#054: September 3rd, 2018 (CBC Week)
Branded and Blackmailed: A Canadian Woman’s Fight to Take Down a Cult
His followers say he’s a genius whose “self-help system” is life altering. His former disciples say he’s a cult leader and master manipulator.
Keith Raniere is the leader of NXIVM, an organization that claims to be humanitarian and pushes a system that it claims will transform the powerful and elite into ethical leaders. But on March 26, 2018, Raniere was arrested on charges of sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy, and conspiracy to commit forced labour.
He pled not guilty. But Sarah Edmondson, a former NXIVM member, has a story to tell.
Edmondson’s story is the focus of the new CBC podcast Uncover: Escaping NXIVM.
The details aren’t easy to listen to. The inner sanctum of the NXIVM, a secret society called Dominus Obsequious Sororium (DOS), forces members to abide by a master-slave relationship (using those terms exactly), to hand over damaging personal information, to be photographed naked, and to literally get branded with a cauterizing iron.
It isn’t hard for an outsider to see why Edmondson became an outspoken critic of the organization she once recruited for. But, before she could try to take it down, she had to get out. Easier said than done.
Have a listen to Escaping NXIVM and let us know what you think. Episode one drops on Wednesday.
Stephen and EvanYour Podcast Delivery crew
“A lot of embarrassment. A lot of regret. A lot of shame that I missed the red flags.”
- Episode 1 - The Branding
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