Podcasts

A Sassy Little Podcast for Getting Over It with Sandra Ann Miller – Cult-Based Trauma with Erin Coffin Moore – Phoenix House is a therapeutic community based on a now-defunct cult, Synanon. Erin Coffin Moore was placed in Phoenix House when she was 16. “Tough Love” and institutionalizing “troubled” teens were touted as solutions for parents in the 1980s and 90s. Adults (teachers, police, social workers) fail to listen or believe kids when trouble at home is noticed, or to follow up on their welfare. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Phoenix House had contracts with state and local governments to serve as a diversion program for juvenile offenders and yet no authorities were keeping a close eye on the abuses there for children 13-17, co-ed, run by adults who were unqualified, unlicensed and untrained. From 2-minute showers to free labor, to encounter groups called “The Game” where berating a fellow “family member” was encouraged, as was ratting out others, including your family, abuse occurred daily. Ridicule was considered “a tool”, and so was hostility. Civil rights violations were rampant (those in the adult facilities would sue to go back to prison where they would be treated better). The place where Paris Hilton went was also based on Synanon. These places still exist.

Dark Dark World – A True Crime Podcast – Dark Dark Room #10: Jordy and Dylan vs The Cult – This week, Jordy and Ed C are joined by best friend of the podcast, Dylan Macturk. Dylan and Jordy proceeded to tell the story of how they first met at cultish drug rehab called Pathway. The good-time buddies go on to examine some of the creepy similarities between Pathway and the Elan School; similarities that would ultimately lead to the rehab’s shutdown.

Dark Dark World – A True Crime Podcast – Joe vs The Cult – An Elan School Interview – In a special edition of Dark Dark World, host Jordan Crittenden interviews Joe, the creator of the web-comic Joe vs Elan School: a True Cult Classic. Joe tells of his experiences at a behavioral school called Elan. His story begins at age 16, when two large men broke down his bedroom door, hogtied him, carried them downstairs, stuffed him into a van and drove away. This was the start of a bizarre and confusing time for Joe. At Elan, he would suffer fear, humiliation, and abuse. All in the name of “therapeutic behavioral modification.”

Deprogrammed Podcast – The Deprogrammed Podcast is mainly concerned with shining a light on institutions known as “programs.” Many of these programs were instituted under the WWASP umbrella to “fix” troubled children and have been largely discontinued due to abuse and neglect. We will speak to survivors of these “programs,” analyze the social impact of their implementation and also delve into other “program-like” organizations that use similar “brainwashing or behavior editing” tactics such as cults and other cult-like institutions.

Distillations – Treating America’s Opioid Addiction Part 2: Synanon and the Tunnel Back to the Human Race – Part 2 focuses on a controversial rehabilitation program called Synanon, which became the first significant therapeutic community for opioid addiction. From the time it opened its doors in 1958, it seemed to do what no other hospital, prison or sanitarium had done before: cure the supposedly incurable heroin addict. But over the years its changing methods became increasingly questionable, and the controversy would ultimately lead to its demise. Despite its faults, Synanon had a profound influence on subsequent generations of drug treatment programs-many of which still exist today.

Drug Positive – DPP #21: Straight Inc- A Survivor’s Story – In this episode, I interview Frank Haines, who describes his experiences being held captive for more than a year in Florida’s notorious anti-drug cult, Straight Inc. Started by a millionaire shopping mall developer and founder of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, Mel Sembler, in the 1980s, Straight was eventually shut down after numerous successful lawsuits exposed systemic violence, including physical abuse and torture.

Future Friday with Tom May – Episode 16 – Corey Ciresi (Lee Corey Oswald, The Family Foundation School) – Our main focus of discussion today is his time spent at a now-defunct small boarding school for special needs adolescents in rural Hancock N.Y. called The Family Foundation School, aka The Family School, aka Allynwood Academy. The school closed in 2014, They said it was due to money problems from declining enrollment. However, they were plagued with accusations of abuse for many years. The Family school was one of several residential programs for special-needs adolescents that were discussed in congressional hearings in 2007 and 2008. In 2018 a front-page article in the New York Times described a pattern of deaths by overdoes, suicide, and other misadventure among school alumni. One alumna tallied 101 such deaths, the vast majority of them before the age of forty.

Indoctrination: Unsilenced w/Meg Appelgate – Meg Appelgate is the CEO of Unsilenced, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to stop institutional child abuse by empowering self-advocates to promote lasting social change. The organization envisions a world where youth are free from institutionalization and the voices of young people are respected in the development of their own mental, emotional, and physical well-being.

Inside the Program – A podcast for survivors made by survivors. In each episode, Inside the Program discloses the history, the allegations, and survivor stories from each WWASP facility. With the intention to expose those responsible for the ongoing and past institutional child abuse that occurred at the hands of WWASP and its affiliates, there is no topic left undisclosed.

No Bleeps – What Happened to Paris Hilton?!: Her Traumatic Past – Today we are discussing the Paris Hilton documentary that was released on September 13th, called “The Real Story of Paris Hilton.” This is a troubling story that details her childhood and the terrifying experiences she faced at several schools her parents sent her to attend. Paris is breaking her silence for the first time ever in support of other survivors of this school, all participating in the Breaking Code Silence movement.

NPR – The Trouble with the ‘Troubled Teen’ Industry – Some claim these programs are harmful. Some centers or facilities create environments where abuse is possible. And the industry is lucrative. Utah’s “troubled teen” industry is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, much of it is government money or covered by insurance programs, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. What does enrolling in a behavioral treatment program entail? How effective are these programs? We explore those questions and more.

On Belief: a Podcast About Cults – Episode 227: The Troubled Teen Industry – “On this episode, we discuss: what kinds of kids get sent to these institutions? what kinds of rules are there at these places? what kinds of punishments happen? how is everyone turned into a snitch? what kinds of regulations govern these places? what resources kids have if sent there?

ReKaps – #BreakCodeSilence with Provo Canyon Survivor – Sydney ReKaps major pop culture news from this past week; including Paris Hilton’s YouTube documentary, ‘The Social Dilemma’ documentary (wow it’s a docu-heavy week) on Netflix that makes Sydney question her life and morals, Jerry Harris actually being a criminal and not America’s Sweetheart, the takedown of Teddi Mellencamp and her ~aCcOunTaBiiiLity~ program “All in By Teddi”, and Stassi Schroeder’s interview on Tamron Hall, which will haunt Sydney’s dreams and nightmares for the rest of time – it was THAT cringey. Then, Sydney recounts a “Socially Offensive Moment of the Week” from this past week before she shares an interview with Hailie Goodman, a survivor of the abusive Provo Canyon School in Utah which Paris Hilton also attended. The episode is concluded with a short Bravo TV ReKaps segment.

Reveal – American Rehab Chapter 2: Miracle on the Beach – Cenikor’s bizarre form of rehab has its roots in Synanon: a revolutionary rehab that started in the 1950s on a California beach. Its charismatic leader, Charles Dederich, mesmerized the nation by claiming to have developed a cure for drug addiction. The program became a phenomenon and quickly spread across the country. But soon, Dederich wanted to profit off its success and this “miracle” began to change.

Reveal – The Bad Place – The vacant building that once housed the Riverside Academy in Wichita, Kansas, was covered in haunting graffiti: “Burn this place.” “Youth were abused here … systematically.” “This is a bad place.” The facility, run by the for-profit company Sequel Youth & Family Services, promised to help kids with behavioral problems. But state officials had cited the facility dozens of times for problems including excessive force by staff, poor supervision and neglect.

Roberta Glass True Crime Report – The Last Stop: What Happened at the Elan School? – Talking with the “Last Stop” documentary filmmaker Todd Nilssen about the Elan School. Elan sold itself as a life-saving therapeutic boarding school but some alumnus claim it left them with emotional scars and PTSD that never healed.

Sent Away – It didn’t seem to matter what happened at the teen treatment center. The state of Utah always gave it another chance. Death. Allegations of abuse. Criminal charges. Bizarre punishments. Whistleblowers coming forward. Each time, the place got a pass. A team of reporters from three news organizations has spent the last year digging into the untold stories of Utah’s massive teen treatment industry. Some 20,000 teenagers facing depression, delinquency and other problems have been sent there from every state in the country over the last six years. Sent Away investigates how the government failed to keep all those kids safe — through the voices and stories of the teens who lived it.

Sex, Drugs, & Spirituality – This is Paris/Provo Canyon School – The new YouTube original documentary This is Paris has been receiving great reviews. It profiles Paris Hilton and delves into a part of her past she’s never spoken about publicly before. Paris was sent to many reform schools, the last of which was Provo Canyon School, possibly the most abusive one in the country. Sidney recaps the documentary to save the 2 hours to watch it and delves into exactly what goes on at these “residential therapeutic facilities.”

She Persisted – *Not So* Therapeutic Boarding Schools with Daisye Byrd Graham – This week the podcaster is joined by Daisye Byrd Graham for our 3rd episode together. They dive into all things Chrysalis to give you a full perspective on the therapeutic boarding school experience. TW for sexual assault and eating disorders.

Sip & Shine: Scandals, Royals, and Crimes. Oh My! – Mystery. Where did Forest Ferguson Go? – Forest Ferguson went missing in December of 2010 from South Boston, Virginia. He was a student at Carlbrook School (which later closed) for teenagers with behavioral problems. This school also had connections with a member of the Synanon Cult and the model of CEDU. Where did Forest Ferguson go?

Stateside: Detroit auto show postponed; teachers back in classrooms; Lakeside Academy investigation – Today on Stateside, Cornelius Fredericks died after being pinned down by staff members at the residential youth facility where he lived. A Michigan Radio investigation found that there were plenty of warning signs about the facility and the private company that ran it-in the years leading up to the 16-year-old’s death.

Surviving Straight Inc – This podcast is an extension of my website Surviving Straight Inc. Episodes will explore, in depth, the abusive adolescent drug rehabilitation program called Straight Incorporated that was opened from 1976 to 1993. Despite its well-known, publicized abuses in newspapers and lawsuits, Straight was still supported by many influential people including Nancy Reagan and George H. W. Bush. Straight Inc.

Talk Beliefs – Hard Time in a Christian Boot Camp – with Deirdre Sugiuchi – Photo-illustrated interview with DEIRDRE SUGIUCHI – a survivor of the Escuela Caribe ‘ behavioral modification camp’ (as seen in the documentary Kidnapped for Christ). MARK from Talk Beliefs has a one-on-one with Deirdre as she calls in from her home in Athens, Georgia in the USA. Deirdre tells of unrelenting rules, invasion of privacy, and controlling staff who made her life hell during her incarceration at the camp in 1990 when she was 15. Now she is putting the finishing touches on Unreformed – a tell-all book about her experiences in Escuela Caribe. Here, you will get a preview of what went on deep within the Dominican Republic, in a reform school run supposedly on Christian values.

The Gooned – Created by writer and journalist Emma Lehman, Gooned is a podcast about the Troubled Teen Industry (TTI), a network of for-profit congregate care facilities for youth ranging from wilderness programs to therapeutic boarding schools. The podcast covers the industry from early programs like Straight, Incorporated, to the state of the hundreds of facilities operating today – featuring interviews with survivors, parents, staff members, experts and activists, as well as an undercover investigation.

The Lost Kids – Hosted by journalist Josh Bloch (“Uncover: Escaping NXIVM”), THE LOST KIDS dives deep into the search for a missing teen, uncovering the dark and twisted business of tough-love programs for “troubled teens” and their ties to one of America’s most dangerous cults.

The OpportunistThe Opportunist tells true stories of regular people who turn sinister by embracing opportunity. How does an everyday person turn into a thief, a scammer or a cult leader? Perhaps the most dangerous person is the one who appears the most normal. Perhaps there is a dark potential lurking inside all of us that is just waiting for the right opportunity to emerge. The Opportunist is a Kast Original podcast hosted by Hannah Smith.

The Optimal Life: Meg Appelgate:: Stopping Institutional Child Abuse – Meg Appelgate is the founder of Unsilenced Project, a non-profit organization aimed at stopping institutional child abuse at boarding schools. She joined me to discuss the troubled teen industry and the problems with sending kids to these so-called “treatment facilities,” “conversion therapy facilities” and “behavioral modification schools.” Learn more at https://unsilenced.org

Trapped in Treatment – Trapped In Treatment is a new docu-style podcast series from Paris Hilton, London Audio, iHeartMedia, and Warner Bros. Unscripted Television in association with Telepictures, that will examine and expose the dark secrets of the “Troubled Teen Industry.” Beginning with Provo Canyon School, each season will focus on the story of one youth treatment facility, its survivors, and the traumatizing abuse at the hands of their captors. Hosted by Caroline Cole and Rebecca Mellinger, Trapped in Treatment weaves together personal accounts with historical detail and expert opinions to shine a light on what really happens at behavior modification centers and how this billion-dollar industry has flourished for so long.

Trib Talk – Utah’s ‘Troubled Teen’ Industry – Paris Hilton recently went public with allegations that she was abused at a Utah teen treatment facility and it motivated others to speak out. Critics of the industry say weak oversight and regulations lead to children being harmed at for-profit therapeutic treatment centers, like Provo Canyon School. In this episode, reporter Jessica Miller spoke with Jen Robison from Breaking Code Silence, an online movement that aims to bring awareness to the troubled teen industry.

Troubled – Survivors of institutional abuse uncover cult ties, cultural lies, and societal corruption to expose the troubled teen industry. Two survivors of institutional abuse, Meredith Yannuzzi and Miranda Sullivan reunite to discuss the climate of the troubled teen industry.

We Warned Them: Freedom Village – Margaret investigates the origins of the Troubled Teen Industry from its roots in the Independent Baptist movement to Lester Roloff’s legislative battles to build and run homes for troubled teens and foster kids, ultimately showing how closely tied the industry is tied to the architects of the Religious Right. After investigating the various streams of money into Freedom Village, the reality of Freedom Village’s Adopt-A-Teen program and international connections to Ukrainian orphanages lead to haunting revelations.

Web Crawlers – Mini Crawlers: Provo Canyon School & The “Troubled Teen” Industry – In her documentary, Paris Hilton claimed she was abused and tortured while at Provo Canyon School, a treatment center in Utah for misbehaving teenagers. The “troubled teen” industry is a largely unregulated billion-dollar industry that preys on vulnerable kids and parents. There are almost 100 youth reform schools in Utah alone, where the concept of wilderness therapy originated.

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