A Little Bit Culty

In Part 1, Julianna Glasse joins us for a conversation about what happens when a woman starts reading, questioning, and noticing the system she was raised to accept as absolute truth. Raised in the Christian Evangelical Free church by a pastor father and homeschool-teacher mother, Julianna describes the slow internal unraveling that began with philosophy, poetry, science, and one very memorable scooter accident that made her wonder whether everyone might be praying to the same thing—or whether we were all just making it up.

She shares how she went from a successful Christian singer, author, and teacher to quietly hiding books, questioning patriarchy and religious certainty, and eventually facing the enormous backlash that came when she chose self-actualization over conformity. We talk about information control, public shaming, character assassination, spiritual abuse, fundamentalism, religious trauma, deconstruction, and the difference between personal spirituality and institutions that claim exclusive access to God. Stay tuned for Part 2 on Thursday.

Be sure to read This Is What Happens When Women Read and follow Julianna on Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of childhood sexual and institutional abuse, religious trauma, fundamentalist Christianity, misogyny, coercive control, public shaming, death and rape threats, and homophobia.

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 paperback, ebook, or audiobook 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 and administrator: 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.

Suzanne Jordan is back for Part 2, and this one starts exactly where it needs to: the moment 24-year-old Suzanne braced herself in a doorframe and told Yogi Bhajan she thought of him like an old grandpa. We get the full story of his sexual advance, her refusal, his explosive rage, and the martial arts training that meant the next time he came at her—fists up—she dropped into a fighting stance and made him rethink his strategy. She left two weeks later at 5:00 AM, car full of white clothes she would never wear again, sobbing and screaming down the 10 freeway to freedom.

We also dig into the infrastructure that kept it all going: the 3HO reparation program that paid out settlements while never admitting wrongdoing, the failed “compassionate reconciliation” process that opened with a “Sat Nam” and re-traumatized survivors, the Kundalini Research Institute and its unverifiable prescriptive kriyas, the White Tantric Yoga VHS tapes conducting subconscious cleansing from beyond the grave, and how Yogi Tea and grant money keep the organization financially afloat while attendance collapses. Suzanne draws a sharp distinction between 3HO and actual Sikhism—a conflation that does a disservice to Sikhs worldwide—and makes a passionate case for why victims who were also complicit deserve space to tell the truth rather than take it to their graves.

Be sure to read Suzanne’s memoir, The Deviant Daughter, follow her at SuzanneJordan.com and check out the Yogi Bhajan Kundalini abuse Facebook page and Beyond the Cage, a private Facebook group.

Also look out for the documentary, Long Time Sun, by Fifth Season in the US, and check out Suzanne’s Yogi Bhajan Smack Down: https://youtu.be/1qKVh7RHUG4?si=alqvTl-CDyMBhW7t

Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of sexual assault, attempted rape, physical violence, coercive control, sex trafficking, and survivor accountability dynamics.

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 paperback, ebook, or audiobook 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 and administrator: 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.

Suzanne Jordan joins us for a deep dive into her time in the early days of 3HO, Kundalini, and the world built around Yogi Bhajan. She shares how childhood trauma, family rupture, Omega House, and a desperate search for safety and belonging created the perfect runway into an ashram that initially looked like a wholesome new family, with yoga, vegetarian food, chanting, and a suspiciously effective café.

Suzanne takes us from her first exposure to 3HO through marriage, spiritual bypassing, tough love, and the increasingly impossible gymnastics required to reconcile Yogi Bhajan’s public teachings with his abuse of power. We also discuss Omega House, Yogi Bhajan, 3HO, Kundalini, Pamela Dyson and her book Premka, which helped crack open the truth for longtime devotees, along with Suzanne’s own memoir, The Deviant Daughter. Stay tuned for Part 2 on Thursday.

Follow Suzanne at SuzanneJordan.com and check out the Yogi Bhajan Kundalini abuse Facebook page and Beyond the Cage, a private Facebook group.

Also look out for the documentary, Long Time Sun, by Fifth Season in the US, and check out Suzanne’s Yogi Bhajan Smack Down: https://youtu.be/1qKVh7RHUG4?si=alqvTl-CDyMBhW7t

Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of childhood trauma, troubled-teen programs, emotional, physical, religious, spiritual, and child abuse, sexual grooming, assault, and violence, coercive control, and suicide.

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 paperback, ebook, or audiobook 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 and administrator: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin

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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 of our conversation with Sean Miller, we get into the messy business of figuring out what to keep—and what to leave behind—after spending 36 years as a Jehovah’s Witness. Sean talks about the anger, grief, and identity crisis that came with leaving, and how learning to incorporate the good parts of his past without excusing the harmful ones helped him move forward. We dig into the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ handling of sexual abuse allegations, shifting positions on medical care and mental health, and the mindfuck of discovering that the people and institution demanding impossible standards from you don’t always hold themselves to those same standards.

We also talk about how Sean found a way to rebuild through art. He shares the inspiration behind his book Novice Enthusiasm, his comic project Kinsugi, and his goal of creating a roadmap for anyone trying to reconnect with their creativity after religious trauma. Plus, we get into the surprisingly culty potential of AI and one very committed—and ridiculous—Jehovah’s Witness parking-lot grift involving the magic number 1914. Because apparently deconstruction can be healing and useful at the beach.

Be sure to pick up Sean’s book, Novice Enthusiasm: Belief, Rebuilt. Built One Line at a Time, visit his website, SeanGregoryMiller.com, and follow him on Instagram @seangregorymiller.

Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of religious trauma, domestic and sexual abuse and institutional cover-ups, mental health, coercive control, grief, and estrangement from family.

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 paperback, ebook, or audiobook 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 and administrator: 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.

Sean Miller grew up as a Jehovah's Witness golden boy—son of a highly respected elder, raised in what he calls a nearly perfect JW family, and groomed from infancy to be the best Witness in the room. The only problem? Nobody asked Sean. He wanted to shred guitar and make art, but was too busy passing an invisible bar exam at five years old, with love that felt conditional on performance.

We get Sean's full origin story: how a rock band, a spiritually feisty Pentecostal girl, and a forbidden relationship got him disfellowshipped the first time—which, for the uninitiated, means treated like you're dead by everyone you've ever known, effective immediately. He got reinstated, got married, started a family, and lasted about 10 more years before his ex-wife picked up Crisis of Conscience and blew the lid off everything. Cue the Australian Royal Commission testimony on child sexual abuse within the Jehovah's Witnesses, the laundry folding, the sobbing, and the full worldview collapse.

We also get into the ex-JW community, cult hopping, and the real danger of trying to fill the cult-shaped hole in your heart. Part 2 brings the book, the art, and the constructive use of all that very justified anger.

Be sure to pick up Sean’s book, Novice Enthusiasm: Belief, Rebuilt. Built One Line at a Time, visit his website, SeanGregoryMiller.com, and follow him on Instagram @seangregorymiller.

Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of shunning, child sexual abuse institutional cover-up, and religious coercion.

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 paperback, ebook, or audiobook 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 and administrator: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS:
Go to https://OmahaSteaks.com and use promo code CULTY at checkout for $35 off. Minimum purchase may apply.

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