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Liz Iacuzzi

Hosted by Tyler Measom and Liz Iacuzzi, Was I In A Cult? is a documentary-style podcast showcasing individuals who have been in, and most importantly, successfully left a cult. Told first-hand by the experiencer themself, these are raw, riveting and inspirational tales of what it means to be a survivor. Using levity and info-tainment, the show humanizes the cultic experience and may leave some of our listeners asking themselves "Wait, Was I In A Cult?"

If you or someone you know has been in a cult and want to share your story, contact us at info@wasiinacult.com. We'd love to hear from you.

Was I In A Cult?

A dear friend of the show, Hoyt Richards, who we had on the show back in 2023, has a new HBO docuseries "Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult" featuring his story. We caught up with Hoyt to discuss everything. But before we air that, we're going to re-releasing our original three-parter we did on his incredible story. 
 
Before the footage, before the headlines, before the world could see the jawline for themselves, Hoyt shared his story with us. 
 
Listen here, watch the doc, and come back next week for our brand-new interview with Hoyt about what it's like to have a hit documentary about your very personal life out there for the world to see. 
 
THIS IS PART 2 ... 
 The now quasi-famous group takes it to the next level. They get a name, a book, a show, a hit song, and a distant star doomsday getaway. Hoyt, meanwhile, becomes his own star, modeling for millions but returning home to sleep on the floor. All is going well (or so they think) until the group puts a well-known phrase to the test. Is there really no such thing as bad press?
 
FIND HOYT:
 
 • Website (speaking, blog & cult-recovery resources): 
 https://www.hoytrichards.com Instagram: @hoytrichardsofficial 
Watch his new HBO docuseries
 
 "Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult" — directed by Chris Smith (Fyre, Bad Vegan, American Movie), streaming now on HBO Max.
___________________________________
 
 
FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult

 
SUPPORT THE SHOW
 Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude)
 
 
 
HAVE A CULTY STORY?

 
Email us → info@wasiinacult.com

[ENCORE] Eternal Values - Pt2: "Vanity Un-Fair"

A dear friend of the show, Hoyt Richards, who we had on the show back in 2023, has a new HBO docuseries "Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult" featuring his story. We caught up with Hoyt to discuss everything. But before we air that, we're going to re-releasing our original three-parter we did on his incredible story. 
 
Before the footage, before the headlines, before the world could see the jawline for themselves, Hoyt shared his story with us. 
 
Listen here, watch the doc, and come back next week for our brand-new interview with Hoyt about what it's like to have a hit documentary about your very personal life out there for the world to see. 
 
THIS IS PART 1 ... 
 It was 1978, and the effortlessly handsome Hoyt Richards was a 16-year-old football talent summering in Nantucket. Chasing girls and free beer was about all on this young boy's mind. So when he meets a man on the beach who was rumored to throw great parties, Hoyt thinks nothing of it. Little did Hoyt know & he had just come face-to-face with a budding cult leader that would take his life in a direction he never could've dreamed. 
FIND HOYT:
 
 Website (speaking, blog & cult-recovery resources): https://www.hoytrichards.com Instagram: @hoytrichardsofficial 
Watch his new HBO docuseries
 
 "Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult" — directed by Chris Smith (Fyre, Bad Vegan, American Movie), streaming now on HBO Max.
___________________________________
 
 
FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult

 
SUPPORT THE SHOW
 Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude)
 
 
 
HAVE A CULTY STORY?

 
Email us → info@wasiinacult.com

[ENCORE] Eternal Values - Pt1: "A Man From Nantucket"

A dear friend of the show, Hoyt Richards, who we had on the show back in 2023, has a new HBO docuseries "Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult" featuring his story. We caught up with Hoyt to discuss everything. But before we air that, we're going to re-releasing our original three-parter we did on his incredible story. 
 
Before the footage, before the headlines, before the world could see the jawline for themselves, Hoyt shared his story with us. 
 
Listen here, watch the doc, and come back next week for our brand-new interview with Hoyt about what it's like to have a hit documentary about your very personal life out there for the world to see. 
 
 
 
THIS IS PART 3 ... 
 The final part of Hoyt Richards' incredible journey into and out of a UFO doomsday cult. The damning Vanity Fair article throws Hoyt's family into chaos as they attempt to intervene. And right when you think he might finally be getting out, his fellow brothers go to extreme lengths to keep their financial backer from leaving. And it works. Until it finally doesn't. Thank you again, Hoyt. He is a brave and inspirational human, and we loved having him on the show.
 
FIND HOYT:
 
 Website (speaking, blog & cult-recovery resources): https://www.hoytrichards.com Instagram: @hoytrichardsofficial 
Watch his new HBO docuseries
 
 "Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult" — directed by Chris Smith (Fyre, Bad Vegan, American Movie), streaming now on HBO Max.
___________________________________
 
 
FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult

 

 SUPPORT THE SHOW

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

 
HAVE A CULTY STORY?

 
Email us → info@wasiinacult.com

[ENCORE] Eternal Values - Pt3: "To Thine Own Self"

As Cassie on Skins and Gilly on "Game of Thrones," Hannah Murray spent years stepping into other people's pain, other people's stories, other people's worlds. But after shooting a brutal scene for a film that left her body wrecked, Hannah went looking for relief.
 
A trainer suggested a healer. And that healer became the doorway into a world that promised magic, ancient wisdom, secret knowledge, and above all, a way to finally heal the pain Hannah had been carrying around for years. 
 
And as these things so often go, at first it worked.
 
Until it really, really didn't.
 
Hannah is a dream guest. Thoughtful, funny, self-aware, and deeply honest. Her memoir, "The Make-Believe: A Memoir of Magic and Madness," tells the full story, and it is as gripping as it is beautifully written.
 
_________________________
 
Hannah's Memoir:
 
"The Make-Believe: A Memoir of Magic and Madness," is out June 23 in the U.S. and available now in the UK.
 
FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult

 
SUPPORT THE SHOW
 Join our Patreon! Tyler's documentary "An Honest Liar" available now for all members! And get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude)
 
 
 
HAVE A CULTY STORY?

 
Email us → info@wasiinacult.com

The Organization: "Magic is Real"

*CONTENT WARNING: *This episode contains discussions of child marriage, sexual assault, domestic abuse, homelessness, parental abandonment, and religious trauma. Please take care while listening.*
 
Married off by her mother at thirteen. Abandoned in India. Sent back to America at sixteen with a one-way ticket and a hundred dollars.
 
Part 2 picks up where the unthinkable left off, and follows Vilas through what comes after, which turns out to be harder, stranger, and more devastating than anyone could prepare for. But also braver, more defiant, and darkly funny. 
 
 
 
This is a story about what happens when no one is coming to save you. About strangers who showed more decency than your own family. About becoming a mother while still needing one. About breaking every cycle you were raised inside. And about why, in 2026, child marriage is still legal in most of the United States.
 
Today, Vilas uses her experience to advocate for children and raise awareness about the lasting impact of child marriage and childhood trauma.
 
This is the final chapter to her remarkable story of resilience and reclamation. A true badass, she is.
 
_____
 
FIND VILAS:
 
Website: vilaswright.com
 Instagram: @vilaswright / Facebook: @vilas.wright
 
END CHILD MARRIAGE — GET INVOLVED:
 
 Unchained at Last — Advocacy and direct services to end forced and child marriage
 
 Tahirih Justice Center — Legal services protecting those fleeing gender-based violence
 
 Equality Now — Global action to end legal inequality for women and girls
 
 AHA Foundation — Protecting women and girls from forced marriage and honor violence
 
___________________________________
 
FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult

 
SUPPORT THE SHOW
 Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude)
 
 
 
HAVE A CULTY STORY?

 
Email us → info@wasiinacult.com

Hare Krishna—Pt2: "Thank You For Not Drowning Me in a Bucket"

*CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains discussions of child abuse, child sexual abuse, rape, child marriage, neglect, religious trauma, and family trauma. Please take care while listening.*
 
Born into the Hare Krishna Movement aka ISKCON, Vilas was supposed to be part of a "pure" new generation of devotees.
 
Instead, she was sent away at three years old, raised in boarding schools and temples across the world, taught that suffering was holy, comfort was indulgent, family attachment was weakness, and obedience was the only way back to God.
 
From Los Angeles to Iran to India, Vilas's childhood was shaped by silence, neglect, impossible rules, and adults who kept choosing devotion over protection.
 
Part 1 takes us behind the chanting, robes, and airport flowers into the devastating cost of growing up inside a movement that promised divine love, while denying a child the human kind.
 
 
 
FIND VILAS: 
 
Instagram: @vilaswright / Facebook: @vilas.wright
 
___________________________________
 
FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult
 
SUPPORT THE SHOW
 Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude)
 
 
 
HAVE A CULTY STORY?
 Email us → info@wasiinacult.com

Hare Krishna—Pt1: "Who Gives This Child Away?"

NOTE: This episode discusses sex, sexual exploitation, coercion, and sexual abuse. 
 
What happens when female empowerment, Silicon Valley startup culture, spiritual enlightenment, and clitoral stroking walk into a fluorescent-lit conference room?
 
You get OneTaste.
 
In this episode, we sit down with Bloomberg investigative journalist Ellen Huet, author of Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult, to unpack the rise and fall of OneTaste, the orgasmic meditation company founded by Nicole Daedone that promised connection, healing, and transformation through a 15-minute partnered orgasm practice called OM (Orgasmic Meditation).
 
But behind the language of liberation and "turn-on" were allegations of sexual coercion, financial exploitation, sexual abuse, forced labor, and a belief system that taught members their discomfort was just something to push through on the path to enlightenment. 
 
Ellen walks us through how her 2018 investigation helped expose the darker side of the company, the criminal case that followed, and why OneTaste's story is not just about sex. It's about power, belonging, manipulation, and the very human longing to be seen.
 
 
 
FIND ELLEN: 
 
Instagram: @ehuet 
 
Book: Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult 
 
Bloomberg: bloomberg.com/authors/ASmGayS_jTQ/ellen-huet__
 
___________________________________
 
FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult
 
SUPPORT THE SHOW
 Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude)
 
 
 
HAVE A CULTY STORY?
 Email us → info@wasiinacult.com

OneTaste: "Empire of Orgasm"

CONTENT WARNING: This episode discusses sexual assault. Not in graphic detail, but please listen accordingly.
 
For 19 years, Lizzie Ens lived in one of the most conservative Amish sects in America: the Swartzentruber Amish. Last week you learned about her upbringing and all facets of living a life off the grid with no electricity, no indoor plumbing, and very little autonomy over her own life.
 
In Part 2, the horse-and-buggy postcard version of Amish life disappears fast.
 
Lizzie takes us inside the bizarre dating ritual called "bundling," and into the darker corners of the community — sexual assault, shunning, suppression, and the impossible weight of knowing that leaving means leaving everything behind. Including her twin sister.
 
Eventually, she realizes something terrifying: if she doesn't escape now… she may never escape at all.
 
 
 
What follows is one of the wildest escape stories we've ever covered.
 
__________________________________
 
RESOURCES:
 
 RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) Bailing Out Benji 
__________________________________
 
FIND LIZZIE:
 
Instagram: @lizzieens_wellness / TikTok: @lizzieh_wellness
 
Book: Amish Renegade: The Anthropology of an Amish Girl Turned Global CEO
 
Website: undietyou.com
 
_____________________________________
 
FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult
 
SUPPORT THE SHOW
 Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude)
 
HAVE A CULTY STORY?
 Email us → info@wasiinacult.com

Swartzentruber Amish — PT2: "Promoted to Wearer of Jeans"

Many people picture a peaceful, technology-free life of butter churning, candle making, and horse-drawn buggies. But for today's guest, the reality behind the plain dresses and pastoral image was far more restrictive, and far more dangerous.
 
Lizzie grew up in one of the strictest Amish sects in the country: the Swartzentruber Amish. No electricity. No indoor plumbing. No music. No photographs. No Rumspringa. And absolutely no preparation for life outside the community.
 
In this first part of a two-part conversation, Lizzie shares what it was like growing up under intense control, the rigid rules imposed on women, and how isolation and fear kept members obedient. She also opens up about the early cracks in her belief system—and the impossible choices that eventually led her to attempt an escape.
 
 __________________________________
 
FIND LIZZIE:
 
Instagram: @lizzieens_wellness / TikTok: @lizzieh_wellness
 
Book: Amish Renegade: The Anthropology of an Amish Girl Turned Global CEO
 
Website: undietyou.com
 
_____________________________________
 
FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult
 
SUPPORT THE SHOW
 Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude)
 
 
 
HAVE A CULTY STORY?
 Email us → info@wasiinacult.com

Swartzentruber Amish — PT1: "Promoted to Housework"

Four hours into a hostage situation between a man and a woman, the man walks out the door. In that moment, the woman's primal instinct kicks in: "Grab your kids and RUN." 
 
Later, she learns that action may have saved her life. He wasn't just leaving. He was going to get a gun. And the man? It was her husband.
 
 At 33-years-old, Tia Levings walked away from the Christian Patriarchy system that dictated her body, her voice, and her life for 13 years.
 
If there were ever a guest who embodies the entire ethos of this show, it's Tia Levings. A badass is an understatement.
 
Now a New York Times bestselling author of "A Well-Trained Wife" and featured in "Shiny Happy People," Tia joins us to unpack: 
 
'Trad wives' and how this movement is far from just churned butter on Instagram. The wedding night she finally has language for. The daughter she lost. How, and more importantly why, the Christian Patriarchy movement has surged over the past decade.
 
 And her new book. "I Belong to Me." The survival guide she wishes she had access to when she first got out. It's now our #1 recommendation for anyone leaving a high-control group. A non-judgmental, non-preachy, non-guru self-help book? Who knew?!
 
Tia is brilliant, funny, and unflinchingly honest. And if you leave with one thing, let it be her words: "If you can't speak in your power, you can't f*ck in your power." 
 
NOTE to our Patreon subscribers:
 You can watch the full, unedited two-and-a-half-hour interview with Tia now on our Patreon. Thank you for being on this journey with us.
 FIND TIA: 
Website: tialevings.com
 
Socials @TiaLevingsWriter: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook
 
Substack: tialevings.substack.com — where she does real-time religious deconstruction
 
TIA'S BOOKS:
 
"I Belong to Me: A Survivor's Guide to Recovery and Hope After Religious Trauma"

 "A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy" (now in paperback)
 
 
 
FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult
 
SUPPORT THE SHOW
 Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude)
 
 
 
HAVE A CULTY STORY?
 Email us → info@wasiinacult.com

Hare Krishna—Pt2: "Thank You For Not Drowning Me in a Bucket"

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