In early 2019 Jeffrey Leigh-Jones from Portsmouth got a life coach. Someone to mentor him in life and help him realise his business ambitions.

Two years later, Jeffrey had sold his house, his relationship was in pieces and he had handed over tens of thousands of pounds. And he wasn’t the only one. Across eight gripping episodes, journalist Catrin Nye and her team expose control, intimidation and fear at a mysterious life coaching company taking over people’s lives and ripping families apart.

What do Peleton, Dolly Parton, fine wine and Starbucks all have in common? They’re all modern-day cults according to podcast hosts Isa Medina and Amanda Montell. Sounds Like A Cult dissects a different zeitgeisty group every week and asks just how unhealthy our obsession with it is.

Across eight episodes, Helen Lewis travels through the strange, powerful and sometimes hidden digital spaces created by new gurus, from productivity hackers and dating coaches to crypto bros and wellness influencers. 

Cult survivors Lola Blanc and Meagan Elizabeth talk to fellow survivors, former and current believers, experts and everyone in between to try to get to the bottom of how extreme belief happens, who’s susceptible (hint: everyone) and what being in a cult is really like.

Focusing on a different cult each episode, host Sarah Steel takes a storytelling, deep dive approach, looking at the history of a sect’s leaders, the recruitment of members, their experiences, psychological aspects, and notable incidents during its existence. Prepare to have your mind blown. 

Each week, host Rachel Bernstein sits down with former cult members, intervention experts and people who have left narcissistic and controlling relationships of all kinds to hear their stories and discuss their past experiences.

Between the Playboy mansion to the victims of R Kelly, prepare to delve into the sometimes dangerous, always bizarre world of cults. The series may have come to an end back in 2019, but it’s definitely worth a re-listen for the fascinating and often troubling insight.

Perhaps the most notorious cult leader in modern history, Charles Manson was responsible for the Manson family commune, gang and cult that was active in California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This disquieting podcast, originally released in 2015, may just be one of the most comprehensive oral histories of that troubling time. 

In trying to understand how the alt-right and New Age horseshoe toward each other, a journalist, a cult researcher and a philosophical sceptic discuss the stories, cognitive dissonances and cultic dynamics tearing through the yoga, wellness and new spirituality worlds.

NXIVM (pronounced ‘nexium’) calls itself a humanitarian community. Experts call it a cult. Over seven episodes (plus some seriously juicy bonus interviews) the group, its leader Keith Raniere and one woman’s journey to get out are all put under the microscope.