Advertise on podcast: Tales From A Cult Insider

I needed to record some truly final thoughts while actually on Best Friends property. So I recorded on my phone near a highway and you'll hear cars going by and me being reflective as I take the final step of the journey this podcast has taken me on.  I can't overstate how much it means to me that you have taken this journey with me. I hope you've gained hope and optimism for the future and have gotten a glimpse at the amount of power you have in your life to change and improve and make yourself what you want.  My new show, The Lance, is going to be live in about two days. Join me and my family members and friends as we geek out over our favorite stories in every medium. And our least favorite stuff in every medium. No malice, no mean-spiritedness, just jousting and using verbal lances to have a great time.  Love, blessings, and peace. Life is short. Love unabashedly. Find beauty.  Your support is also beautiful! Please review, share, spread the word. You can support by clicking the link or even Venmo at @Jared-Garrett-writes.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tales-from-a-cult-insider/support

This is the grand finale episode, recorded in Kanab, only seven miles from Best Friends. Poetic by design! And with a live, not exactly studio, audience!  This is a wrap-up episode aimed to provide some closure to myself and all of you wonderful listeners. I think it worked. I share my deepest feelings about all of this and I have hope and optimism and am blessed with all I could ever need.  -- also yes, there's a bit of a bonus 'outro' episode after this... Please review, share, spread the word. You can support by clicking the link or even Venmo at @Jared-Garrett-writes. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tales-from-a-cult-insider/support

This is the final of three long, deep episodes with my wonderful sister, Emma. You can find more of her perspective and also her excellent talents on TikTok at spicyemmapanada.  We make sure we say what needs to be said, not out of malice but because we will tell the story and we are responsible for telling all of it, both for ourselves and for the world to have truth. So join us for the ride. And stay tuned for the final episode in a few short days, recorded in a super cool location!   --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tales-from-a-cult-insider/support

My sister Emma joins me for another wide-ranging, mildly cathartic episode in which we dive into the trauma of constant instability and how that looks today. We also talk about how the cult did our parents dirty and really was a wrecking ball of crap.  Start for the silly inside jokes, stay for the sweet chat about The Little Mermaid. Which is obviously more than a chat about a movie with a series of questionable messages.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tales-from-a-cult-insider/support

The podcast is back. Not epilogues, not bonus episodes. Back with stories and more truth that needs telling. Back with my sister, Emma, for at least the next several episodes.  I'm still not trying to bring down the whole thing that used to be the cult that we grew up in. But I'm not happy about keeping some of the story untold out of a desire to 'be nice' or whatever. So when I heard my sister telling some of what she experienced, stuff I didn't know about, I knew it was time to, well, throw a punch or two.  So here we are. My wonderful sister Emma and I talking about her experience and me being somewhat surprised at some of the significant commonalities between us.  As ever, please review this podcast and share it all over the place.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tales-from-a-cult-insider/support

Back in January of 2020, before all the crazy, I was contacted by Bob Smietana, who was then the Editor-in-Chief of Religion News Service, a rather impressive and wonderful news outlet that reports on the religious angle of all the newsworthy stuff going down. Bob had found this podcast and was interested in discussing my childhood and experiences and we ended up doing an interview some weeks later. He also talked to my dad and sister. The article ultimately came out on October 14 and you can find it here:  https://religionnews.com/2020/10/14/process-church-final-judgment-best-friends-animal-rescue-foundation-faith-jared-garett-latter-day-saint-cult-scientology-satanist-pet-rescue/ I shared it around and had some fascinating reactions. First off, it sounds like my dad and a few other former members aren't happy with how 'Satanist' the cult sounds. Additionally, there's at least one factual error. More importantly, one of the guys I grew up with got Facebook-angry and I wound up doing an informal poll of others that I grew up with regarding how we grew up.  Turns out we have very different takes on our experience.  I'll address all of these things in this episode, as well as share my own thoughts as I read my own words and experience as filtered through a very good journalist's brain and writing.  As ever, please consider supporting this podcast in any of several ways: clicking on the support link, reviewing, telling your friends, and sharing with your family at your holiday gatherings! And on your snapchat. And Tik Tok. And all the things.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tales-from-a-cult-insider/support

You can probably imagine that visiting Best Friends now is odd. In this epilogue episode, I share stories to illustrate some of the strange and disconnected feelings I have visiting there. Spoiler: it's odd. But cool and chill.  Remember to review and share this podcast with your chums and bums!  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tales-from-a-cult-insider/support

I learned a lot from watching the documentary that Neil Edwards at TwoFour Entertainment put together. It's a very good documentary with an impressive amount of primary sources, interviews, and footage and audio. Very cool stuff.  I had several visceral reactions to this thing. I considered writing them all down, but didn't want to go to the effort. So I recorded an episode.  This one is me being a little less guarded than usual. Not out of vindictiveness, but truth has to be spoken. Not 'my truth' either - just actual truth.  And keep talking about this thing. Studies show that podcasts gain new listeners primarily and almost solely through word of mouth. Studies also show that cake is a great breakfast. The first statement is true, but the cake one is not.  Enjoy!  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tales-from-a-cult-insider/support

Remember that episode I did on what the cult actually believed?  Well, my knowledge was far more incomplete than it is now. I received a bunch of material from the director of a documentary about the Process. His name is Neil Edwards and the documentary is called Sympathy for the Devil: The True Story of the Process Church of the Final Judgment. He sent me some interesting stuff in the same package as a DVD copy of the documentary that I ordered.  If you're interested, Google that title and you'll see it.  Anyway, I had to do an episode on all the stuff. What they believed. The popular pseudo occult science they preached which was extremely hip at the time and...  Gah. Just listen to me ramble and read if you're interested. I get a bit.. warm and probably hypocritical. Oh well, what're you gonna do? It was a cult, and that's no good.  In the episode, I promise to give you a link to where you can see the images I talk about. I put them on my Facebook page: Jared Nathan Garrett. Please remember to review and support the podcast!  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tales-from-a-cult-insider/support

Did I ever tell you I was a firefighter? Well, I was. My first call was to rescue young bulls from a truck accident. My first fire was a dumpster fire.  No, literally.  Also, I talked a lot about how important books were to me, but I don't think I emphasized the power and importance of music in my formative years. It provided unfettered exhilaration and pretend and I will always be thankful to it. I recently rediscovered an artist and album and it took me to a place I was delighted to revisit.  Anyway, I'm finding parts of myself even today - things that have been and will be a part of me forever. And I'm coming to terms with that.  So tune in and hear me rave and tell more stories. Thanks for listening. As always, I'd love it if you would tell friends about this crazy podcast.  And review and rate it!  Maybe tell three friends, and if those three friends told three friends, and so on and so on - well, that's what an MLM is, my friends.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tales-from-a-cult-insider/support

This is the first of at least three epilogues. The way I grew up led me to a mission in Brazil and I found a home in the warmth, goodness, and welcome of those people. And I learned and was changed fundamentally. This episode shares some of the more impactful stories from my mission and you will be able to see how this experience provided everything I had wanted my whole life. Sincerity, genuine faith, and things that in my old cynical mind I considered cheesy and dumb.  Now I believe they're those cheesy things- those sincere things, are the treasure of this world and life. That is entirely because of my mission.  Enjoy.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tales-from-a-cult-insider/support

Spoiler: I have never seen that show. Not even a single episode - and I'm a big fan of Alyson Hannigan. This episode brings the podcast full-circle from where I started: I wanted a family, to where I am now: I have a family. It's longer because there's a lot of juicy details and intermittently mortifying memories. I tell how I met my dear wife and how we got to know each other and got engaged. So buckle up, this is the last episode until I have a few epilogues done in a few months or two.  Also, I speak Portuguese in a couple parts because of you lovely listeners in Brazil. Amo voces!  As always, thank you for listening. Tell your friends. Share on social media. Rate and review!  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tales-from-a-cult-insider/support