A Little Bit Culty podcast signs to Acast, returns for Season 2

Acast, the creator-first podcast company, has signed the hit podcast A Little Bit Culty and will launch the show’s second season on October 18 across all podcast listening platforms.

Hosted by former NXIVM members-turned-whistleblowers Sarah Edmondson and Anthony “Nippy” Ames, the unscripted series features conversations covering cultish behavior, abuses of power, and the process of healing, from their perspective as survivors.

Thanks to Acast’s commitment to the open podcasting ecosystem, the series will be available for listeners to access on any podcast app or platform — including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon, Overcast, and more.

Married couple Edmondson and Ames — who escaped the cult in 2017 and appeared in HBO’s critically-acclaimed docuseries The Vow — are joined by fellow survivors, experts, and advocates to unpack the dangerous tendencies of establishments many of us encounter, from recognized cults to seemingly normal organizations that operate on dysfunctional behavior.

Part rollicking coffee date and part deep-dive on everything from religions to Crossfit to LuLaRoe, A Little Bit Culty offers up frank conversations, meaningful analysis, and a surprising number of laughs as Edmondson and Ames tackle a gritty and misunderstood topic with the care and compassion of two people who’ve been there. Together, they address a fundamental question: When does devotion turn into abuse?

“We want to be as responsible as we can with our platform, and help other people by having the honest, informed conversations we wish we’d heard when we were in NXIVM,” said Ames.

Added Edmondson: “We’re going to keep on getting personal this season, as we continue to reclaim our identities and provide a roadmap for people to wake up, leave abusive relationships, and to heal.”

Following on from Season 1’s guests including Leah Remini and India Oxenberg, Season 2 will explore new organizations and feature conversations with the likes of Roberta Blevins from Amazon’s docuseries LuLaRich; Elizabeth Gilpin, author of Stolen; Amanda Montell, linguist and author of Cultish; Nadia Bolz-Weber, theologian and host of The Confessional podcast; and more.

The season will also include a conversation with former prosecutor Moira Penza about the implications of the groundbreaking NXIVM case, which resulted in multiple convictions — such as Keith Raniere, who was sentenced to 120 years in October 2020, and Allison Mack, who was sentenced in June 2021.

Following the October 18 season premiere, the podcast will publish new episodes weekly on Mondays.

“Sarah and Nippy are fearless in their commitment to helping people heal from trauma and identify abuse, and they’re able to unpack weighty material with both sensitivity and humor. We look forward to bringing their compelling, honest and important dialogue to listeners across the whole open podcasting ecosystem,” said Daniel Wolfberg, Content Development Manager at Acast.

A Little Bit Culty is produced by Citizens of Sound’s Will Retherford, in collaboration with Executive Producers Edmondson and Ames, and Associate Producer Jess Tardy. The Season 2 trailer is out now.

Fans can also find Edmondson and Ames in the upcoming second season of HBO’s The Vow.