NEW PODCAST: Dear Rachelle

A killer is on the loose in an Australian country town. Excited for the June long weekend, bubbly 23-year-old Rachelle Childs leaves work, calls her sister, and is dead within hours. Her burning, partially naked body is found nine hours later in bushland on a lonely coastal road. Her killer has ne…

Life after | 6

Living in fear of a beating, Joe grew up in the cult known as The Children of God. He and his siblings were heavily disciplined, sexually abused and forced to busk on the streets for money to buy food. Joe is still healing from his childhood, but his ability to find beauty in the everyday has provi…

Stolen childhoods | 5

They were robbed of their innocence inside one of the world's worst cults. Alisha and Amy grew up in the Children of God, where they lived in communes in Australia and overseas. They were beaten, abused and denied access to the outside world. Years later, they are still traumatised by what happened…

Escaping the tribe | 4

Matthew Klein’s baby would have died if he had listened to leaders of a cult  he joined, who suggested he could pray rather than seek medical help. Matthew knew he had to get out, but his wife wanted to stay. It tore his family apart To read more about this podcast and see the documentary visit pr…

Cult brides | 3

If you've spent your life in extreme religious groups, life outside is bewildering. When Claire Ashman escaped the cult The Order of St Charbel with her eight children she had no idea about popular movies or TV, how to use an ATM or open a bank account. But she was free for the first time in her li…

Doomsday prophets | 2

What do you do if your friend or family member joins a cult? You call Raphael Aron. He has been rescuing people from these extreme, controlling groups for more than 40 years. Since Covid, he's busier than ever and warns the modern cult leader is not what you would expect To read more about this po…

Stay, Pray, Obey | 1

Why do people start cults? Why do people join them? And most importantly - how do they escape? Investigative journalists Kate Kyriacou and Greg Stolz lift the lid on a secretive Australian cult that dictates the lives of its members with bizarre and strict rules and they reveal harrowing stories of…

Introducing - Prayed Upon

Religious extremism and cults are on the rise. For the last few months, three journalists have been hearing the harrowing stories of cult survivors, and have uncovered a secret and controlling cult currently operating across Australia with communes in NSW and QLD. In this six-part podcast, they rev…