shunned

Today we meet Jake, a 26-year-old former Jehovah’s Witness. Jake discusses his upbringing in the religion, being a fourth-generation member on his mother’s side and third-generation on his father’s s…

In this episode you’ll meet Vicki as she shares her deeply personal experiences growing up as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the profound impact it had on her life. Vicki recounts how her mother’s fe…

In this episode Dennise recounts her upbringing with a strong-willed mother who rigorously enforced cult doctrines, leading to a childhood filled with anxiety, emotional, and physical abuse. She deta…

This episode explores Dianna’s life, starting with her family’s unconventional path into the faith, with her grandmother and later her mother and siblings becoming baptized, though her parents initia…

This episode is an interview with Alex, formerly one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who shares his deeply personal experience of being raised in the organization and the profound impact it had on his life. …

This episode provides a powerful and heartbreaking account of growing up within the restrictive and often damaging environment of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Carol Anne’s story highlights the immense pressu…

Johanna was raised as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Her story encompasses a childhood marked by secret abuse, a home environment with a dangerous and alcoholic father, and what could be considered a sh…

It’s been almost 8 years, a whole lot of work, and here we are sitting at episode 200 of the Shunned Podcast. Episode 100 featured 100 things you need to know to heal from Jehovah’s Witnesses, and th…

Life for Chelynn didn’t exactly get off to an auspicious start when her parents were marked as bad association in the congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses as they had her. While is is hard enough to g…

It’s hard enough growing up different than everyone else because your family is in the cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Everyone wants to fit in, to belong, to feel seen and heard and validated. But what…

One of the highest goals for a young person that is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses is to go to the Bethel headquarters located in New York, to work as a volunteer, serving their cult full time. But every…

As a young teen, Maxwell had a unique opportunity to get into a Korean pre-group for need-greating locally as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Although that didn’t ultimately pan out, self-described “ultr…

In this episode I, once one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, interview Cass, a former Seventh Day Adventist. Both religions were born in the same time period, out of the same disappointments, and both are cap…

Much like in the movie The Truman Show, young Tara was living a lie. In the 8th grade, at the age of 13, Tara would be told something by one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in her English class that would roc…

Treated terribly by those that were supposed to protect and love her, Sam looked to things like baptism and being “The Bible Girl” at school to escape into serving a god that she was also seeking lov…

Dino, a Shunned Podcast veteran, came up with an idea to reach out to convention locations for Jehovah’s Witnesses to challenge their messaging that is featured, at times, even on the campuses of ins…

Thank you to all of the wonderful people that donated this year for our “day” of giving. Because so much is received, it takes more than a day, but we were able to do the following in September and O…

Imagine feeling that you have to run away from your family, leaving them physically, so that you can hope to continue to have them in your life through the bond of a cult. For Jodi, this was a realit…

Young Kenesha knew from the time that she was a teacher’s pet in school that she wanted to be “the good one”. Growing up in a life that she hated as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Kenesha continued tryi…

Today we meet Mikey, aka Mikey J Havoc on the comedy stage, a stage that is very new for him in his life as he explores his past as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In this episode we explore that past to…