In this episode, we discuss the final chapters of The Way Down. These episodes cover the impact on the lives and families of the cult surrounding the Remnant Fellowship and diet guru Gwen Shamblin Lara. Many former members detail the extent to which the cult controlled their behavior and actions, and their struggle to get free of its grip.
Check out this article for some good coverage of the issues around leaving a cult.
Quick recap of the series:
The author of the bestselling diet book The Weigh Down, Gwen Shamblin, appeared on the national TV talk shows and sold her weight loss philosophy to people across America. Especially churchgoers. By 1999, she had essentially started her own Tennessee church (or cult depending on your point of view). Her background as a nutritionist brought some actual common sense to the diet, but when she put herself forward as a prophet who equated devotion to diet as devotion to God she stepped into dangerous and manipulative territory.
Watch the trailer for The Way Down: God, Greed and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin here.
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Hosted by Mike Farr (@silentmikke) and Jim McDonald (@thejimmcd).
Produced by Jim McDonald
Production assistance by Sam McDonald.
Branding by Joseph Manzo (@jmanzo523)
