Martina Castro, Part 2 - Allegations, Disappearances, and the Crumbling Cult of John of God

Summary

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Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation

Episode: Martina Castro, Part 2 – Allegations, Disappearances, and the Crumbling Cult of John of God

Date: February 25, 2026
Hosts: Lola Blanc & Megan Elizabeth
Guest: Martina Castro (creator of the "Two Faced John of God" podcast, journalist & podcaster)

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Episode Overview

In this intense and revealing episode, hosts Lola Blanc and Megan Elizabeth return with guest Martina Castro for Part 2 of their deep dive into the story of João Teixeira de Faria—better known as "John of God"—a Brazilian "psychic surgeon" with celebrity fans and extraordinary claims about healing. This installment spotlights the dark side: mounting allegations of abuse, mysterious disappearances, the mechanics of his control, and the grueling experiences of survivors seeking justice. The episode draws connections between John of God’s cult and the broader psychology of extreme belief, manipulation, and the vulnerability that enables such abuses to persist.

Content Warning: The episode discusses topics of sexual abuse, trauma, and graphic manipulation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Unpacking John of God’s Political and Social Control

(16:11–18:32)

• Economic & Political Power:
  • John of God controlled the local economy in Abadiânia, taking a cut from any business or service started by others, bolstered by close ties to the mayor and key officials.
  • “He would have to give express permission for you to start anything… He would take a cut… He had political influence, judges, police officers—he got influence on all aspects of the law.” —Martina Castro [16:11]
• Atmosphere of Fear:
  • Walked with armed guards; disappearances in the town were reported but kept local, with files and evidence often going missing.
  • Many who died under mysterious circumstances had their deaths covered up, creating confusion and fear.

2. Tactics of Psychological Manipulation & Deflection

(18:39–24:23)

• Blame Shifting:
  • Survivors were told any failure in healing was due to their own spiritual failings or lack of faith/work.
  • “If anything went wrong with her father’s healing, then it would be her fault. It was her not doing enough spiritual work.” —Lola Blanc [20:22]
• Victim Silencing:
  • Many, like survivor Ana Paula, were actively coerced into silence, facing threats that harm could come to loved ones if they spoke out.
• Mystical Manipulation:
  • Tricks (like the “scissors surgery”) were used to create illusions of mystical power. Hosts connect this to “primed magic,” where supposed miracles are staged through trickery and deception.
  • “I want… to popularize this idea that… when someone specifically seems to know something they couldn’t have known, because that is a tool of manipulation.” —Lola Blanc [11:12]

3. The Nature of Vulnerability and Desperation

(24:24–27:10)

• Appealing to the Desperate:
  • Describes how families, desperate to save loved ones, become especially vulnerable. Host Lola relates her own near-victimization in the world of stem cell “miracle” clinics, paralleling those desperate for hope.
  • “When you love someone… you will do anything.” —Lola Blanc [24:41]
• Survivor Testimony:
  • Ana Paula endured ongoing abuse, believing it was a necessary “sacrifice” for her father’s chance at survival.
  • Castro emphasizes she gave survivors full agency in how they shared their stories: “She was so quick to be like, ‘What that man did to me is over. It’s in my past.… when I use my voice, I am more powerful.’” —Martina Castro [28:03]

4. How Abuse Persisted in Plain Sight

(29:44–34:00)

• Culture of Silence and Omertà:
  • Even as red flags piled up, believers found rationalizations to maintain faith—dividing John of God’s "good" spiritual entity from his “flawed” human self.
  • “If we believe in something strongly enough, there are gonna be red flags that we just excuse and we sweep under the rug.” —Lola Blanc [31:29]
• Gaslighting on a Societal Level:
  • Survivors’ doubts were often invalidated by the broader community, which depended on John of God for economic survival or believed in his supernatural abilities.

5. Cracks in the Armor & Pursuit of Justice

(36:55–43:56)

• Legal Battles:
  • Early survivors who spoke out lost in court; it took a foreigner’s accusation and the momentum of the MeToo movement for the case to gain traction.
  • Journalists were key: “They did not wait for law enforcement… if this goes as deep as it goes, people know at all levels of government. We gotta push this out now.” —Martina Castro [39:16]
• Evidence Challenges:
  • Prosecutors built a successful case against John of God with scarce physical evidence and decades-old allegations, relying on meticulous legal argument and the bravery of the survivors.

6. Aftermath and Reflection

(43:57–50:11)

• Fallout for Believers:
  • Some survivors abandoned belief entirely; others struggled to separate faith from the man who abused it.
  • “He’d hijacked all their faith in general.…if you didn’t believe in him, then you basically have no faith left anymore.”—Megan Elizabeth [43:40]
• Loss of Status:
  • John of God’s credibility collapsed on the international stage. No more celebrity endorsements or massive events.

7. Major Takeaways: How We Stay Safe

(50:11–55:18)

• Trust and Vulnerability:
  • Vulnerability is a universal human state; the question is how to develop inner strength, resilience, and self-trust so as not to fall prey to abusers.
  • “Whatever you can do to make yourself strong and resilient, it can be really damaging to be vulnerable and come across the wrong person or the wrong faith.” —Martina Castro [50:11]
• Cultivating Community:
  • Lean on diverse, non-exploitative communities and be cautious of groups or leaders offering simple answers in turbulent times.
• The Importance of Speaking Out:
  • The most powerful antidote: using your voice and seeking out supportive, safe people when something feels wrong.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “He really didn’t want anyone to get in his way. But then, like, he’d walk around with armed guys, you know, next to him and why are there armed men walking around with him? And then there would be disappearances.” —Martina Castro [16:24]
• “She was abused by him and was told that the abuse was the treatment.” —Martina Castro [21:44]
• “If anything went wrong… it would be her fault. It was her not doing enough spiritual work, basically.” —Lola Blanc [20:22]
• “Power… we should not have blinders on about people we hold up like this.” —Lola Blanc [45:54]
• “How can I make myself strong in myself? How can I teach my daughter to be confident in herself and her gut?… Vulnerability. And we’re all, just by virtue of being alive, we’re vulnerable.” —Martina Castro [50:11]
• “Just being aware of it—when I’m super sad, someone’s going to try to take advantage of that.” —Megan Elizabeth [51:42]
• “Once you use your voice, that… can become addictive. Like, bravery becoming addictive.” —Martina Castro [52:42]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• John of God’s Control Tactics & Local Power: 16:11–18:32
• Mystical Manipulation & Scapegoating Victims: 18:39–21:56
• Ana Paula’s Story – Abuse and Silencing: 21:56–28:13
• How Belief Persists Despite Red Flags: 29:44–34:00
• Coverup, Journalism, & the Path to Justice: 36:55–43:56
• Legal Strategies & Survivor Testimony: 41:14–43:56
• Reflection: Preventing Future Harm & Resilience: 50:11–55:04

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Final Thoughts

The episode is a powerful meditation on the complexities of belief, the allure of certainty, and the dangers of unchecked power—whether spiritual, economic, or psychological. Through survivor stories, first-hand journalism, and unflinching honesty, the hosts and their guest offer guidance for strengthening skepticism, cultivating resilience, and moving forward with both caution and compassion.

“When life comes at you… it’s silly to pretend we’ll be impervious. So how can we prepare for those moments and weather them with some certainty of who we are?” —Martina Castro [51:59]

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For further listening, the hosts urge listeners to check out Martina Castro’s series “Two Faced John of God” for deeper investigative reporting and more survivor voices.

---

Transcript

[Martina Castro]

This is exactly right.

[Cindy Crawford]

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[Lola Blanc]

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[Martina Castro]

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[Megan Elizabeth]

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[Martina Castro]

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[Martina Castro]

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[Martina Castro]

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[Lola Blanc]

Stand still.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Not a chance.

[Martina Castro]

You're a lifelong learner who's come this far.

[Megan Elizabeth]

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[Martina Castro]

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[Martina Castro]

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[Bowen Yang]

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Do you trust me? Would I ever lead you astray?

[Megan Elizabeth]

Trust me. This is the truth.

[Podcast Host (Mind the Small Business Success Stories)]

The only truth.

[Lola Blanc]

If anybody ever tells you to just trust them, don't. Welcome to Trust Me, the podcast about cult extreme belief and manipulation from two scissor wielders who've actually experienced it.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I am Lola Blanc. And I'm Megan Elizabeth.

[Lola Blanc]

And today we are back part two with Martina Castro, creator of incredible podcast Two Faced John of God, which is a new exactly right podcast series about John of God the Brazilian. I'm using quotation marks healer. And I'm using quotation marks psychic surgeon. So last week we talked about John of God's so called healings and doctor spirits that attracted celebrities and visitors from all over the world, including Oprah. And this week, Martina is going to walk us through some of the darker allegations that began to come out about him.

[Megan Elizabeth]

She'll tell us about how the sexual abuse survivors began to come forward with their stories. And the deep political influence John of God had in the town that allowed him to get away with it in plain sight for literally decades. The mysterious disappearances in the town and the psychology of what it takes to not only seek out self proclaimed healers like John of God, but also to finally accept that maybe he's not who you thought he was.

[Lola Blanc]

Much more to get into and content. Warning. We will be touching on sexual abuse and I think that we wanna mention another instance of pure, pure darkness. Pure dark. Yes, pure darkness.

[Megan Elizabeth]

This isn't the cultiest thing per se, but we're definitely working on an Epstein episode. Digging into that, we are aware of how horrific it all is. I myself got into an algorithm loophole where it was just I would be opening my Instagram, like expecting to see something, my friends smiling and instead it would just be the most horrific stuff. And I did start to get some like mental health pages being like, hey, you need to stop scrolling on this stuff. The human brain needs guardrails. Like people even professionally trained can't handle this much information and pictures and whatever.

[Lola Blanc]

And so much horrific graphic.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

Stuff. Yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I actually had to take all the apps off my phone. I don't think I've ever been in as bad of a headspace as I was looking at some of that stuff. So that's saying a lot.

[Lola Blanc]

That is actually kind of shocking. No, it's. I mean it's horrible and it's happening to a lot of us. And I think it's important to be really mindful about how we engage with social media in times like this. And then like my algorithm is like slightly. I'm seeing a lot of Epstein stuff. I'm also seeing a lot of ice brutality. And like it's so hard not to get sucked into the darkness and think that there is no hope because so many horrible things are happening.

[Megan Elizabeth]

But we.

[Lola Blanc]

It's important to check out and take mental health breaks and.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Oh my God. Yeah. I mean, it's just coming from every side.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

Well, my cultiest thing unfortunately is also so dark that I'm like not going to talk about it for that long.

[Matt Rogers]

Okay.

[Lola Blanc]

My cultiest thing is about one of these. You know, we've talked a little bit about some of these online groups that are coercing children and teenagers into harming themselves or, you know, sending images and you know, like these horrible, horrible groups online that are doing this. I just happen to be trying to understand, like, the landscape of it. And I found an article about one particular guy who started an online group that was doing this, and there's a whole article in the Washington Post which is called, on social media. A bullied teen found fame among child predators worldwide. And it goes into this, his whole backstory and the origin of how this kid became this insane, horrible online cult leader making kids do unspeakable things. He. His name is Bradley Cadenhead, and he founded a group online called what is a 76 4, which is named.

[Megan Elizabeth]

We've. We've touched on it lightly before, but, yeah, never this deeply.

[Lola Blanc]

Did we talk about 7 6, 4 specifically. I can't remember the names of the different groups. So Kaden had. I just was, like, learning about his backstory, and it's like out of a movie of a villain origin story. It's like a kid who was, like, horrifically bullied and was, like, you know, having anxiety and cutting himself, and then he, like, fell into this. I don't even. It's unclear how it happened, but for whatever reason, he began feeling more powerful by controlling people online and getting as shocking and brutal and cruel as possible. So, like, you know, feel free to look it up yourself if you want to see some of the specifics. It's, like, really gnarly. And the saddest thing is just that, like, there really is a community around it and people, like, encouraging each other and calling him the mvp and, like, they think he's cool.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Well, one of. I think my main goals in life right now is just to tell parents how real this is, because it sounds so fake or, like, not that big of a deal, but it's so huge. And the. The younger generations behind me are like, megan, this is so real. Like, it affects people that we know. Like, this is big. So I'm like, okay, I believe you. And I'm seeing it in the news

[Martina Castro]

more and more and more.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah, yeah, he was having kids, like, Carve I heart CP764 into their bodies and like that. Like, it's. It's really horrible. And it is crazy, too, because usually when you hear someone say stuff like this, it is, like, so often fear mongering and like, yes, sensationalized. And I'm sure that that's part of it too, because he exaggerated some claims too, nonetheless, like, the. This is real reporting, real journalism on multiple communities like these that's like this that keep branching off and creating other, like, subgroups. And so anyway, it's just like, obviously, you know, it's horrible no matter what. It's also like, it's a train wreck

[Megan Elizabeth]

you can't look away from, that's for sure.

[Lola Blanc]

And learning about like this and this leader who started this group is a dark journey I was not planning on going on today, but that is where I went. Ooh, what's your cultiest thing, Megan?

[Megan Elizabeth]

Oh, my God. Okay, so a friend of mine has Julia shout out. Julia has been sounding the alarm on a church in Redding, California, called Bethel that I have seen on the news a couple times. And I believe it was before the pandemic. It was getting a lot of press for being fraudulent. Horrible. It, like, owns the town pretty much. And then the pandemic quieted the news because there was so much other news. You know what I mean? But now it's kind of getting back into the zeitgeist because it's ruining people's lives. I mean, I'm watching one girl's TikTok right now, and I would love to get her on the podcast so much, but one of the ministers, his name is Sean Bells. I think I'm saying that right. He, you know, he does what one of our former guests who was seeing a psychic does, which is just look them up online and read a lot about them and then pretend to know some things. Which, you know, reminded me of our episode with Noelle Wells where she was on a community with a psychic who was doing something similar. And there's this woman on TikTok named Jubilee, and her boyfriend's in the church audience and he's like, you, are you. Are you having a Jubilee soon? And the guy's like, no, my girlfriend's named Jubilee. And everyone's like, oh, my God. She goes on to say how this seemingly miracle looped her into a cycle of abuse with this man because she thinks it's ordained by God. She marries him. He's abusive physically, emotionally, mentally chokes her. And she still feels like it's called by God because this dumbass Shawn, who I would love to punch in the face, is doing, like, circus tricks with people's hearts and brains.

[Martina Castro]

Yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I mean, they tried to revive a dead two year old baby.

[Lola Blanc]

Like. Like they're not with a doctor. Just like, no, no.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Like they're a. They're like a Pentecostal mega church, but it kind of broke off and. And some of the stuff they're doing, you're just like, whoa. So I would love to do an episode with Jubilee, who's on TikTok, who is speaking. If I already saw that jihad Feel free to check that out. But I would love to do an episode with anyone who's been in this because it's very intense. And owns the whole town. They're building a $96 million megachurch there. It's just insane. I'm intrigued, and I'm watching the story.

[Lola Blanc]

So, yeah, I think, you know, you bring up a good point. I think, like, we talk a lot about, you know, love bombing. Like, that's a part of the Zeitgeist now, you know, and we talk a lot about gaslighting. Like, there are these particular tactics that people use that we kind of all know about now that maybe we didn't 10 years ago or what. And I think that mystical. Well, what Robert Lifton referred to as mystical manipulation, like using tricks to make it seem like you have power is something that doesn't really get enough attention.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yes.

[Lola Blanc]

I mean, you know, some people just maybe do it intuitively because they're really good at reading people. But, like, cult leaders be doing this, and scam artists be doing this. Like, they'll make it seem like they're doing this. They be doing this. They make it seem like they have special knowledge, mystical understanding. They know something you don't. And obviously, that's cult 101 stuff. But, like, I want. I wish we could, like, popularize this idea that, like, one thing to look out for is when someone specifically seems to know something they couldn't have known, because that is a tool of manipulation, and there is generally always an explanation for how they know it.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I think it should be, like, primed magic or something, because it's so easy to think of these people and be like, how silly. Of course they Googled it, but you haven't seen that they've been sitting through speaking in tongues for 30 minutes before this, and, like, doing this and doing that and, you know, all these things that would kind of prime the body to be more susceptible to a miracle.

[Lola Blanc]

There is also a million reasons why you wouldn't think that would happen. Like, maybe you don't give them your real name right away or, like, you know, there's just so many. But there. There are many tactics to convince people that you have all the knowledge and power. And, yeah, we should just be mindful of that.

[Megan Elizabeth]

The Sean guy's favorite move is to, like, you know, not say you're dating a girl named Jubilee. It's like, are you going to a Jubilee? And then when the person's like, oh, my God, my girlfriend's in that? He's like, oh, my God, like, you know. Yeah, it's like, it's just like a magician being like, so annoying. You know, it's so obnoxious. And I did watch a YouTube video where people have been talking within the church, higher ranks about this for like so many years and like, he's problematic

[Lola Blanc]

and blah, blah, blah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

And it's just like, you guys are such, like, including all the Epstein people. Like, you guys are predators. You're losers. You're such losers.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I hate you all. Literally.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah. Separate from what you're saying. But. But all related.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah. Maybe take that out.

[Lola Blanc]

But they are. You're right. Like, John. John of God is actually a perfect example of somebody doing this. Because the scissors thing is literally, like we said in last week's episode, it's just a magic trick. Like, it's.

[Megan Elizabeth]

It's a circus trick.

[Lola Blanc]

Yes. Looks like the scissors are up in your brain and he's gonna kill the person and then he doesn't. And so you're like, surely something must be mystical here. But it's just a trick and it's. And he was extremely cognizant and intentional about that.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Oh, let's talk about him. All right.

[Podcast Host (Mind the Small Business Success Stories)]

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[Lola Blanc]

We ended last week's episode referencing some of the dark stuff that had happened and got covered up for a very long time. Can you tell us what some of that was?

[Martina Castro]

Sure. Without spoiling it too much for people who are gonna listen, we mentioned a little bit about his influence in the town. Of course, at some level. Yeah, that makes sense. A new thing, big thing moves into a small little town. Of course an economy is gonna flourish around it. But he would have to give express permission for you to start anything, like any kind of service. And he would take a cut. I don't remember exactly the percentage, but imagine like 10 to 20% of anything you made. He had a control and he was also very buddy, buddy with the mayor, the mayors who gave him this place. So he's already influential on the political level. There's judges going there, there's police officers. He's like got influence on all aspects of the law and so smart, super. I mean, you gotta hand it to him. He really didn't want anyone to get in his way. But then like he'd walk around with armed guys, you know, next to him and why are there armed men walking around with him? And then there would be disappearances, like people would just disappear. Of course some of these things were uncovered after by the really incredible work of the journalists who we spoke to the local journalists, but I mean, it's not like these weren't covered, but they were covered very locally and you know, the same like national press that would like promote him as a figure would never pick up these stories of like a person Getting killed or like a murder per se. Per se. But later it started to become clear that some, like, really big things were going on and being covered up. The case files disappeared. Couldn't find them. And then, you know, people. People went to Abadianya in really, really terrible shape, like, at the end of their lives, really looking for a cure. So, of course, many people died. Yeah, but people died, and then no one understood under what circumstances they would die and their families wouldn't, like, had no answers. So it was just, like, very weird. The COVID up of something that was very natural. And why would you cover that up? So that's strange.

[Megan Elizabeth]

You mean, like a dead body would disappear? And it's like, we know that they came here to possibly die, so why is the body gone?

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah.

[Martina Castro]

Or like, you wouldn't know how they died. Their body would just show up at a hospital and there was no cause of death and there's no death certificate. Or you'd come and be like, someone called me and told me that one case. Someone called me and told me that my brother died, and they just hand you a bag of ashes.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Whoa.

[Lola Blanc]

And if we knew the cause of death, that might make us question his healing powers.

[Martina Castro]

That is what one would think.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Martina Castro]

That's what it starts to. But this is discovered way later.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I didn't even consider. And I was like, what's he. I thought he, like, just wanted inheritances or something, but he just doesn't want to tell people that he's not healing if it didn't. Maybe.

[Martina Castro]

Or he wouldn't want them to doubt it. Right.

[Lola Blanc]

Maybe if you die from the cancer you came there to get healed for, and you got healed for it, then of course, like, it's gonna start poking holes in your system.

[Megan Elizabeth]

And I will just say, like. Like the Wayne Dyer thing, he did die soon after Wayne did, Doctor.

[Martina Castro]

Oh, he did?

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Martina Castro]

Damn it.

[Lola Blanc]

I love that you know that.

[Martina Castro]

Yeah, I hate that I don't know that. I'm the journalist. Come on now.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah, we can. Yeah, but.

[Martina Castro]

But rest in peace, Wayne Dyer, he did.

[Megan Elizabeth]

He did pass. And I was like, that's so weird. He got the spiritual surgery. That's literally what I thought. Yeah.

[Martina Castro]

But then he would. He had very, very good explanations for that. He'd be like, well, it's not about your body. It's about healing your soul. You know, so maybe the body, some

[Lola Blanc]

of the dark stuff, do die. It's your fault for not healing your soul appropriately.

[Martina Castro]

Yes. I mean, I can't say that I heard specific stories like that. But yeah. Yes, that would make sense based on other things that were told to me.

[Lola Blanc]

Ana Paula is someone you interviewed on the podcast whose story is very harrowing, and there are a number of these interviews on the podcast folks. But she mentions in her interviews that when things started happening to her, which you can tell us about in a second, he told her that if anything went wrong with her father's healing, which is why she went there, then it would be her fault. It was her not doing enough spiritual work, basically.

[Martina Castro]

That's exactly right. So you would imagine if he could say that to her.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah.

[Martina Castro]

That he must have said some really terrible things to other people about whose fault it would be if you got

[Lola Blanc]

sick, which is very common in cults that deal with anything medical or tell you not to go to the doctor or whatever. It's your fault.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah.

[Martina Castro]

And Ana Paula was a real believer. She was raised believing in spirits and karma and in healers like him. Like, that was, like, common, like, in her family. And so when she took her father, who was really, really ill and couldn't walk, he could barely, like, swallow to see him. It was really, like, desperate. Desperate moment in her life. And she was really close to her dad, and she had just had a kid, and so she just really wanted her dad to be around for, you know, to be a grandpa. And it's just like, ugh. You just immediately put yourself in her shoes, and it's like, of course you're gonna do whatever it takes. And I don't know how specific to be about what happened to her, but she was abused by him and was told that the abuse was the treatment.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Mm.

[Lola Blanc]

And tried to get help and tried to tell people what happened to her. And that was like. I mean, obviously, sexual assault is always shocking, and the circumstances were very harrowing. We see that so much in cult. I think the level to which she was not. She was actively told to shut up was so crazy.

[Martina Castro]

Yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

That was, like, a higher level of that than I. We feel frequently see, because this. This man is so embedded in the community and the political landscape and, you know, like, it's just. There's so many levels to people being like, we don't fuck with John of God.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah, well, yeah. I mean, the entire town is running off of this. I mean, that's everyone's livelihoods. That's everyone's life.

[Martina Castro]

And you're afraid. You're terrified. It's not even just, like, the dependence of, like, oh, maybe my. I'll lose my house. It's like, he might kill Me?

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah, it seems a little hard. He might disappear me or something, you

[Martina Castro]

know, like, yeah, it's really intense. And she was living there at the time with her dad because he was getting better. He was still undergoing treatment. And that's something that John of Glaude claims is that he doesn't tell people to stop their treatment, that they should continue with that while they're getting treated spiritually. But he was getting better. And yeah, she really tries to get people to help her, and they all tell her to shut up, to be careful, you know, what if he does something to your dad? Like, do you want your dad to live? Like, you know, kind of thing? So she continues to see him and undergo various moments of abuse, thinking that that was the sacrifice she had to make.

[Lola Blanc]

Oh, that's so horrible.

[Martina Castro]

I know, I know.

[Lola Blanc]

I also, like, I've talked about this a little bit on the podcast, but I just relate to the reason that so many people go there. I mean, first of all, we all love our family members and we want them to live. When my brother got a brain injury from an overdose, I talked about this a bit on the show, but there are these stem cell research, and I'm using air quotes, stem cell research places that any place that is currently claiming, like, they're just gonna do stem cell. They're gonna just heal you with stem cells is probably. And there's a whole. We should do a whole investigative episode on it because it's actually crazy what people are allowed to get away with. They get three years before they have to shut down if they're not licensed. So then they just move every three years.

[Megan Elizabeth]

No way.

[Lola Blanc]

But anyway, like, I almost got swindled by someone who was like, well, stem cells, we can heal the brain, you know, like, because I just, like, you're just desperate. You're blind. You're like, well, I want my brother back. I want him to have a memory again. Like, I'll do anything. So I absolutely.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Love is more important than money. So you're gonna. Yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

It costs how much? 20 grand. Okay, I'll figure it out. You know, I'll take out a. Like, whatever I have to do. And, like, fortunately, I, like, the man I spoke to, gave enough red flags that I was like, oh, fuck, this is completely just a scam. And there's so many people I see in Facebook groups who are falling prey to stuff like this. Because when you love someone and they are in harm's way or they are at risk and you will do anything.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Did you join the stem cell Facebook Groups.

[Lola Blanc]

I don't. Well, it's just brain injury. Facebook groups. A lot. A lot of people have spent money on scams like this because they. They pretend that it's an actual study of research, and it's not. It's not legitimate. It's not real.

[Martina Castro]

I'm so glad you brought that up, because I think it's important to draw parallels for people because, you know, I don't have a religion, so it's harder for me to put myself in an Apollo's shoes. But you say this story, and I'm like 1 million percent. If someone talked about something science, y. I'd be like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes, yes. Sign me up. Where do I pay? Like that sounds right. And of course, you know, I'm grateful. My mom is, like, obsessive about researching everything. She doesn't trust anybody or anything. She's like, oh, I don't know. Let me see. Like, I know that if I. She would be the one to get me to research and find out it was. It was a scam. But I think it's important for people to draw parallels because, remember, this was her faith. This was her whole belief system. And so that's what really ends up being so compelling for her to continue.

[Lola Blanc]

Right. Our framework. I'm similar to you, like, if our framework is science, but if someone else's entire life's framework is spirituality and healing, like, of course. Why would you not do that? Of course you're gonna do that. Yeah.

[Martina Castro]

This person and everything, like, fed into it. Like, the room, the office where this abuse would happen. It's like he's got pictures of himself with presidents and ministers and, like. Like, it's just. It's all, like, kind of giving you this vibe of, like, well, how could I be the only person that's also important, the only one that doesn't believe in him or doesn't trust him. Look at all these people who trust him. Important people. Like, he's important. He's a healer. He's beloved. Maybe he's right. Maybe he does have to do this to me. Maybe this is my penance for something I did in a past life. And it's just what I'm going to have to do until, you know, that lie just didn't have any more legs. And she woke up and was like, damn, it had the same moment that you did. I've been scammed.

[Lola Blanc]

Oh, it's so heartbreaking hearing.

[Martina Castro]

It really is. It really is. I feel like it's gonna be a bummer for people to Want to go listen to this, but it's really compelling to hear her speak. It was very important to me for her to get to speak from her place of truth and comfort. So I do wanna say there was no one on this podcast who was forced to say anything that felt re. Traumatizing. That was not the point. I was very, very respectful of that. But I said to her, I was like, okay, everything that happens after this, you get to decide what you wanna say. You can say nothing, but I do wanna give you a space to say what you want to say. And she was so quick to be like, what that man did to me is over. It's in my past. He can do no more harm to me. And I know when I use my voice, I am more powerful, so I have no problem telling you what happened. And I was just like, yes, yes, you are amazing. How incredible to see a person really take their place of power in a moment of such vulnerability.

[Lola Blanc]

Totally.

[Martina Castro]

And so I went through a really emotional rollercoaster reporting this, but I landed on. What an honor to get to witness and, you know, kind of let this woman have her peace and say what happened to her and tell her story and live it out to a kind of incredible end. It's really incredible where it goes after that, you know? So, anyway, listen. You guys should listen to this.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I mean, you have several firsthand accounts in this podcast that are all equally compelling. Just, you know, their voices, their stories. It's a wonderful listen. There was one. I can't remember if it was Maria, but somebody said, like, you guys were talking about their trauma and the equipment broke, and she was like, of course

[Martina Castro]

it was not a paola.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Martina Castro]

During her interview.

[Megan Elizabeth]

And she was just like. Kind of like, yeah, John of God did it. Like, it, like, his energy did it.

[Lola Blanc]

And it's like, that always happens.

[Megan Elizabeth]

It always happens with him. And still kind of believing in him, even as you have to speak out about him. It just really shows the strength that it takes. Because that's scary.

[Martina Castro]

It is scary. I'm sure it continues to be. Yes, yes.

[Megan Elizabeth]

And you kind of feel like these people have the power to kind of like, I'm gonna take out kind of like, shut up, Megan. You kind of. You got this, Megan. You feel like these people have the ability to almost curse you.

[Martina Castro]

Yes.

[Lola Blanc]

That.

[Martina Castro]

That came up many times. If he can heal you from a thousand miles away.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Right.

[Lola Blanc]

Oh, my God, yes.

[Martina Castro]

Can't he also hurt you?

[Lola Blanc]

Right.

[Martina Castro]

That's terrifying. I mean, yeah. He claimed a very expansive power.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

The fact that People can be aware of the harm that he's committing, but it doesn't necessarily, like, burst. The belief in him as a healer and as a powerful person is really, really interesting to me. There's a man on the podcast who talks about how he knew what was going on, and ultimately he was like, well, there's so much good. There was. So there's. These healings are happening.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Well, because he's two people.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

He can be a bad guy.

[Martina Castro]

True.

[Lola Blanc]

Oh, my God, that's true.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Channel the good guy.

[Lola Blanc]

Right?

[Martina Castro]

That was said to me. That was actually said to me. Some people were like, he gave in to his carnal desires.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Martina Castro]

But then he used his power for ba. He let himself be corrupted by his literal.

[Lola Blanc]

Like, they.

[Martina Castro]

I think they used the term carnal desires or weaknesses.

[Lola Blanc]

Wait, what's the.

[Martina Castro]

I'm like, ew.

[Lola Blanc]

He's the medium, and then he's the. What's the other entity?

[Martina Castro]

So.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Right.

[Lola Blanc]

So it's like the medium. Yeah. He's flawed.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Some bastards.

[Martina Castro]

He's the flawed man.

[Lola Blanc]

But the entity. We need the entity.

[Martina Castro]

We need the entity. And his gift is too important.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah. So, like, that one's bad, but, like, we need the entity. Yeah. So just.

[Martina Castro]

And the work we're doing here with the spirits is so important. We can't disturb that. You know, that was. That was a really interesting moment

[Megan Elizabeth]

because

[Martina Castro]

to live in that place. Oh, my gosh. Like, I was, like, in shock when. When he said that, because he admitted to knowing. He's like, oh, yeah, we knew.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Martina Castro]

Yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

But we see that all the time in groups like this. I mean, and in politics. And, like, you know, like, if we believe in something strongly enough, there are gonna be red flags that we just excuse and we sweep under the rug. Cause we're like, well, it's worth it. It's worth it. It's worth it. It's worth it for the power. It's worth it for the bigger goal.

[Martina Castro]

I mean, I take so many life lessons from this. I think I'm the kind of person who. I just really believe that people are good. I wanna be one of the. I mean, I just. I think I was just built that way. And I really connect with the goodness in people. And I'm prone to kind of explain away a red flag.

[Lola Blanc]

Like, one, same, maybe even two.

[Martina Castro]

But then you're like, how long does it take for you to switch? That was the most compelling thing about this for me. I was like, how long do you let it go until you go, oh, wait, stop. This isn't what I thought it was. This is all of us. This is all people, but mainly women. I mean, we are so conditioned to think of the other person's comfort so that red flags don't literally make us get up out of our seat. We're like just sitting and thinking about it still.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah. Because it's dangerous to get up and get out of your seat or get up and get out of the town and raise or yell or say stop. Exactly.

[Martina Castro]

I mean, you have to decide, am I gonna listen to that little red flag? Cause it's not like you don't feel it. You're like, uh huh. That was weird.

[Megan Elizabeth]

What was that? But it's a part of your. It's like your demon, like testing you.

[Martina Castro]

Where's your faith?

[Megan Elizabeth]

Right.

[Lola Blanc]

And when you feel a red flag but no one else around you is indicating that they do. And they are people who are maybe seem to have more authority in society than you do. And like, they seem smart and great and like it's all working for them. Like that red flag is gonna get really quiet.

[Martina Castro]

Yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Really green.

[Lola Blanc]

It's gonna get kind of like turn a little yellow.

[Martina Castro]

The metaphor working still, I think.

[Lola Blanc]

Yellow, yellow, yellow.

[Martina Castro]

Before green, it's gonna be yellow. And you're gonna be confused.

[Megan Elizabeth]

And when you're confused, you can't make good decisions.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah, you're too confused. When you're confused, you're too confused.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Like cognitive dissonance is like a.

[Martina Castro]

Like a stun guard.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Start a stun dart.

[Martina Castro]

It's a stun dart.

[Lola Blanc]

It's a scar. Scar.

[Martina Castro]

You're just a little kid.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Oh my God, I wish it was a scar. Guys, Guys.

[Podcast Host (Mind the Small Business Success Stories)]

Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets, which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by public investing brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comdisclosures hi, I'm

[Cindy Crawford]

Cindy Crawford and I'm the founder of meaningful beauty. When Dr. Sabah and I decided to do a skincare line together, he said to me, we are going to give women meaningful beauty. And I said, that's exactly right. We want to give women meaningful beauty. Which means each and every product is meaningful. It has a reason to exist. It's efficacious. You're going to get results and then you just go out and live your life.

[Martina Castro]

Meaningful Beauty Confidence is beautiful.

[Cindy Crawford]

Learn [e-mail]

[Matt Rogers]

this is Matt Rogers from Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.

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This is Bowen Yang from Lost Culture Resource with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. What if your WI fi was more than just WI fi? What if your WI fi made everything in your whole house just work together better?

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[Lola Blanc]

Are we able to talk a little bit about the cases and how they went?

[Martina Castro]

Yeah, I love those two. I'd love because I think that's the most interesting part because none of the other. There's been a lot of work on this case. Obviously it was a very big deal, especially in Brazil, but not very much about what happened after. And so much happened. So the real heroes are the women who spoke out, but they were facing a lot of challenges to get people to believe them and they were very alone. They thought they were the only one. And so there were a few. One person actually went all the way and lost in court. So it was just a very challenging legal case, you know, until it so happened that a foreigner came out with an accusation. And it was the timing or it was, you know, who knows? It was like a lot of things. We try to do a good job of, like, tracking what was happening chronologically. It's just over the course of such a huge amount of time. But there was something coming to a head, I think. And then it was the MeToo movement happening worldwide. And somehow this. This accusation that came out online did gain traction, and female journalists, separately at two separate organizations picked it up and were like, wait, what is this? And it didn't take that much digging to start finding more and more testimonies

[Lola Blanc]

of the abuse, which spanned decades.

[Martina Castro]

Decades.

[Lola Blanc]

That's how long people were keeping quiet. And one of the stories in the podcast is about something he does in front of everyone.

[Martina Castro]

Yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Lots of.

[Lola Blanc]

In line. Like, hundreds of people can see it.

[Martina Castro]

So many people. Many people reported that. That he would have them fondle him in front of other people.

[Lola Blanc]

And that continues for decades.

[Martina Castro]

Decades. Remember, everyone's closed, has their eyes closed. There's eyes police. They're like, close your eyes. Remember? So, gosh, it's really hard not to get emotional talking about it actually now, because it's like, you don't wanna believe this is possible. I lived in this story for quite some time. But what's incredible is that there was this push from these journalists to get this story out.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yes.

[Martina Castro]

And it didn't. They did not wait for law enforcement. They did not wait for, like, the validity. You know, they were like, no, no, no. If this goes as deep as it goes, that means people know at all levels of government, like, we gotta push this out now. And they did. That is a culminating moment in the series when we talk about how these journalists pulled that off.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Martina Castro]

And that kind of opens the Pandora's box. There's no going back because it's just the scale. It just. Even the people who were defending him really couldn't anymore. And so then it's like, will he be put away? Will justice be served? Like, that's the big overarching question over the last two episodes, which we explore from the legal perspective and also from the perspective of the survivors. Like, do they believe that now they feel like, some peace over this? Even the journalists. I talked to them about it, so I kind of geeked out about the legal side. Of things. I really hope our audience sticks with us because I just think the legal aspect is so important when you think about justice, obviously, but like, how we can prevent this from happening, frankly. I mean, if, if we're trying to do anything, it's like, I don't need to have some morbid, you know, walk down these people's horrible experiences. I want to hear about how this managed to happen and how are we gonna keep it from happening again. Right. Like, that's my goal as a person. And I, and I, I hope that that kind of comes across to the audience that like, we're exploring this concept of a two faced person pulling it off and what it took to take the mask off. Right. And so the legal aspect was just super important in my mind. And how can you build a case when you have zero evidence, hard evidence, you will only have their testimony.

[Lola Blanc]

Right.

[Megan Elizabeth]

And their testimony sounds a little bit wonky. Right. Because they're like, no, that was the entity.

[Martina Castro]

No, no, no, that was the medium. Yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

But they pull off some tricks that you guys gotta go listen to this podcast to find out. Because I was like, ooh, that's smart.

[Martina Castro]

That's good, right? I mean, this man, what a hero. Yeah, there's so many heroes. But this particular prosecutor who led the case against John of God built a really incredible argument to put him away and to find the sort of his way through Brazilian law to really bring the maximum force that they could in a very difficult situation. I mean, sexual abuse cases are notoriously hard to prosecute. You don't have witnesses, mostly, and you don't have hard evidence, mostly. I mean, these cases happened decades ago. Like, how can you. There's statute of limitations, there's some cases you can't even include. But I do spend a whole, like, I think two episodes, an episode and a half, just going through how he meticulously managed to deal with these challenges and build a very strong case against him.

[Lola Blanc]

How often or how many people did you talk to or learn about who stopped believing him entirely after their experiences with him?

[Martina Castro]

At least one. There's one voice you're gonna hear who really, really abandoned all belief and communities and of belief. Like, she's just like, I don't even want religion anymore. And yeah, I would say, well, and also the tour guide. I mean, I don't want to speak for him, but I'm pretty sure Michael would say he doesn't think that he was real.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah, Michael's like, yeah, who is this guy?

[Martina Castro]

Yeah, yeah, no, Michael saw him for what he Was, I'm pretty sure, and does not believe that he is the real deal.

[Lola Blanc]

I mean, I do feel like generally when we're talking, I mean, I guess we have a bias on the podcast because we're talking to people who've left their groups entirely. But once accusations like that come out or once people realize that they were sexually assaulted and other people were sexually assaulted, I feel like usually they exit completely the belief system. Like, that seems to be what we see more. Would you agree with that? With that particular leader, it just seems like he really had some such a firm grasp on everyone's belief in his power.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Well, he'd, like, hijacked all of their faith in general. Like, faith in any form was now his. And if you didn't believe in him, then you have basically no faith left anymore. So there goes one aspect of your psyche.

[Martina Castro]

Bye.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Flush it down the toilet. Who cares about that?

[Martina Castro]

Yeah, I know. Very hard to ask that of people. And so it's a good question. I don't know. I wish I knew whether people continued to believe in him. I think they believed something was going on. I don't know that they care that much. Once he was revealed to be a monster, I mean, they use the word monster. It's like, whether you have power or not, you should be put away. You need to pay for your crimes. But I would say probably. I mean, if put my hand to the fire, I was like, oh, okay. I think most people don't believe in him anymore. He has lost his credibility at a national level, international level. Like, he's not being invited to a mega center anymore. Let me tell you that.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Martina Castro]

If that place is around.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Still no celebrity besties anymore?

[Martina Castro]

No, no, no, no, no.

[Lola Blanc]

Are there any, like, spiritual leaders on that level yet who we like, who have had no scandal? I feel like we need to just stop putting people on pedestals.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I know.

[Martina Castro]

Well, that was one thing. I think that was a big lesson I took, and I kind of say it in the podcast. I was like, let's really examine the people we give power in our society, and when we do hold them to a higher standard of conduct. Like, let's be really careful when we start calling people a guru or a spiritual leader. Like, I don't know. You know, I have the luxury of saying that because I haven't been raised in a system where there was one leader. But, man, I get nervous when you tell me, oh, this. Oh, our. Our leader. You know, I'm like, oh, are you sure he's just a human?

[Megan Elizabeth]

We need lots of leaders.

[Martina Castro]

Right. Lots of leaders. And remember, they're flawed.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah, right. Yeah. And them having special power, whether it's just because they're really good at reading people and they're really warm and have energy or have, you know, a mystical power, like, under any circumstances, that would never mean that they're not capable of committing harm.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Right.

[Lola Blanc]

And that's exactly. That's the thing. Like, power. No. Power, like, we don't need. We should not have blinders on about people. We hold up like this one thing I thought was really interesting was that, you know, he got sick at one point.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Oh, yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

And was asked if he was gonna see a spiritual healer himself or heal himself. Can. Can you tell us what happened?

[Martina Castro]

Yeah, he actually, I think he got stomach cancer or he got a pretty bad disease. Like, told he was going to have very, very little time to live. Like, bad, bad. And he went to a really fancy hospital in Sao Paulo and got a.

[Lola Blanc]

Not a spiritual hospital, a real hospital.

[Martina Castro]

No, my friend, no. And he was asked by a reporter why he wouldn't just heal himself. And he's like, oh, but would you tell a barber to cut his own hair? Like, no, I got. I have to go see the people who would heal me. I mean, it doesn't make sense.

[Lola Blanc]

Like, the, the, the.

[Megan Elizabeth]

The.

[Martina Castro]

His answer, like, was like, silly. Like, yeah, maybe he would cut his own hair.

[Megan Elizabeth]

All my hair.

[Lola Blanc]

He's a really good barber.

[Martina Castro]

I don't know. Like, heal yourself, buddy. Like, I don't know. You're a medium.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Literally. Yes. But barbers cut their own hair.

[Martina Castro]

Yeah, I think they do. Yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah.

[Martina Castro]

So anyway, I'm not a barber, but I would hazard to guess they might cut their own hair. And so. And he would say that we're not setting out to heal your cancer. Like, it may get healed, but we're working on your spirit. So keep seeing your doctor, keep taking your medications. That's the official line. Of course, we. We came across some evidence that he. He didn't say that every time.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Right.

[Lola Blanc]

Which resulted in death. Tragedy.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah. Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

So.

[Megan Elizabeth]

But nice to have. And smart to have that. That outline in the public facing, you know, domain.

[Martina Castro]

Yeah, it makes sense. You know, I'm like, yeah, I would tell you to say that too, if I were your advisor.

[Lola Blanc]

Hypocrisy. This is.

[Martina Castro]

I know, I know.

[Lola Blanc]

In conclusion. Hypocrisy.

[Martina Castro]

Hypocrisy.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Fascinating story. And so glad somebody got as deep into it as you did. Oh, thanks. Yeah. I've been on the fringes of this, clearly, for a long, long Time. And I saw rumblings about it, but I never knew the scale. I never knew exactly what happened. And I mean, well, you know, I

[Martina Castro]

really want to shout out the journalists who did incredibly deep work to get some of these details out there. They broke stories, you know, and these were the journalists that you will hear from in the series. Cristina, Phoebe and Camila Appel and the anthropologist we spoke with, Christina Rocha. I mean, they did years of work to put this together, but their work really didn't come out in English. And so when we came across the story, we were like, whoa, the world needs to hear this. And they were under threat, their lives were threatened, they got death threats, they suffered a condition that, you know, thankfully us being outside of Brazil, hopefully don't have to deal with, you know. So anyway, just want to say that it takes a village and I am really proud and honored to be the one to help this get out to a wider audience.

[Lola Blanc]

Is the community. Does it still exist?

[Martina Castro]

Yeah, in a way it is. It's not the same. It's not the same. And we do talk about it a little bit. Surprisingly, it kind of found its a new. It evolved. But it does always.

[Lola Blanc]

I wish I could like go to sleep and wake up in a thousand years and see which spiritual communities became like the.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Because, you know, you're going to be so mad about it too.

[Martina Castro]

Oh, for sure.

[Megan Elizabeth]

You know, like you're just going to

[Martina Castro]

like that stupid one.

[Bowen Yang]

No.

[Lola Blanc]

That took over the entire world. That's the biggest religion.

[Martina Castro]

Yeah, I do.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I wish that now too.

[Lola Blanc]

Twin Flames is the, the world's religion now. What have, what have you learned through this process? What, what are your major takeaways from speaking to these people and learning these stories?

[Megan Elizabeth]

Never trust anyone.

[Martina Castro]

Yeah. Oh, I mean, I learned that with your podcast and I guess I learned that there are people going through really intense things. Life has so much to throw at us. And whatever you can do to make yourself strong and resilient, it can be really damaging to be vulnerable and come across the wrong person or the wrong faith or the wrong whatever. That word stuck with me a lot. Vulnerability. And we're all, just by virtue of being alive, we're vulnerable. And so how can, like, I just, I think a lot. I haven't found the answer, but I do think a lot about how can I make myself strong in myself? How can I teach my daughter to be confident in herself and her gut? You know, I've heard you guys talk about this with other survivors and just like, how can we cultivate a sense of what that gut is. Because sometimes you're like, no, no, my gut tells me this is right. But, like, it's not quite your gut. It's something else. So just, like, arming ourselves a little bit to withstand what life is gonna throw at literally all of us, we're all gonna come across difficult times and just be strong enough to weather that without letting someone. Some bad word here. Insert expletive. Take advantage of me or my loved ones. That's what I want to do from now on until I die. Yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

And I think just being aware of it, like, when I'm super sad, someone's gonna try to take advantage of that.

[Martina Castro]

Yes.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah. I feel like a fourth of our cultiest things are like, I'm really vulnerable to cults today, you know, so.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah. When. When life comes at you and there's the diagnosis, there's the divorce, there's the

[Martina Castro]

whatever, like the heartbreak, the depression, whatever it is, it's gonna come. So it's like pretending that we're gonna be impervious to it or somehow hoping that it won't. That's silly. That's unrealistic. So how can we prepare for those moments and weather them with some certainty of who we are and what is most dear to us? You know, I haven't even put words to that before until this moment, so. But that's what comes to my mind when you said that.

[Lola Blanc]

I love that.

[Cindy Crawford]

Yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

And even just the awareness that I am susceptible to this, and because I'm susceptible to this, I'm going to pay more attention than I would have if I hadn't acknowledged that. I feel like that alone just does so much of the work.

[Martina Castro]

Yeah. And that's the preventative part. The other part, which really these women taught me, is to not be afraid to speak. Because many people just stayed quiet with their own pain, with their own suffering, with what they saw other people suffer. And to just. Once you use your voice, that. That can become addictive. Like, bravery becoming addictive. That idea of like. And they even say, you know, find the people that are going to support you, but use your voice. Say what happened. Speak it. Go get help. Get someone to support you and help you process that when things happen. I'm not really good at talking about it. Like, I think it's really hard for us to, like, face our own hardship. But learning that the healthiest thing we can do and the fastest way to get over it is to actually say

[Megan Elizabeth]

it out loud to friends that we already know or a trauma informed licensed therapist

[Martina Castro]

that's a great friend to have, but.

[Megan Elizabeth]

No, yeah, exactly. But, you know, like, speaking about it when you're vulnerable, just making sure that nobody's, like, a bad person.

[Martina Castro]

Ooh, yeah. Yes. Yes.

[Lola Blanc]

That's a whole nother. That's a whole other can of worms.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But those are the exact. Yeah. What am I talking about?

[Lola Blanc]

You're talking about how when you're in a vulnerable place and you're telling people your story, that can also be a vulnerable thing.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Oh, God. Thank you so much for coming on.

[Martina Castro]

You're so welcome. Thank you for asking me to go there in my own heart about this series. Who I. I just feel so much. I. I like. I have a lot of feelings about it. It's such a. It gets. It gets. Takes you on a journey, but I haven't. I'm still processing it, so I. Literally processing it in front of you. So thank you for asking me all these questions and. And caring and sharing it with your audience, because I really feel like the more people who can hear about this and understand that this is. I mean, I don't want to say normal, but I wanna say it happens. Let's be aware. Let's open our eyes. I mean, that's really what we're trying to do as journalists and storytellers. It's just, like, not forget that these things are happening and that there's incredibly brave people who are trying to keep it from happening again.

[Lola Blanc]

All right, big thanks to Martina for coming on. We love her. And y' all go listen to the podcast, because there is so much that we weren't able to get into here for spoiler reasons. And it is a really incredible listen.

[Megan Elizabeth]

I mean, it's beyond what you could ever imagine. Go give it a listen, please. Yes, we already asked if I joined this call last week. Of course the answer is yes. But to just summarize, I was thinking maybe we could go back to what we were talking about earlier, of just how susceptible we all are to anything nefarious right now, just because the news has broken us down. No matter what side you're on so completely, just everything's scary, everything's dark. So, yeah, just not joining anything maybe right now that has a ton of promises that can't really be proven or giving anybody a lot of money, I wouldn't do right now. You know what I mean?

[Lola Blanc]

If someone's offering some real simple answers right now, maybe take a beat before you act or join, because. Yeah, I know for me, we talk about it all the time. But as true as ever. Now certainty is something that feels really comforting and I really desire it.

[Megan Elizabeth]

And we want that.

[Lola Blanc]

And it would feel so much safer to have that. But.

[Megan Elizabeth]

God, I'd do anything.

[Lola Blanc]

I know, but. So it's a good time to lean on community, but lean on, you know.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah.

[Lola Blanc]

Multiple communities and not just one. Maybe.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah. The way I. The way I got out of it this weekend was I just called five different friends and like, friendship communities that aren't taking your money.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah, exactly.

[Megan Elizabeth]

And that you trust are, in my personal opinion, the only way to get out of these holes. And if you're like, but I don't have any friends, then I always say I didn't have any friends for a very long time. Join a class. Join something you're interested in. Totally get out into community that isn't culty, that you're learning something. And if it does get culty, then leave. Because the first class I joined was a cult. We did an episode about it. So, you know, just, Just.

[Lola Blanc]

Yeah, there are people out there who share your interests and, and who, you know, like, connection can happen. We've talked also about how hard it is to make friends as adults. But. But it's possible.

[Megan Elizabeth]

It is possible. And. And it's very needed. So.

[Martina Castro]

Yeah.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Yeah. And I'm sure if you're like, I have children, I can't join a class, then. I don't know. I know that's probably very unrelatable. Something in that vein, though, right?

[Lola Blanc]

Other parents.

[Martina Castro]

Other parents.

[Lola Blanc]

We got options.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Okay. Thank you for listening to another episode of Trust Me. We appreciate you so much. Please come again next week. Rate us five stars. And as always, remember to follow your gut. Watch out for red flags and never ever trust me. Bye.

[Lola Blanc]

This has been an exact hosted by

[Megan Elizabeth]

me, Lola Blanc, and me, Megan Elizabeth. Our senior producer is Ji Ha Lee.

[Lola Blanc]

This episode was mixed by John Bradley.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Our associate producer is Christina Chamberlain, and our guest booker is Patrick Cotner.

[Lola Blanc]

Our theme song was composed by Holly Amber Church.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Trust Me is executive produced by Karen Kilgareth, Georgia Hardstark and Danielle Kramer.

[Lola Blanc]

You can find us on Instagram, ustmepodcast or on TikTok, trustmecultpodcast.

[Megan Elizabeth]

Got your own story about cults, extreme belief or manipulation? Shoot us an [e-mail] Listen to Trust

[Lola Blanc]

Me on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Matt Rogers]

This is Matt Rogers from Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.

[Bowen Yang]

This is Bowen Yang from Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers. And Bowen Yang.

[Matt Rogers]

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[Bowen Yang]

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[Matt Rogers]

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[Bowen Yang]

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[Bowen Yang]

Bottom line, Xfinity is smart and reliable. You deserve the peace of mind of having WI fi that's got your back.

[Matt Rogers]

Xfinity. Imagine that.

[Janice Torres]

This podcast is supported by FX's Love Story, John F. Kennedy Jr. And Carolyn Bessette. The new limited series from executive producer Ryan Murphy. It explores the complex courtship of the iconic couple considered to be American royalty, whose love story captured the attention of the nation. Their fairytale romance would unfold in front of the public eye, where their private love would also become a national obsession. FX's love story John F. Kennedy Jr. And Carolyn Bessette watch now on FX, Hulu and Hulu on Disney for bundle subscribers.

[Bowen Yang]

Janice Torres here and I'm Austin Hankwitz.

[Podcast Host (Mind the Small Business Success Stories)]

We host the podcast Mind the Small Business Success Stories, produced by Ruby Studio

[Bowen Yang]

in partnership with Intuit QuickBooks.

[Megan Elizabeth]

We're back for season four to talk to some incredible small business owners.

[Podcast Host (Mind the Small Business Success Stories)]

The big thing about working at tech is that it's ever evolving, ever changing. Every everyone's a rookie. That's how fast the industry is changing. So what I'm really excited about is to be part of that change.

[Bowen Yang]

So listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple

[Podcast Host (Mind the Small Business Success Stories)]

Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.