CultNEWS101 Articles: 3/23/2026
Patrick Ryan
"Hidden in the cornfields of Iowa, a small town became the center of one of America’s most unusual spiritual communities. Built around the teachings of Transcendental Meditation founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the city attracted followers from around the world seeking enlightenment and inner peace. Some residents described it as a paradise, while critics questioned whether the movement functioned more like a cult. Spending days inside the town revealed a community unlike anything else in the United States. "
The Lalich Center for Cults and Coercion: Rebuilding Your Relationship with Music
One of their upcoming workshops explores a fascinating and often overlooked area of experience: our relationship with music.
Rebuilding Your Relationship with Music is a 4-session, live online workshop led by a board-certified music therapist. It provides a supportive space to reflect on how music has been experienced in the past—and how to reconnect with it in a way that feels safe and personally meaningful.
Whether someone is looking to release difficult associations or rediscover joy in music, this workshop meets participants where they are.
April 13, 20, 27 & May 5
Center for Research on Extremism: The Extreme Right, Hate Crime and Political Violence (C‑REX): The FORMERS Podcast
What drives a person towards – and eventually away from – violent extremism?
C‑REX is launching the FORMERS podcast: 14 episodes where we interview former members of violent extremist groups, together with Professor Tore Bjørgo at the University of Oslo.
In the podcast, C‑REX delves into the complex journeys of those who left violent extremism behind and explores the human side of radicalisation and the long road to exit.
Formers dataset and project website with additional resources
The Formers Dataset is a collection of primary data interviews with former extremists, available for academic researchers
- Life story interviews with former extremists provide rich sources of data on processes of radicalisation and engagement as well as disengagement, deradicalisation and reintegration into mainstream society.
- The current version of the dataset contains interviews with 15 former participants of different types of far-right groups and movements based in a range of countries in Europe and North America.
- The Dataset will be updated with additional interviews.
- Interviews with formers from other types of extremism may also be included at a later stage.
- The interviews were based on similar interview guides and typically lasted 1-2 hours.
- All the interviewees in the dataset have given their informed consent that their transcribed interviews (with various degrees of anonymisation) can be shared with other scholars to be used as research data.
- The interviews in the dataset will be made available as transcribed material to academic researchers and student by application and according to regulations for access and use (see below).
- Some of the interviews will be made publicly available as podcasts.
News, Education, Intervention, Recovery
Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.
CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.
CultNEWS101.com news, links, resources about: cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations, and related topics.
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