Inside the NXIVM Cult: Sarah Edmondson's story - Part 1

Culture Changers with Allison Hare · Nov 6, 2025 · 52m

If you think you’d never fall for a cult, think again.

The NXIVM cult didn’t lure the weak — it attracted smart, curious, ambitious people looking for growth and belonging. People just like us.

And right in the middle of it was Sarah Edmondson, a high-ranking member who helped blow it wide open in The New York Times and HBO’s The Vow.

In this conversation, we unpack how something that looked like empowerment turned into manipulation — and how the need to belong can become a weapon.

Sarah shares what actually happened inside NXIVM, how coercive control disguised itself as “self-improvement,”…