Video: A talk with a cult survivor and journalists who cover cults

Erika Bornman, Sarah Steel and John Verner made for a fascinating discussion.

Fearless reporting, a behind-the-curtains look at how journalism is made — and an unabashed point of view. Welcome to Chills.

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On Monday, I interviewed a cult survivor, Erika Bornman, and two journalists who cover cults, Sarah Steel and John Verner. Beyond the fascinating insights the three have into how cults work, they also talked about how they do this kind of trauma journalism.

Then there were bigger picture issues we discussed, like how people get sucked into cults (aside, NXIVM once tried to recruit me), and the relationship between patriarchy, cults and politics. We also talked about how evangelicalism — which John calls a cult — relates to support for Israel. For one thing, there is an “us and them” mentality, as Sarah put it.

You can find Sarah’s podcast, “Let’s Talk About Sects” here and on Apple podcasts, Spotify and a whole bunch of other places. John’s podcast, “The Cult of Christianity” can be found here and on Apple podcasts.

Join me on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. EST for a talk with the brilliant journalist Eric Deggans, NPR’s TV critic and media analyst.

And here’s a schedule of more speakers to come in the next few weeks.

From one of my former NYU Journalism graduate students: “I can attest that Lauren’s guest speakers will all be fascinating and should not be missed!”

Here is the video: