opening Our Minds and some thoughts on predators and critical thinking. Enjoy!
Jon’s book on Amazon
The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #307: Jon Atack is Opening Our Minds appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.
Saturday Aug 07, 2021
Sensibly Speaking Podcast #306: The Cult of QAnon
Saturday Aug 07, 2021
Saturday Aug 07, 2021
This week I’m giving a sort of QAnon 101 for my viewers. It may be that we’ll do more episodes about QAnon depending on the feedback to this one. Here I talk about QAnon’s origin story, the fascinating mechanics behind how it evolved and some of the more obvious cultic aspects of how it is organized and how its followers have become extremists. I cover a lot of territory. Enjoy!
Washington Post article
The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #306: The Cult of QAnon appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.
Saturday Jul 31, 2021
Sensibly Speaking Podcast #305: Scientology Personnel Craziness
Saturday Jul 31, 2021
Saturday Jul 31, 2021
This week I welcome back Ciprian Ivanof to help me dissect Scientology’s organizational and personnel craziness. This week we offer some commentary on Hubbard’s most advanced lectures on administration and then get into some war stories I have about how we used Scientology in handling staff and Sea Org members. We cover a lot of territory. Enjoy!
The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #305: Scientology Personnel Craziness appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.
Saturday Jul 17, 2021
Zara Kay and Faithless Hijabi
Saturday Jul 17, 2021
Saturday Jul 17, 2021
This week I welcome special guest Zara Kay, founder of Faithless Hijabi and a woman with a story to tell about her persecution as an ex-Muslim in her homeland of Tanzania last year. She is now safe and back home in Australia, but little thanks to the Australian government. We go over all the details of her ordeal and what she is doing as a hands-on activist to help ex-Muslims. Enjoy!
Faithless Hijabi website
The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #304: Zara Kay and Faithless Hijabi appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.
Saturday Jul 03, 2021
Sleep Deprivation and Stress in the Sea Org
Saturday Jul 03, 2021
Saturday Jul 03, 2021
This week I welcome back Ciprian Ivanof to help me discuss Scientology’s kind of nuts management culture and organization. This week we focus on sleep deprivation and stress and we had a lot to say. Enjoy!
The post Sensibly Speaking #302 – Sleep Deprivation and Stress in the Sea Org appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.
Saturday Jun 26, 2021
Scientology, Clearwater and the City Council ft. Aaron Smith-Levin
Saturday Jun 26, 2021
Saturday Jun 26, 2021
This week I welcome back Aaron Smith-Levin so we can give some updates on Clearwater and Scientology including some future campaigning Aaron himself will be doing for the City Council later this year. Enjoy!
The post Sensibly Speaking #300: Scientology, Clearwater and the City Council appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.
Saturday Jun 19, 2021
Beat (A Survivor’s Story) with Hannah Prosser
Saturday Jun 19, 2021
Saturday Jun 19, 2021
This week I welcome Hannah Prosser, a survivor of childhood domestic and religious abuse who was involved with the Haldeman Mennonites in Muddy Pond, Tennessee. Her story is at times heartbreaking and horrifying but is ultimately a survivor’s story of escape and recovery which she now wants to share with the world in her first-ever interview about her life. She has just published a book about her life, Beat and is now working on how to best move forward to prevent this sort of abuse from happening to others.
The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #300: Beat with Hannah Prosser appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.
Your Host
Hello, my name is Chris Shelton and I am an author, consultant, podcaster, videographer, and former cult member. Welcome to my podcast!
Who is Chris Shelton?
Chris started a YouTube channel which has over 45,000 subscribers, produces the Sensibly Speaking podcast each week and has produced hundreds of videos laying out the scam of Scientology, educating on critical thinking and interviewing former members of Scientology and other destructive cults, as well as a range of therapists, cult exit counselors, educators and media personalities. Chris has also given talks and presentations around the United States about his experiences and has been featured on numerous podcasts and television shows. He was featured on Leah Remini’s Scientology and the Aftermath on A&E and served as a consultant to the show for its first two seasons. He has also written a critical analysis of Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard called Scientology: A to Xenu – An Insider’s Guide to What Scientology is Really All About, available on Amazon in printed form, e-book format and as an audio book.