
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. This also includes non-religious cults and extreme political movements including the more divisive elements of MAGA a... more
| Publishes | Weekly | Episodes | 300 | Founded | 11 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Categories | Religion & SpiritualityEducation | |||

Today I welcome back author and cult survivor Tia Levings, who discuses her upcoming book "I Belong to Me" about her recovery journey and advice for anyone on the same path. Enjoy!
Tia's website: tialevings.com
Today I welcome Melissa Duge Spiers, author of the new book Holy Disobedience, which is her story of being raised in and dealing with the religious abuse of the 7th Day Adventist cult. We discuss how this group was founded by a literal insane person ... more
Today I welcome back musician and artist Geoff Levin, former Scientologist, who has produced a new feature-length documentary, Brothers Broken, telling his story of Scientology abuse and disconnection, and the happy ending he got after escaping the c... more
Today I welcome back Jon Atack for a new series of podcasts we'll be doing to debunk the "basics" of Scientology, one bit at a time. This is a wide-ranging and hopefully interesting discussion where we pull no punches on how we see Scientology. Enjoy... more
People also subscribe to these shows.





Chris you’re amazing thank you for the podcast I’ve learnt so much !!
Chris is such a kind soul, he exudes his curiosity and determination to get to the bottom of issues. I admire his bravery. If you’re interested in deep conversations about corrupt religions - this is your place!
Always equally well-researched, patient, and entertaining. Truly a pleasant and comforting listen!
I love the approach Chris takes to question, explore and bring some good old fashioned critical thinking to the whole field of culty recovery and deconstruction. We get to learn these lessons or relive them … this podcast is a must follow if you are looking to understand the mind set and implications of culty manipulation and control.
Long time listener. I really enjoy this thoughtful podcast. It sounds like you owe Aaron an apology. Extra star for you if you do because that would be the classy move.
Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.









Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.
Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.
| Listeners per Episode | |
|---|---|
| Gender Skew | |
| Location | |
| Interests | |
| Professions | |
| Age Range | |
| Household Income | |
| Social Media Reach |
Focused on the themes surrounding cults, coercive control, and recovery, the content is enriched with interviews featuring cult survivors, psychologists, and experts who share insights on various aspects of cult dynamics. This podcast goes beyond traditional religious contexts, exploring non-religious and extreme political movements, including the divisive elements of MAGA and social issues from both left and right perspectives. The discussions prioritize respect and understanding, even when addressing controversial beliefs and actions, making it a unique resource for listeners interested in psychological insights and personal stories of recovery from coercive environments.
Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for Speaking of Cults. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to Speaking of Cults and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.
Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for three million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for Speaking of Cults, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.
Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for Speaking of Cults, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.
To see how many followers or subscribers Speaking of Cults has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.
These podcasts share a similar audience with Speaking of Cults:
1. IndoctriNation
2. Cults to Consciousness
3. A Little Bit Culty
4. Cults, Culture & Coercion with Dr. Steve Hassan
5. Was I In A Cult?
Speaking of Cults launched 11 years ago and published 300 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.
Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for Speaking of Cults from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.
View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.
Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of Speaking of Cults. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.
Recent guests on Speaking of Cults include:
1. Melissa Duge Spiers
2. Geoffrey Levin
3. Jon Atack
4. Phil Jones
5. Clint Heacock
6. Ben Eisenberg
7. Cheryl Hope
8. Richard Marsh
To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.