The Cult I Left Behind

Amanda and Kyle open the podcast with a history of the IBLP cult led by Bill Gothard. Amanda explains the cult's early beginnings, exponential growth, and transformation into the organization that exists to this day. She shares the core tenants of Gothard's ideology, as well as her childhood perspe...

Amanda tells Kyle about the Gothard brothers - particularly Steve - and their various scandals. This episode contains some explicit language. 

Amanda details Bill Gothard's pattern of sexual harassment and assault of teenage girls and young women that went unhindered for decades.  Edit: Toward the end of the episode, Amanda says Bill resigned in 2004, but she meant to say 2014.  This episode contains some explicit language. Y'al...

Amanda begins her story of surviving childhood physical, emotional, verbal, spiritual, and sexual abuse in the cult. This episode contains some explicit language.

Amanda talks about life after the first time she told her parents about her brother sexually assaulting her. She tells Kyle about getting through high school and trying to protect her younger siblings from her brother. Amanda also discusses her brother being sent away to an IBLP facility, just like ...

Amanda tells Kyle about the people and circumstances that created formative moments as she finished high school and left her biological family's home for college. She talks about her older sister finding out about the abuse, the ways IBLP ideology influenced her parents' decision about her college e...

Amanda's world opens up even more as she begins to step away from her family and IBLP cult ideology and towards healing. Amanda and Kyle talk about the circumstances that occurred to get Amanda to finally begin speaking up about what happened to her, her parents' reaction to her speaking up, and the...

Amanda tells Kyle about breaking away from IBLP ideology and reaching the point of being able to report her brother. She talks about the people who helped her disengage from Bill Gothard's teachings and develop an appropriate understanding of justice and accountability. Amanda details the four-year ...

Amanda and Kyle talk through the first episode of Shiny Happy People, a documentary about the Duggar family and their TLC show 19 Kids and Counting. The Duggars are part of the IBLP cult, and Amanda and Kyle discuss the many ways Amanda's story overlaps with the Duggar story, Josh's sexual assault s...

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