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A Little Bit Culty

A Little Bit Culty

By: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony “Nippy” Ames
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Summary

 Think you might be in a cult? Want to know the signs? Join Sarah Edmondson and Anthony “Nippy” Ames to talk about things that are..a little bit culty. Or in their case: a whole bunch of culty. As whistleblowers documented in the critically-acclaimed HBO series “The Vow,” Sarah and Nippy have a lot to say about their experience, and burning questions to ask people with similar stories. They’re here to help people understand, heal from, and avoid abusive situations one little red flag at a time. Listen in as they share their stories, have frank and unscripted conversations with other survivors and cult experts, and do a deep dive on how devotion can turn to dysfunction.© © 2022 A Little Bit Culty Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Where Are They Now? Isabella Constantino on Post-NXIVM Healing and Identity (Part 2)

    Where Are They Now? Isabella Constantino on Post-NXIVM Healing and Identity (Part 2)
    May 7 2026

    In Part 2 of our Where Are They Now? series with Isabella Constantino, we spill more on NXIVM, Keith Raniere, and the long shadow of cult recovery. Since first sharing her story, Isabella has been doing the brave, messy, non-linear work of rebuilding: untangling identity, processing trauma, and figuring out who she is outside a high-control group that once shaped so much of her early adult life.


    We talk about healing after coercive control, the surprises of post-cult growth, what still lingers years later, and how freedom isn’t always one big movie-ending moment, but a thousand small choices. Isabella reminds us that leaving a cult is one chapter; learning to live afterward is the sequel.


    Follow Isabella on her website, isabellaconstantino.com, or on Facebook or Instagram @ic_artconstantly.


    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.
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    44 mins
  • Where Are They Now? Isabella Constantino on Post-NXIVM Healing and Identity (Part 1)

    Where Are They Now? Isabella Constantino on Post-NXIVM Healing and Identity (Part 1)
    May 4 2026
    This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.In the first installment of our “Where Are They Now?” series, we catch up with Season 5 guest Isabella Constantino to find out what life looks like after NXIVM when the smoke clears and the cult fog machine finally runs out of juice. Isabella shares what she’s been up to lately, including working at an art museum in Buffalo, and talks honestly about the long, weird, non-linear business of healing—because recovery is not a quick weekend workshop with flip charts and matching outfits.We also revisited her time in Albany, where the pressure was high, the logic was loopy, and the vibe was of a productivity cult with a side of emotional whiplash. We touch on her working on her Tourette’s with Nancy Salzman and the gaslighty phone calls from Mark Elliott trying to sell the miracle cure. We chat information silos, the body keeping score, and why sometimes the biggest breakthrough is simply realizing, “Oh, right… that was bananas.” Stay tuned for Part 2 on Thursday.Follow Isabella on her website, isabellaconstantino.com, or on Facebook or Instagram @ic_artconstantly.Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of cults, coercive control, emotional abuse, gaslighting, eating disorder themes, trauma, compulsive overwork, isolation, and mention of suicidal ideation.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 sponsorsJoin A Little Bit Culty on PatreonGet poppin’ fresh ALBC SwagSupport the pod and smash this linkCheck out our cult awareness and recovery resourcesWatch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, ScarredCREDITS:Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony AmesProduction Partner: Citizens of SoundCo-Creator: Jess TardyAudio production: Will RetherfordProduction Coordinator: Lesli DinsmoreWriter: Sandra NomotoSocial media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke KeaneTheme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel AsselinSUPPORT OUR SPONSORS:You don’t have to be on this journey alone. Find support and have someone with you in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at 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.
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    42 mins
  • International School of Temple Arts (ISTA): Two Insiders Expose Consent, Control, and Cult Dynamics (Part 2)

    International School of Temple Arts (ISTA): Two Insiders Expose Consent, Control, and Cult Dynamics (Part 2)
    Apr 30 2026
    In Part 2, we continue our convo with Cara Cardoni and “Lina” about ISTA, the International School of Temple Arts, and the deeper red flags that pushed them to finally leave. Cara and Lina describe how the group used glossy language, spiritual framing, and “consent” rhetoric to obscure coercion, while the reality included harm, manipulation, and a system that made it hard to tell what was actually happening.They speak about the moment each of them saw the organization more clearly: Cara describes finding a survivor Facebook group, learning about patterns of abuse, and realizing when she raised concerns, she was DARVOd (Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender, a manipulation tactic used to evade accountability). Lina shares the devastating account of being raped at an ISTA retreat, the years it took her to name it as rape, and the way ISTA’s response, including NDA pressure and refund games, exposed the hypocrisy beneath the “healing” branding. They also dig into the bigger system around ISTA, including labor exploitation, sex work versus trafficking, temple trainings as a funnel, and the overlap with other guru-led communities. The message is clear: if something feels off, leave, because these groups are built to exploit the very human instinct to belong.Also read The Cut’s article, “The Neo-Tantric Sex Group That Promised to Change,” for background on ISTA and Lina’s story. Check out Safer Sex-Positive & Spiritual Communities (3SC) at 3sc.community and Cara Cardoni’s Substack, and podcast, Fool's Gold: Discernment in the Age of Grift, on YouTube or where you listen to your pods.Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of sexual assault, rape, coercive control, manipulation, gaslighting, emotional abuse, cultic behavior, trauma, labor exploitation, sex trafficking, and references to suicidal ideation.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 sponsorsJoin A Little Bit Culty on PatreonGet poppin’ fresh ALBC SwagSupport the pod and smash this linkCheck out our cult awareness and recovery resourcesWatch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, ScarredCREDITS:Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony AmesProduction Partner: Citizens of SoundCo-Creator: Jess TardyAudio production: Will RetherfordProduction Coordinator: Lesli DinsmoreWriter: Sandra NomotoSocial media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke KeaneTheme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel AsselinSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
    Show More Show Less
    51 mins
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The podcast is really helping me to see all the coierve control, gaslighting , humiliation , discarding normalising abusive behaviours and brainwashing is what I grew up in as a child and even as a adult until recently. I feel so less alone and less ashamed of behaviours I was forced into as an child and an adult that I had no power to stop it. Listening to Sarah and Nippy make me feel safe it's all wisdom and education to help keep me safe and inspiration that maybe I can turn my trauma into something positive 1 day.

Amazing podcast

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Love it! Great guests, wonderful hosts. Lots of fun and educational. And get Sarah's book on audible. Her voice is amazing, her writing is so good, and the story is so strong and brave.

Amazing!

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