Running River: the Divine Madness School

Running River: the Divine Madness School

Author: Sarah Steel October 8, 2024 Duration: 1:05:04

AJ was sent to the Running River school in around 2007, to attend kindergarten when she was five or six years old. The school was headed up by longtime Divine Madness community member Nancy Monson, and founder Marc ‘Yo’ Tizer didn’t have a whole lot to do with it. AJ stayed in the school up until sixth grade, when a new teacher became concerned and shared with parents some of the things he had found out. As soon as AJ’s parents realised the serious deficits in her education, along with some other worrying details, they pulled her from Running River. The school shut down soon afterwards, around 2014.


Full episode page here. You can support us on Patreon or with a one-off donation or merch purchase.


Links:


If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, you can find support with or donate to Cult Information and Family Support if you’re in Australia (via www.cifs.org.au), and you can find resources outside of Australia with the International Cultic Studies Association (via www.icsahome.com).


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


Each month on Let's Talk About Sects, host Sarah Steel selects a different group for a thorough and thoughtful examination. The approach is narrative, building the story of each organization from the ground up. You’ll hear about the origins and the figures who founded these movements, the specific methods used to draw people in, and the lived realities of those who joined. Steel delves into the psychological frameworks at play and recounts the significant, often troubling events that defined each group's timeline. This award-winning documentary series fits within broader conversations about society, culture, and belief, but its strength is in the specific, human details. The tone is engaged and curious, avoiding sensationalism in favor of a clear-eyed look at complex histories. For those who find this podcast compelling, there are additional ways to engage with the work beyond listening. Sarah Steel has also authored a related book, *Do As I Say*, which expands on these themes. The monthly format allows for deep research into each subject, making every episode a comprehensive portrait rather than a superficial overview. It’s a resource for anyone interested in the mechanics of belief and control, presented through careful storytelling.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Let's Talk About Sects
Podcast Episodes
Zendik Farm [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:52:32
Helen Zuman describes herself as “a tree-hugging dirt worshipper devoted to turning waste into food and the stinky guck of experience into fertile, fragrant prose.” Her memoir ‘Mating in Captivity’ details her experience…
Interview Episode: Posadism with A.M. Gittlitz [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:00
Journalist A.M. Gittlitz released his book I Want to Believe: Posadism, UFOs and Apocalypse Communism earlier this year. In it, he explores the fascinating world of the Posadists – a Latin American Trotskyist group who a…
Children of God – Part 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:32
The Children of God, later known as The Family, became notorious for their practise called “flirty fishing”. They believed in bringing up their children to have no inhibitions around sex, but the ramifications of their a…
Children of God – Part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:39
The Children of God, later known as The Family, became notorious for their practise called “flirty fishing”. They believed in bringing up their children to have no inhibitions around sex, but the ramifications of their a…
The Living Word Fellowship [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:24:50
John Robert Stevens wrote when he was just 14 years old: “My joy must be in doing His will, in being His slave, in the confidence that whatever comes to me, when following Him, is His doing. In a real sense, I make Him r…
The New Kadampa Tradition [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:33:16
In 1996, journalist Madeleine Bunting wrote for The Guardian UK: “Most of the 130,000 Buddhists in this country are in the caring professions, or are academics, or are part of an ex-hippy culture; they are trusting, idea…
The Garden Ashram [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:52
Hare Krishnas are often seen as joyous, harmless people, dancing their way through the streets, chanting to bells in their colourful robes. But in one particular Australian offshoot, a young woman named Lina told me abou…
Ideal Human Environment [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:16
WANTED: families to volunteer to live for six months in the Australian outback “to advance the frontiers of social science.” Be part of a cutting edge research project to test the ideal human environment. In a country kn…
The Move [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:59
Followers of The Move rejected mainstream society and headed into the wilderness in the 1970s, building isolated communities that were to set them up for the coming Apocalypse. Many ex-members would later tell stories of…
Universal Medicine [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:35
Australian esoteric healing organisation Universal Medicine teaches that entities known as The Four Lords of Form rule over 9-foot-tall spirits that are all around us, and that most people have lived at least 2,300 lives…