A Little Bit Culty

Family is supposed to be your safe place—but what happens when home is the original high-control group? In this episode, Alicia Markowitz, co-host of the Spanish-language podcast Familias Horribles, joins us to talk about growing up in an abusive family system, becoming the scapegoat, and slowly realizing that the “family rules” were really just coercion, control, gaslighting, triangulation, and a whole lot of “because I said so.”

Alicia gets refreshingly real about trauma, religious guilt, emotional and physical abuse, fawning, zero contact, and the terrifying business of choosing yourself after a lifetime of being told you’re the problem. We talk about how family cults mirror other high-control groups, how to recognize the red flags, why boundaries don’t magically work on narcissists, and how therapy, trusted people, good information, and a little hard-won self-compassion can help you rebuild the person you had to hide to survive.

Follow Alicia on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok @estoydemilado, and Familias Horribles on YouTube and Instagram.

Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of childhood abuse, physical violence, psychological and emotional abuse, narcissistic and controlling parents, family estrangement and zero contact, gaslighting, scapegoating, panic attacks, depression, trauma, and suicidal fear.

Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.

Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred

CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this summer bonus episode, we joined Claire Headley on Blown for Good: Scientology Exposed for a wide-ranging conversation about our new book, A Little Bit Culty: Navigating Cults, Control and Coercion, and the patterns that connect Scientology to other systems of power and control. We talked about love bombing, coercion, life after leaving, healing from high-control groups, and why learning to spot the red flags can save you from a lifetime of “but I thought this was normal?” nonsense.

Follow Blown For Good at blownforgood.com and The Aftermath Foundation at theaftermathfoundation.org. Also check out The SP Shop at thespshop.com and Claire Headley’s Substack, with updates on her book: substack.com/@claireheadley101

And follow the Blown For Good: Scientology Exposed podcast on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blown-for-good-behind-the-iron-curtain-of-scientology/id1671284503
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6NZGCcRjr8jQRFrqugdfJK

Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of religious trauma, coercive control, psychological abuse, manipulation, isolation, leaving a high-control organization, family estrangement, and harassment or retaliation.

Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.

Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred

CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In Part 2 with Alicia Duncan, we get into the really juicy stuff: the loaded language, the euphemisms, and the whole “don’t say the scary word or everyone clutch their pearls” universe around MAID. Alicia breaks down how terms like autonomy, dignity, and assisted dying get used as PR glitter, while the actual lived experience can look a lot more like coercion, gaslighting, and a bureaucratic escape room with no exit.

She also digs into the bigger system questions: who benefits, what safeguards are missing, why assessors aren’t held to a higher standard, and how financial and institutional incentives can shape decisions about life and death. Plus: the autopsy findings, the physiological effects of the drugs used, the push to expand MAID to people with mental illness and even mature minors, and why Alicia is on a mission to keep asking the annoying-but-necessary questions.

Watch Alicia’s episode on CBC’s The Fifth Estate on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plinQAHZRvk
Also be sure to pick up Alicia’s book, The Other Side of the Straitjacket, when it drops September 1st, and follow her on X, Instagram, or at aliciaduncan.com.

Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of suicide, medically assisted death/euthanasia, PTSD, mental illness, eating disorders, psychiatric hospitalization, coercion, gaslighting, institutional failure, and possible criminal negligence.

Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.

Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred

CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.

In this episode, we’re joined by Alicia Duncan for a conversation that takes ALBC somewhere new: not a traditional cult, but a deeply troubling story about coercion, undue influence, narrative control, and institutional power. Alicia shares what happened after her mother entered Canada’s MAID—Medical Assistance in Dying—program, and how a family already navigating COVID, concussion symptoms, mental-health struggles, caregiver burnout, and a seriously broken healthcare system ended up facing an unimaginable loss.

Alicia walks us through the red flags, the rushed timeline, the medical assessments, the police wellness check, the legal maze, and the privacy laws that kept her family—and even the police—from accessing the records they needed to understand what happened. We get into assisted dying, euthanasia, suicide, autonomy, safeguards, medical negligence, bureaucratic gaslighting, and the very uncomfortable question of what happens when a system designed to protect people becomes more invested in protecting itself. And because apparently one impossible paperwork nightmare wasn’t enough, Alicia’s spent years advocating for answers, investigating the first police-investigated MAID death in Canadian history, and trying to make sure other families don’t get the same “good luck, hope you enjoy the maze” treatment. You’ll want to stay tuned for Part 2.

Watch Alicia’s episode on CBC’s The Fifth Estate on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plinQAHZRvk
Also be sure to pick up Alicia’s book, The Other Side of the Straitjacket, when it drops September 1st, and follow her on X, Instagram, or at aliciaduncan.com.

Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of suicide, medically assisted death/euthanasia, PTSD, mental illness, concussion and traumatic brain injury, psychiatric hospitalization, coercion, medical trauma, family estrangement, caregiver burnout, institutional failure, and possible criminal negligence.

Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.

Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred

CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS:
See the reviews, see what stands out, and see if BetterHelp is right for you. Visit Betterhelp.com/culty.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the second half of our Cults to Consciousness bonus episode, the conversation gets even more practical: how to spot coercive control in real time, rebuild trust in your own intuition, and stop confusing love with obedience. We share more from our new book, A Little Bit Culty: Navigating Cults, Control and Coercion, including why survivor stories matter, how to talk about cultic experiences without re-traumatizing yourself, and what “healthy” can actually look like when your nervous system is still catching up.

Check out Cults to Consciousness on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok, and follow Shelise at sheliseannsola.com and on Instagram @sheliseann.

Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.

Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.
Check out our amazing sponsors
Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources
Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred

CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.