Culture Changers with Allison Hare

Content note: This episode discusses childhood abuse, sexual assault and family estrangement. If you or someone you know needs support, resources are at the bottom of these notes.

Church is always supposed to be the safest place you could possibly go, right? Today I sit down with Stella McCormick, author of Deliver Us From Mother: Faith, Fear, and the Family Cult That Broke Me, to talk about growing up in what Stella calls an evangelical, fundamentalist, Christian single-family cult led by her mother.

Stella explains a single-family cult. A cult doesn't need a compound or a famous leader. It can be one family, even one couple, held together by coercive control, isolation, financial control and thought control. She walks through what that looked like in her home as one of nine children, homeschooled, parentified, and raised on mandatory obedience in the orbit of the Duggars and Bill Gothard's IBLP.

She talks about leaving at 20 by joining the Navy, why she first saw the world outside as "the ultimate test of my faith," and how a boot-camp friendship started to crack the story she'd been told. After an assault in the service and a trial that ended in a not-guilty verdict, therapy in Kuwait helped her name what she'd lived through, with her older sister doing the same work from home.

Stella then describes calling Child Protective Services on her own parents, how her family told the story afterward, what happened for the children involved, and why she now says: "I did not destroy my family. I simply told somebody about it." They close with going no contact, healing that never fully ends, and the freedom of life after deconstruction.

This is one of the bravest conversations I’ve had on this show. I can’t wait for you to hear it.

KEY TOPICS

- Why Stella plans not to take future children to church until they can think critically

- What a single-family cult is, and how it differs from a compound or congregation

- The Duggars, IBLP, Bill Gothard and "head of household" teaching

- Mandatory obedience, parentification and growing up in a very large homeschool family

- James Dobson's "strong-willed child" and being told you were born with more sin

- The sinner's prayer on repeat: what religious guilt does to a child

- Leaving physically vs. leaving psychologically

- Learning from people you were taught to fear

- Victim-blaming, and the kind of parent Stella wants to be

- Therapy, the word "abused," and the sister who walked the path with her

- The pregnancy rumor and the fear that your mother is all-powerful

- Calling CPS, the court outcome, and the family's version of events

- Allison's seven characteristics of cult dynamics (charismatic authoritarian leader, coercive control, a family narrative, forced conformity, intense secrecy, manipulation through guilt and fear, limited contact with the outside world)

- No contact, healing and untangling truth from "perceived truth"

FIND STELLA McCORMICK

- Book: Deliver Us From Mother: https://link.amazon/B0dEjexg0

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stella_mccormick

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stellamc_author/

WORK WITH ME

I'm a podcast and brand strategist. If you want to use your voice as a force for good and a podcast is your platform, or you already have one that isn't doing what you want, book a free clarity call at https://AllisonHare.com/freecall

RESOURCES (U.S.)

- RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-HOPE (4673), free, confidential, 24/7; chat at hotline.rainn.org

- Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-422-4453

- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988

- Outside the U.S., contact your local emergency or crisis services.

Stella's story is her own account of her experience. Opinions expressed by guests are their own.

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

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I just walked out of two of the buzziest documentaries around, You Can See Everything (Elizabeth Holmes, co-directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim) and the Musk documentary, and I can't stop thinking about them. Is it required to blur the lines of reality and fiction to be a successful innovator? This one has spoilers, so use the timestamps below to skip ahead.

IN THIS EPISODE

• Why a comedian known for blurring reality and fiction was the surprising choice to film Elizabeth Holmes

• The Theranos story and the 2% funding gap for female founders

• "It's not fraud. It failed. All inventors fail." Where that argument holds and where it breaks

• Why we love the "crazy until it works" hero, from Holmes to Musk

• The Amanda Seyfried twist and why this film may change what a documentary is

• My verdict: 100% worth the hype

*SPOILER GUIDE*

Light spoilers throughout. Bigger ones at 11:15 (Musk), 22:26, 23:25, 26:33 and 30:52.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

You Can See Everything (Nathan Fielder, Lance Oppenheim) · the Musk documentary · Theranos · The Dropout (Amanda Seyfried) · Nathan for You · Don't Look Up (Adam McKay) · Jerrod Carmichael's Rothaniel · Bo Burnham's Inside · Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First" · Bell Labs · Bryan Johnson

PULL QUOTES

"Is it required to blur the lines of reality and fiction in order to be a successful innovator?" (0:00)

"You're crazy until it works." (4:05)

"It's not fraud. It failed. All inventors fail." (14:39)

WORK WITH ME

I'm a podcast and brand strategist. If you want to use your voice as a force for good, book a free podcast clarity call with me: https://AllisonHare.com/freecall

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Do inventors have to be delusional?

0:30 Welcome to Culture Changers (and the Elizabeth Holmes turtleneck)

1:14 You Can See Everything: Nathan Fielder's genre-bending documentary

2:20 Pushing the genre: Don't Look Up, Jerrod Carmichael, Bo Burnham

3:20 Elizabeth Holmes vs. Elon Musk: "crazy until it works"

4:13 The Theranos story: the pinprick test, the fraud, the 11 years

5:44 A 19-year-old founder and the 2% funding gap

7:03 Holmes asks Nathan Fielder to film her last 34 days

7:27 Why Nathan Fielder? From Nathan for You to this

9:09 Will the Musk documentary even come out? (it's four hours)

9:49 Elon's bravado and the sleight of hand

10:39 Why we love the "crazy until it works" hero

11:15 Musk's self-driving promise and its cost (spoiler)

12:30 "I didn't do anything wrong": Holmes vs. Fielder

13:44 Why I left sympathetic: "It's not fraud, it failed"

14:51 Nathan Fielder as our stand-in (and Who's on First)

16:00 Smoke and mirrors: why investors bought in

16:39 Locking eyes: Holmes on love, truth and "nothing to hide"

17:43 Her parents, Billy Evans and Sunny Balwani: where did it go wrong?

20:31 Billy Evans, two years later: who controls the narrative?

22:26 The twist: Amanda Seyfried joins the documentary (spoilers)

23:25 Who profits from Holmes's story? (major spoilers)

26:33 Amanda Seyfried as the audience's stand-in (spoilers)

27:53 Watching it with a theater full of Nathan Fielder fans

28:29 Am I rooting for her because I'm a feminist?

29:09 Does a "different brain" get a pass? Holmes, Musk, Bryan Johnson

30:24 Will this change documentaries? Truth vs. bias

30:52 My verdict: 100% worth the hype (ending twist: spoiler)

31:43 Oscar buzz and final thoughts

32:34 Work with Allison: free podcast clarity call

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

• Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
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• DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
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• Feedback and Contact:: allison@allisonhare.com

Eric Jorgenson wrote The Book of Elon, built entirely from Elon Musk’s own words. Allison asks the question everyone argues about: is Elon the greatest entrepreneur who ever lived? Eric thinks so, with an asterisk. They get into risk, speed, fear, the “boss from hell” question, and why Eric believes 99.9% of organizations err on the side of too slow or too soft. They also cover Elon’s politics and critics, what people get wrong about him, and why Eric gives the book away for free.

Key takeaways

• Eric’s biggest surprise was how much risk Elon takes. Elon rarely covers his downside and usually swings for the fences.
• Eric reframes the “boss from hell” label as empathy at the level of the mission, not the individual.
• Elon treats time as the one true currency. Moving a milestone up compounds for years.
• Elon reads military history and biographies, not business books. Eric says he operates like a field general.
• On fear, Elon says he feels it. He does it anyway if the mission is important enough.
• Eric says the odds of Tesla and SpaceX succeeding were each under 10%. Together that’s about 1%, and Elon put in everything he had to save both.
• Elon attacks the biggest problem first. He meets on it daily and cancels the meeting once it’s solved.
• Go to the problem in person. Eric calls it “much easier to ignore somebody on the phone than in person.”
• Politics has made Elon a lightning rod. Eric says it’s hard to find solid factual ground to stand on and invites people to look past the headline level.

Quotes

• “If the mission is important enough, you feel the fear and you do it anyway.” (Eric, quoting Elon)
• “SpaceX specializes in turning the impossible into the merely late.” (Eric, quoting Elon)
• “It’s empathy at the level of the mission or the organization, not empathy at the level of the individual.” (Eric)
• “I’m grateful to live in America through the age of Elon.” (Eric)

Mentioned in this episode

• The Book of Elon by Eric Jorgenson: free digital copy at https://elonmuskbook.org
• Eric’s site and podcast: ejorgenson.com

Connect: Eric on X at @ericjorgenson.

Allison’s free call: https://www.allisonhare.com/freecall

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

• Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
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Political midterms are fun, aren't they? You can’t escape the TV ads that dominate your favorite streaming shows on Hulu and Max. Your FB looks like your old high school buddies are in a keyboard war with each other. And your nervous system is 100% fried eggs. I mean, do these ads work? What is it like to work in politics when the entire world seems to be on fire and shouting for attention from every angle?

Michelle Coyle told me those ads are the single most effective tool a campaign has. Michelle runs the Political Business Institute, coaching the consultants who build the campaigns flooding your feed right now, and she's spent years inside both parties. We get into why negative ads actually move votes, how influencer marketing became a bigger campaign weapon than a TV ad buy, why corporate money in politics is messier than either side wants to admit, and how an AI can legally put words in a candidate's mouth they never said in a tone they never used. Seven weeks out from the midterms, send this to your group chat.

Notable timestamps:
02:44 Meet Michelle Coyle
05:58 Why negative ads work, and why the industry calls them "contrast"
07:07 Where campaign ad money is actually moving
09:47 What a political consultant does, and who hires Michelle
11:06 Seven weeks to Election Day, then everything stops cold
21:37 The loudest people online don't represent how people actually vote
23:11 Is Elon Musk buying the midterms
26:33 Never discount a pissed off populace
39:57 AI can legally put words in a candidate's mouth
45:12 What Republicans really say about Trump behind closed doors

Links and resources:

Website: www.politicalbusinessinstitute.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/michelletoscale

Delusional! podcast | YouTube

Delusional! Movement community: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1dbLBtVS39/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

• Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
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• DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
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• Feedback and Contact:: allison@allisonhare.com

Mica Miller told her friends that if she died by suicide, it wasn't her. It was JP. Netflix gave Death of the Pastor's Wife three episodes, and my repeat guest Jennie Gage watched her own marriage play out on screen. She spent 24 years as the wife of a Mormon church leader, survived her own suicide attempt, and has a theory about what really happened to Mica. This one is harrowing. Trigger warnings on this one: suicide, abuse, and religious coercion. If you're struggling, call or text 988 (US).

Notable timestamps

• 00:00 "He makes JP Miller look kind of mild"
• 03:44 Born Mormon in 1974: the wifey immersion program
• 11:27 "Why can't she just be Mica?"
• 13:05 Trained to be a pet, and the second earring
• 17:54 "He picked me"
• 23:22 Spiritual warfare: when abuse gets blamed on Satan
• 27:47 Trauma bonded to Jesus
• 35:19 The timeline of Mica's final day
• 39:37 Was it suicide? "Yes and no"
• 54:43 What Jennie would have said to Mica

Rather watch this on YouTube? https://youtu.be/rhndF2WJkps

Jennie Gage:

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lifetaketwo7662
• Substack: https://lifetaketwo.substack.com
• Jennie's first Culture Changers episode: https://youtu.be/y7Hz_ui5Kx0

Allison

• Free 90-Second Podcast Audit: https://allisonhare.com/pod90
• Free Podcast Clarity Call: https://allisonhare.com/freecall
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/allison__hare
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/allisonhare

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

• Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
• Sign up for the free weekly email
• https://www.allisonhare.com/
• Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
• DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
• Reb3l Dance Fitness- Try it at home! Free month with this link.
• Feedback and Contact:: allison@allisonhare.com

Julianna Glasse was a chart topping Christian pop star who sang at Donald Trump's 2017 National Prayer Breakfast and taught tens of thousands of women that their closeness to God ran straight through their husbands. Then her husband found the books she was hiding, threw one on the floor, and told her "this is what happens when you read." She turned his sentence into the title of her new book, lost her marriage, her tours, and her book deal, survived death threats and sexual violence threats from fellow Christians, and became the first single woman ever partnered with Oxford's Saïd Business School. What religion actually teaches women about their own worth, and what it costs to walk away from it.

Notable timestamps:

• [02:48] Meeting Julianna Glasse, and the cheeky title of her new book
• [04:01] The doctrine of depravity, taught to her at age four
• [09:04] Singing at Trump's 2017 National Prayer Breakfast, and what she was taught about women
• [12:39] Meeting her gay neighbors in 2015, and the first crack in her belief system
• [15:11] Public shaming, death threats, and sexual violence threats after her divorce
• [21:18] The night her husband threw her books on the floor
• [27:16] Losing everything, then applying to Oxford's Saïd Business School
• [33:53] Sexual exploration, non-monogamy, and reclaiming her body
• [45:44] Launching This Is What Happens When Women Read, and reaching 4 million women in 67 countries
• [51:18] Her relationship to God and a higher power today

Prefer to watch on YouTube? https://youtu.be/VdzeTBUVgaU

Julianna Glasse:

• Book (Amazon): https://link.amazon/B058uJc4n
• Website: https://www.juliannaglasse.com/
• This Is What Happens When Women Read (nonprofit): https://www.thisiswhathappenswhenwomenread.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliannaglasse/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliannaglasse/

Allison:

• Follow me on Instagram: https://instagram.com/allison__hare
• Let's connect on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/allisonhare
• Free Podcast Clarity Call: https://allisonhare.com/freecall
• Weekly email, Thursdays: https://allisonhare.com/email

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

• Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
• Sign up for the free weekly email
• https://www.allisonhare.com/
• Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
• DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
• Reb3l Dance Fitness- Try it at home! Free month with this link.
• Feedback and Contact:: allison@allisonhare.com

Matt Grace grew up with a chef, a housekeeper, and a father who paid for his first prostitute, and by 29 he'd spent a hundred and fifty thousand dollars on sex workers and burned through every drug you can name. Matt spent his career as an interventionist for some of the wealthiest addicts in the country and just released his book, God Doesn't Relapse. We get into the therapist who diagnosed him with an Oedipus complex at nine, the house that became the neighborhood's drug den, the mother who finally changed the locks on him, and a moment where Matt and I go head to head over what actually counts as an addiction. This one's unflinching and important.

Notable timestamps:

• 02:06 "Holy fuck" is exactly the right way to open this one
• 04:11 Expelled from two preschools, flagged as a future sociopath at six
• 06:31 The therapist who diagnosed a nine-year-old's Oedipus complex and let him attack him for years
• 08:13 The Bloomfield Hills mansion and the house that became a teenage drug den
• 15:35 His father pays for his first prostitute, leading to $150K spent on sex workers
• 26:27 Suicidal with a rifle, and choosing God over a bullet
• 28:24 His mother's ultimatum: "Get out, I'm changing the locks"
• 41:35 "That's not recovery, it's weakness": Matt on being triggered
• 44:44 Matt and Allison clash over body dysmorphia versus addiction
• 51:02 The dream car he bought after his father died, and sold eight months later

Guest links:

• Book, God Doesn't Relapse: https://link.amazon/B03ZboAOz
• Matt's website: https://mattgrace.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattsavinggrace/
•

National Sobriety Tour: https://mattgrace.com/national-sobriety-tour/

Allison's links:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/allison__hare
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/allisonhare
• Free Podcast Clarity Call: https://allisonhare.com/freecall
• Weekly email, Thursdays: https://allisonhare.com/email

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

• Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
• Sign up for the free weekly email
• https://www.allisonhare.com/
• Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
• DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
• Reb3l Dance Fitness- Try it at home! Free month with this link.
• Feedback and Contact:: allison@allisonhare.com

JP Miller preached a full sermon less than 24 hours after his wife died - allegedly by suicide - without taking a single question about it. Netflix gave "Death of the Pastor's Wife" three episodes but still left out a lot: the earlier conviction, the first wife whose stories echoed Mica's experience, the third wife already leading worship beside him. I watched the whole thing, went deep into the rabbit hole - and am reporting back here as I noticed some notable patterns that are showing up right now in trad wife culture too. This is a harrowing story whose theological foundations permeate our society across many angles. Trigger warnings on this one.

Rather watch on YouTube? Watch here.

Notable timestamps:

• 00:00 The documentary, the trigger warning, and why this one couldn't wait
• 03:10 Who Mica Miller was, and how grooming looked like devotion at 13
• 11:20 Christian patriarchy 101: the umbrella, submission, and Bill Gothard's IBLP
• 15:40 JP's 1999 conviction, the pardon, and the pattern nobody flagged
• 23:15 The sermon the morning after Mica's death, and the room that stayed silent
• 29:00 What Netflix actually left out
• 33:30 The data: how common this is inside churches, and how few pastors are trained for it
• 36:45 Savanna Stone, trad wives, and why there are no old trad wives
• 41:10 Allison's mom, her dad's advice, and what she wants for her own marriage
• 47:30 Mica's Law: where it stands, and how to actually help

Episode resources:

• National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-SAFE (7233), or text START to 88788
• "Death of the Pastor's Wife" updates, Netflix Tudum: https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/death-of-the-pastors-wife-john-paul-miller-updates
• What Netflix left out, Ladbible: https://www.ladbible.com/entertainment/tv/jp-miller-netflix-left-out-documentary-criminal-record-527761-20260902
• Mica's Law update, WBTW: https://www.wbtw.com/news/grand-strand/horry-county/shes-the-reason-second-micas-law-bill-sparks-statewide-push-for-stronger-domestic-violence-protections/
• Savanna Stone documentary: https://youtu.be/Xvy0yOVtUqw?si=a6IUhRM5k3DTKB9Q

Allison's links:

• Follow me on Instagram: https://instagram.com/allison__hare
• Let's connect on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/allisonhare
• Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@culturechangerspod
• Free Podcast Clarity Call: https://allisonhare.com/freecall
• Weekly email, Thursdays: https://allisonhare.com/email

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

• Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
• Sign up for the free weekly email
• https://www.allisonhare.com/
• Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
• DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
• Reb3l Dance Fitness- Try it at home! Free month with this link.
• Feedback and Contact:: allison@allisonhare.com

Are you as obsessed as I am with the dumbest headlines of the week? Well, you're in luck! I've got comedian and pop culture whisperer Rachel LaForce on to break down what Spencer Pratt's mayoral run, the $250 Trump bill, and trad wife content filmed at Home Goods actually say about the rest of us. Rachel got sober by accident, spent decades masking her neurodivergence, and built her whole show around one idea: comedy gets you to the truth faster than seriousness does. This is a fast, sharp, occasionally unhinged hour that somehow keeps landing on self-belief.

Notable timestamps:

• 03:57 – The UFC fight on the White House lawn, and how "healing is hilarious" started as Rachel's own recovery philosophy
• 12:08 – How she got sober "on accident" during a breakup, and never went back
• 16:57 – The push-yourself-out-of-the-pool metaphor for knowing you're actually ready for change
• 20:02 – Spencer Pratt's mayoral run and the self-belief lesson hiding inside it
• 23:38 – Why she thinks billionaires are boring, and her case for an abundance mindset
• 27:54 – MacKenzie Scott, Jeff Bezos, and the gender dynamics of wealth
• 31:45 – Her actual rule for what's fair game to joke about, and why trad wife content makes her sad instead of snarky
• 37:36 – Cortisol dressing, dopamine dressing, and how marketing invents things to sell women
• 43:36 – Where to find Rachel and what's next for Healing is Hilarious

Rachel LaForce, resources and links:

• Healing is Hilarious podcast: https://www.rachellaforce.com/podcast
• Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6jliDvkqHQFXyfx9Qh0lr4
• Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-rachel-laforce-show/id1600838616
• Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@therachellaforce
• Rachel's website: https://www.rachellaforce.com/
• Follow Rachel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachellaforce/
• Follow Healing is Hilarious on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healingishilarious/
• Skewed Orbit Studios: https://www.skewedorbitstudios.com/

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

• Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
• Sign up for the free weekly email
• https://www.allisonhare.com/
• Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
• DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
• Reb3l Dance Fitness- Try it at home! Free month with this link.
• Feedback and Contact:: allison@allisonhare.com

I grew up thinking if I did everything right, negotiated hard enough, leaned in enough, the outcome would eventually match the effort. Y'all, that was a big old fat lie. Stefanie O'Connell spent years digging into the research for her new book, The Ambition Penalty, and the data is downright shocking. We get into girlboss culture and tradwife culture, and why they're actually selling the same lie in different outfits. We talk about what happens to women who out earn their male partners, and I promise, you're going to be picking your jaw up off the floor. Fair warning, there's some rage in this one. Mine included.

Notable timestamps:

• 01:55 – Stefanie explains the title and the reckoning behind the book
• 06:07 – The truth about whether women actually negotiate less than men
• 10:29 – Was Lean In a net positive or a net negative
• 15:55 – Girlboss and tradwife culture are selling the exact same lie
• 20:03 – Midroll
• 26:34 – The data on breadwinning moms and abuse in the home
• 36:43 – Why men only read 20% of bestselling books by women
• 45:03 – Where to actually start when the problem feels too big
• 50:10 – Why Stefanie refuses to buy into mom guilt
• 56:27 – What utopia actually looks like, ten years out

Stefanie's links:

• The Ambition Penalty (book):https://amzn.to/4gbQlSY
• Website: https://tooambitious.com/
• Too Ambitious newsletter: https://tooambitious.substack.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stefanieoconnell/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stefaniemoconnell

Allison's links:

• Free Podcast Clarity Call: https://allisonhare.com/freecall
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/allison__hare
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/allisonhare

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

• Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
• Sign up for the free weekly email
• https://www.allisonhare.com/
• Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
• DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
• Reb3l Dance Fitness- Try it at home! Free month with this link.
• Feedback and Contact:: allison@allisonhare.com

The women who built Lilith Fair were called "angry," "hysterical," "emotional," and dismissed as "a bunch of lesbians" back in the 90s. Turns out Sarah McLachlan and her all-female lineup were way ahead of their time, running the highest grossing tour of 1997. Now the concept is back, and leading the charge is Olivia Rodrigo, using her platform to advocate for women's rights. This is a fun, fascinating, and timely look at how right those women were, and why the fight just picked up way more steam.

Notable timestamps (estimated):

• 00:00 Daisy Chain Fields, and why it couldn't have come faster
• 02:20 The Alanis Morissette clip that stopped Allison cold
• 05:00 The real history of Lilith Fair: why radio wouldn't play two women back to back
• 08:10 The Indigo Girls, internalized homophobia, and breaking through anyway
• 18:45 Allison's mom, "never rely on a man to make money," and what it cost her
• 27:20 Olivia Rodrigo's parents: "you can't be a real artist unless you speak up"
• 32:00 The Daisy Chain Fields lineup and how fast it sold out
• 34:00 The gestalt therapy session with a bat, and learning to let anger out
• 38:40 Why the internet is already criticizing what Olivia Rodrigo wears

Rather watch on YouTube? Watch here.

Episode resources:

• Daisy Chain Fields: https://www.daisychainfields.com
• Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery (2025 documentary)
• Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso, the Alanis Morissette episode: https://talkeasypod.com/alanis-morissette/

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

• Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
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• DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
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Are you as obsessed as I am about how we are being manipulated by social media, ads, propaganda, politics, and what's real and what's not? Well, you're in luck! I've got ad sleuth Emily Rask from the hit show Lies We Bought podcast on to break it down for us! This is a fun and fascinating exploration into the sinister truth of advertising.

Notable timestamps:

• 03:05 What Lies We Bought actually is
• 10:29 The Kellogg brothers and the breakfast myth
• 11:38 Listerine invented a disease called halitosis
• 15:18 Growing up Mormon in Utah
• 22:33 The LDS Church's $30 billion SEC settlement
• 31:20 Why she turns down supplement company sponsors
• 38:03 Lie or Legit: rapid-fire mythbusting
• 42:35 Edward Bernays, the father of propaganda

Guest links:

• Emily Rask's Lies We Bought: https://www.lieswebought.com/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@liesweboughtpodcast
• Patreon: patreon.com/c/lieswebought
• IG: https://www.instagram.com/lieswebought/

Allison's links:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/allison__hare
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/allisonhare
• Free Podcast Clarity Call: https://allisonhare.com/freecall
• No Country for Mothers screening, Atlanta, Aug 24: https://allisonhare.com/mothers

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

• Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
• Sign up for the free weekly email
• https://www.allisonhare.com/
• Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
• DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
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• Feedback and Contact:: allison@allisonhare.com

My father died last week. He was 97. What a gangster, making it that far.

Milad Rizk survived World War Two as a kid in Lebanon, immigrated to America with nothing but a Lebanese passport and a plan, raised six kids across two marriages, and spent his whole career as an auditor jumping from Iraq to Saudi Arabia to Chicago to New York. He had dementia for the last several years of his life. Toward the end he couldn't really talk to us anymore.

Then I remembered something. Fifteen years ago, before I had a podcast, before I even knew what a podcast was, I used to run a music blog and interview artists with a little handheld recorder. One day I pointed it at my dad instead and asked him to tell me his whole life story.

I hadn't listened to it since. I wasn't even sure the file still existed. So last week I dug an old recorder out of a closet, popped in the SD card, and the very first file I opened was him.

I think about how close I came to never finding this. And I think about how many of us have a parent sitting right there, willing to talk, and we just haven't asked yet.

This is Milad Youssef Rizk. Born December 20th, 1928 in Tripoli, Lebanon. Died July 30th of this year. He spoke five languages, picked up hitchhikers with all six of his kids in the car (#superdad), and told stories so freaking captivating. In this interview he talks about growing up poor during the war, what it was like starting over in America in his late twenties, and near the end, whether he thinks he was a good father. His answer surprised me (he said no).

If you still have a parent (or loved one) who would sit down and talk to you, record it. You can thank me later!

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

• Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
• Sign up for the free weekly email
• https://www.allisonhare.com/
• Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
• DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
• Reb3l Dance Fitness- Try it at home! Free month with this link.
• Feedback and Contact:: allison@allisonhare.com

As a woman who deeply cares about women's rights, I am obsessed with a show that is totally problematic. America's Sweethearts Season 3 just dropped on Netflix. I grabbed fellow DCC-obsessed Mara Davis, an Atlanta radio legend who has been watching the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders since the 1970s, sat through all 17 seasons on CMT, and has opinions about every single cheerleader, judge, and PR move in that building. We get into Reece's early retirement and the trad wife speculation swirling on Reddit, Faith's breakout season and the ponytail situation, whether the coordinated cheerleader solidarity online is real or engineered, what Kelli's exit meeting with Faith reveals about leadership under serious pressure, and why two feminists who probably shouldn't love this show absolutely cannot stop watching it.

Timestamps:

• 00:00 Why Allison is obsessed with a show she admits is totally problematic
• 02:35 Mara's DCC origin story: 17 seasons of CMT and what changed when Netflix arrived
• 05:10 The arc of all three seasons: severely underpaid athletes, pay equity fight, social media scrutiny
• 06:45 Mara's feminist paradox: "It doesn't make sense that I love this show so much"
• 08:36 Reece: the darling who appeared in all three seasons and why her early exit is more complicated than an injury
• 11:13 Reece's husband, the trad wife speculation, and what Reddit has been saying
• 14:44 Faith as the Season 3 breakout: "You cannot take your eyes off that girl"
• 15:31 The moment that made Mara fully Team Kelli: the exit meeting and what Kelli said to Faith
• 16:43 Kelli's "re-earn my trust," Victoria from Season 1, and whether the cheerleader solidarity online is coordinated
• 21:53 "It's Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. It's not Victoria. It's just not."
• 23:00 Kelli watches back every season and critiques her own leadership
• 23:18 Mara: "I want her to run the country."
• 26:13 What Season 3 may have hidden about body image and why seven episodes isn't enough
• 33:13 Mara used to judge Atlanta Falcons cheerleader auditions
• 35:31 Why the DCC sisterhood is actually one of the most feminist things on television
• 37:20 Who would replace Kelli and Judy if they ever retired?
• 38:37 Glow-ups, ageism, and how people talk about women over 60 online
• 40:28 Season 4 is confirmed and we already know who's back at training camp
• 43:09 Dayton and Dayton's mom
• 44:32 Judy Trammell choreographed Thunderstruck and the music licensing conversation

Resources and Links Mentioned

Mara Davis on Instagram: https://instagram.com/maradavis2000

"Be There in Five" podcast by Kate Kennedy (Victoria's appearance on this episode is discussed): https://open.spotify.com/episode/2brpAlYGUffbYekHU1PqMR?si=f3d45a467f444032

Book a free podcast strategy call: allisonhare.com/freecall

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

• Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
• Sign up for the free weekly email
• https://www.allisonhare.com/
• Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
• DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
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• Feedback and Contact:: allison@allisonhare.com

Kevin Calhoun spent years doing HR and DEI work from inside some of the biggest corporations in the world. He watched those programs get built. Then he watched them get dismantled — and found himself displaced in the process. In this conversation, recorded in honor of Juneteenth, Kevin introduces the concept of James Crow: Jim Crow's more dangerous, more invisible cousin. The one with a hiring algorithm instead of a shotgun.

Notable Timestamps (verify against final audio before publishing)

• 03:03 — Kevin reads from his article "James Crow and Visa, Everywhere You Want to Be" — the line that stopped Allison cold
• 04:37 — How corporate culture shifted from servant leadership to "we're going in a different direction"
• 07:40 — The grief nobody talks about: losing your corporate identity in a 30-minute meeting
• 09:05 — The stats: DEI fell 98% in Fortune 100 communications; Black unemployment now twice white unemployment
• 11:47 — Performative DEI vs. real DEI — how to tell the difference
• 13:49 — Costco held the line against 19 attorney generals. Why some companies stay and others fold.
• 15:15 — What Kevin learned about not seeking validation from your organization
• 17:15 — The pendulum: why organizations that hold their values win long-term
• 20:38 — Jim Crow vs. James Crow — Kevin defines the difference
• 28:15 — Code switching, agency, and choosing when to show up fully as yourself
• 33:24 — How to find your way forward when the system has failed you
• 36:56 — "No company loves you." What Kevin knows that he wishes more people understood
• 38:58 — If you know the rules of the game before you start playing, you can't be mad if you don't win

Rather watch on YouTube? https://youtu.be/ixqV4X5EqJ8

Resources & Links Mentioned

• Kevin's article: "James Crow and Visa, Everywhere You Want to Be" - available on Substack and Medium
• Kevin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-calhoun-0808882/
• Kevin's email: jkevin.calhoun@gmail.com
• Book a free podcast clarity call with Allison: allisonhare.com/freecall

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

• Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
• Sign up for the free weekly email
• https://www.allisonhare.com/
• Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
• DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
• Reb3l Dance Fitness- Try it at home! Free month with this link.
• Feedback and Contact:: allison@allisonhare.com

My mother died on June 11th, five years ago. This is the episode I recorded right after she passed. It's episode 300, and it's dedicated to her.

What I didn't expect was what her last six months would teach me. About the matriarchy. About worthiness. About the hypermasculine drive that so many of us — myself very much included — run on until we can't anymore. And about what happens when you finally let yourself receive love instead of earn it.

If you still have your mother here, you will want to call her after this one.

In this episode:

• The real history of the matriarchy — and why it matters that it existed before the patriarchy
• How watching a parent die dismantles the story you've been living
• What hypermasculine burnout actually looks like from the inside
• What her last six months looked like — and why she was happier than she'd been in decades
• What "being enough" feels like when someone you love shows you it's true

Timestamps:

• 00:00 — Dedication and why this episode exists
• 02:44 — The matriarchy: history, power, and what we lost
• 05:05 — Who my mother was
• 09:53 — What her life became my cautionary tale
• 12:16 — The hypermasculine drive and the burnout
• 14:37 — Her last six months and the miracle in them
• 17:05 — The room where she died
• 20:36 — What the matriarchy is asking of us now

Links and Resources:

• Episode 3 with Kelly Knight on the Age of Aquarius: [link to episode 3]
• Free podcast strategy call: https://allisonhare.com/freecall

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

• Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
• Sign up for the free weekly email
• https://www.allisonhare.com/
• Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
• DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
• Reb3l Dance Fitness- Try it at home! Free month with this link.
• Feedback and Contact:: allison@allisonhare.com

Bryan Green and Krissy Hoadley of The Commercial Break built a #1 comedy podcast with over 50 million downloads and absolutely no plan. Over a thousand episodes in, they're finally spilling the behind-the-scenes. What makes a show last? What's the actual creative process? And who on earth is Frankie B? Fun fact, Bryan was in my very first podcast launch cohort in 2019 which is how this show began.

What listeners will take away:

• The mindset shift that separates podcasters who last from the ones who quit at episode twelve
• A simple way to choose a co-host that actually works — it has nothing to do with who makes you laugh
• The full, ridiculous, endearing origin story of Frankie B and why Bryan thinks he might be the secret engine of the whole show
• Why chasing trends, polish, and strategy is exactly backwards
• The 20/80 rule for showing up on days when you have nothing

Notable Timestamps:

• 07:07 — Bryan on the "big fuck this" moments every podcaster hits and why you keep going anyway
• 09:59 — "Perfection is the enemy of consistency" — the line that will stick with you
• 13:06 — Why Bryan doesn't care if you think his podcast has too many ums
• 15:42 — The 20/80 rule: what to do when you walk in with nothing
• 17:29 — The Apple review that finally told Bryan what his show actually was
• 25:52 — The full Frankie B origin story (12 views, Ruby Tuesday's, and a text from Jason)
• 35:52 — The line Bryan won't cross, even when something is funny
• 37:26 — His read on the Manosphere and why most of those guys are running a grift
• 43:46 — The whole strategy, summed up in one sentence

Links and Resources:

• The Commercial Break: thecommercialbreak.com
• Bryan Green on Instagram: https://instagram.com/bryanwgreen
• Frankie B on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@frankbennardo6063
• Book a free clarity call with Allison: allisonhare.com/freecall

Prefer to watch on YouTube? Voila! https://youtu.be/kFmVtTnBsjw

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

• Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
• Sign up for the free weekly email
• https://www.allisonhare.com/
• Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
• DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
• Reb3l Dance Fitness- Try it at home! Free month with this link.
• Feedback and Contact:: allison@allisonhare.com

How did we go from prophet to profit with Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, Deepak Chopra... one by one, the curtain got lifted? And we're left asking: who do we actually trust? Religious ethicist Dr. Liz Bucar has spent 25 years studying exactly that question. Her answers will surprise you.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why the guru era is collapsing and what a good teacher actually looks like versus a predatory one
• The hidden Orientalism behind Deepak Chopra and Jay Shetty's appeal — and the latent racism nobody's talking about
• How a 19th century minister literally named after the Graham cracker gave us our food guilt
• Why a single question from a tarot card reader reversed years of orthorexia when therapy and church couldn't touch it
• What happened when a straight-edge religious studies professor did ayahuasca three times a day for three days in an Oregon yurt — and what it broke open about death, grief, and living well
• What sangha means and why real community requires you to be inconvenienced

Prefer to watch on YouTube? https://youtu.be/5kXU5Cf2heE

Resources & Links:

• ORDER Beyond Wellness book: https://amzn.to/4wQJypx
• Liz's website: https://www.lizbucar.com/books
• Liz's Substack (Religion, Reimagined): https://lizbucar.substack.com/
• Liz on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lizbucar/
• Liz on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lizbucar
• Work with Allison: https://allisonhare.com/freecall

NOTABLE TIMESTAMPS

• 00:00 — Intro: Prophet to profit. The guru era is over.
• 02:25 — Welcome Dr. Liz Bucar
• 03:25 — Is the guru era over? Jay Shetty, Deepak Chopra, and what cracked
• 07:35 — The halo effect: how platform-built gurus get their power
• 09:23 — Red flags of a bad spiritual teacher
• 10:57 — What a good teacher actually looks like
• 11:47 — The Orientalism and latent racism behind the wellness guru industry
• 13:43 — What is wellness — and why it's too low of a bar
• 15:05 — Women, optimization, and the anemic version of human life we've been sold
• 16:22 — What if dying well is part of living well?
• 17:56 — What a "none" borrows from religion without belonging to it
• 21:21 — Religion's PR problem and who's controlling the narrative
• 24:01 — Safety, belonging, and the search for somewhere to land
• 25:24 — Disordered eating, orthorexia, and the tarot reading that reversed it
• 30:01 — How bad theology gave us food moralizing (the Graham cracker guy)
• 34:26 — Ayahuasca: the plan Liz did NOT have
• 36:58 — Santo Daime, the sacrament of Daime, and a legal ayahuasca church in the US
• 39:12 — Why the religious container was everything
• 41:53 — Confronting her father's death in an Oregon yurt
• 43:18 — Death doulas, dying well, and the epiphany that changed everything
• 44:01 — Sangha: what community actually means
• 45:23 — Hope vs. optimism — and why the difference matters right now
• 48:20 — Rage has good intel. Embrace the ugly parts.
• 49:05 — Why individualism has done us dirty
• 50:33 — Biohacking, hustle culture, and inviting friction back in
• 51:06 — Real community requires showing up, not just extracting
• 52:46 — Where to find Liz and preorder Beyond Wellness

Allison's Offer:

Schedule a free podcast clarity call: https://allisonhare.com/freecall

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

• Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
• Sign up for the free weekly email
• https://www.allisonhare.com/
• Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
• DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
• Reb3l Dance Fitness- Try it at home! Free month with this link.
• Feedback and Contact:: allison@allisonhare.com

She burned her Bible in the backyard. But that came years after leaving a marriage she was pressured into at 19, going homeless, losing her faith, and waking up from a coma. Jennie Gage has lived several lifetimes inside one — and she's using all of it to fight back.

What you'll get from this conversation:

• How Mormon indoctrination works and why it's different from "just going to church on Sundays"
• What "a man is not a plan" really means and how Jennie learned it the hard way
• The tradwife pipeline that cracked 44 years of belief wide open
• Why the lesbians were always the canary in the coal mine
• What "shield maidens" are in white supremacist movements and where Erica Kirk fits in
• Why Turning Point USA is essentially running a Mormon missionary program on college campuses
• How cults use fear and inspiration to change behavior — and why it always wears off
• What identity collapse actually feels like when you leave a high-demand religion
• Where Jennie finds spirituality, hope, and her own voice as an atheist
• Why she calls herself an activist, not a content creator

Jennie's Resources and Links:

• Jennie Gage on YouTube: Life Take Two: https://www.youtube.com/@lifetaketwo7662
• Jennie on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/lifetaketwo
• Jennie's Substack: Mormon Wife's Secret Life: https://lifetaketwo.substack.com/p/a-mormon-wifes-secret-life
• Jennie on IG: https://www.instagram.com/lifetaketwojennie/

Allison's Resource:

• Book a free clarity call with Allison: allisonhare.com/freecall

Trigger warnings: This episode covers suicide, sexual assault, domestic abuse, child marriage, and religious coercion.

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

• Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
• Sign up for the free weekly email
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• DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
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• Feedback and Contact:: allison@allisonhare.com

Culture Changers Podcast is 7 TODAY!

Award-winning.

Globally ranked (top 1.5%)

Almost 300 episodes and a million downloads.

And to celebrate, I'm doing a ridiculous marathon livestream starting today at 1pm EST.

And I might even go for SEVEN HOURS!

Join me LIVE (please comment and say hi - surprise guests, surprise announcements, spice level 1000.

• YouTube
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

Definitely NOT Twitter/X 👎🏼).

I can't thank you enough for being part of this global conversation.

xo,

Allison Hare

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.

• Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
• Sign up for the free weekly email
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• Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
• DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
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• Feedback and Contact:: allison@allisonhare.com