Sarah Steel

@letstalkaboutsects.bsky.social

1215 Followers 414 Following

Podcaster: Let’s Talk About Sects | Author: Do As I Say https://linktr.ee/letstalkaboutsects

A tattoo of a dog who has stolen some socks. It is a cartoon-like outline with a pop of orange colour striped on the socks.
Mirriam Francis, NSW Anti-Slavery Commissioner James Cockayne and Sarah Steel at NSW Parliament House
A purple stall advertising Shen Yun – staffed by two people handing out flyers and manning a desk behind a screen playing footage of dancers
An ABC (Australia) News headline underneath an image of a blistering-looking sun that says “What 50C summers will mean for Australia — and why they’re more likely
An image of billboard advertising for Shen Yun performances in Taiwan, my translate app has this as “Shen Yun Evening Party 2026, The world’s top performance from New York, 12/30-2/8 performances in seven major cities in Taiwan”
A billboard ad at Summer Hill train station congratulating PLC Sydney’s class of 2025 for their year 12 results
A photograph of a medium-sized black, fluffy dog with a pair of great socks (one in her mouth) and a wide-eyed expression of being caught red-handed on her face
A phone app news alert from ABC that says: “AI is creeping into every part of life and Australians are divided between fascination and fear”
Sarah standing on a rock with some majestic, also rocky, mountains behind her, in the Valbonë Valley
A headshot of Sarah with the words: Sarah Steel, Ethical Media Award Co-Recipient – Freedom Express Awards – Hosted by The Freedom Train Project Honoring journalists, podcasters, bloggers, or documentarians who have covered the issues of cults and coercive control with integrity, depth and a commitment to revealing the truth while maintaining trauma informed care with victims.
A copy of Sarah Steel’s book ‘Do As I Say’ on a library shelf right by Deepak Chopra and a copy of the Holy Bible itself (also Dawkins but let’s not mention that)
Sarah Steel, a brunette with a fringe and brown eyes, in front of a Triple J sign before a radio interview
A picture of Cult Bride by Liz Cameron on a bookstore shelf
A picture of a brunette young woman with blue eyes and pearl earrings next to a quote: " Whether we are in or outside of the church, doesn't mean we're against you. We want your groups to be safer. We don't want the same thing that happened to us to happen to other people." – Liz Cameron, Author, Cult Bride & former member, Providence/JMS – Interview episode out now – Let's Talk About Sects
A picture of a white woman and man, both with glasses, holding a sheet that says "Personal Accounts: Stop Religious Coercion" next to a quote: "We wanted to put the fire out and then clean up the mess instead of just trying to clean up the mess while the fire kept going." – Catherine & Ryan Carey, Former members, Geelong Revival Centre, Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Cults: Interview Episode Out Now, Let's Talk About Sects
A picture of the book OPUS: Dark Money, a Secretive Cult, and its Mission to Remake Our World by Gareth Gore
A picture of a bearded man with glasses and a baseball cap, next to a quote: "I want to help others leave the group, and I want them to get professional help before they go through what I’ve gone through. Because I left the cult in 2012, and I’m only just dealing with it now." – Jaya Mangalam Gibson, Former practitioner, Falun Gong / Falun Dafa – episode out now – Let's Talk About Sects
A picture of a bearded man wearing glasses and a baseball cap next to a quote: "Yes, organ harvesting is real. Falun Gong is a cult. Yes, it’s being persecuted by the CCP [Chinese Communist Party]. All of those things are true... It’s a nuanced situation." – Jaya Mangalam Gibson, Former practitioner, Falun Gong / Falun Dafa – episode out now, Let's Talk About Sects
A picturesque view of a coastline, trees in the foreground, lush green hills above a beach, blue ocean and a blue sky with some scattered white clouds
A picture of a young woman with blonde-brown hair and red lips, wearing tortoiseshell glasses, next to a quote: "As early as 1965, we had the Anderson Report... and the report is so extensive and so damning in regards to the harms of Scientology, of Hubbard's practices. Reading it, it just makes your hair stand on end." - Mirriam Francis, Former Scientologist, Interview Episode out now, Let's Talk About Sects
A picture of a white woman with blonde hair down to her shoulders, the sun glinting off it. She wears a white shirt, gold earrings and a gold necklace. Next to her is a quote: " I was 12 years old and I'm down the streets going, “We've been accused, we're not abused!” We were told to chant that, after the raids. So I suppose they look at us and think, ‘Oh, well, the kids want to be there. They're not abused.’ But they don't realise that we didn't know what abuse was." – Maria Esguerra, Psychologist born into the Children of God / Interview episode out now / Let's Talk About Sects
A search of The Atlantic’s LibGen database tool showing ‘Do As I Say’ by Sarah Steel showing up in the results
A flyer when headshots of lots of smiling, diverse faces and the words “I’m a Scientologist.” and “Curious?” above a QR code
Quote from former Christchurch ISKCON / Hare Krishna devotee Dani Morningstar: "When we had our big earthquake here and everything kind of fell down, the Hare Krishnas put out there that that happened because the deity of Prabhupada in the Christchurch temple was being looked after by former morphine addicts. It was really weird. And so these people were being blamed for an earthquake, for a natural disaster, because they had formerly been drug addicts."
A graphic of a quote from LTAS interviewee Abbi Prussack, former member of the Two by Twos AKA The Truth: " Imagine that you are a survivor of abuse by a person who, in the time that they have been abusing people, has never had an address. And all documentation of where they have existed has been intentionally destroyed. And the people who might hold that documentation are the people who also don't want anybody to know that that person was abusive."
A picture of investigative journalist Richard Baker next to the quote: "It could take ten years, but I think the more people talk about these groups – these high demand, high control organisations – and the damage that they do, I think it will force the politicians to act." With a graphic of the Let's Talk About Sects logo next to the text: Interview episode out now
A black graphic with the Let's Talk About Sects logo at bottom right and a quote in white text: "They put on a face of, 'Oh, we're not about money.' And that's the big front, and that's what drew me in was I thought they were not about money. But they spent all their time and all their energy going after it." – Daniel Reiher, Former Jesus Christian for 4 months in 2017/2018
White text on a black background that says: "His argument was that any small group like ours has enemies, and you have to be careful what you say to them. And you have to be dishonest to them at times if necessary. So the enemies of the group need to be deceived. You have to be careful what you say to the media or whoever out there, and deceiving them is part of the strategy you would use." – Ross, Former Jesus Christian, member for 30 years
A yellow graphic with the Let's Talk About Sects logo at top left and text that says: BONUS EPISODE OUT NOW - A New Media Narrative at Decult
A quote next to the silhouette of a woman: "I just had this fear of people just disappearing. And that happened to me my whole upbringing. Like, you would have relationships with people, and then you wouldn't." – 'Alex', Former member, Revival Fellowship
Leaflets from Scientology, Falun Gong, and evangelical comics
A picture of a brunette woman with shoulder-length hair and a nose piercing, next to the quote: "It devastates me to think about second-generation adults struggling to deal with complex health needs that may have been entirely preventable because of this appalling neglect of their health." – Dr Caroline Ansley, Centrepoint Restoration Project and HealthPathways – Interview episode out now – Let's Talk About Sects
A FB post that reads: A Warning to young Females in particular. Whilst sitting at Maroubra beach by myself (headphones in) I was approached by an older couple Lesley and Andrew (I think that was his name) late 50s/early 60s. They appeared friendly enough making basic conversation, asked where I was from, if I was visiting, what I do for work. Wearing a cap and sunglasses may have given an impression of a much younger age and backpacker vibes. Andrew led the conversation to talk about a story of a guy Ken, who was in the army served in World War 2, came back to Australia and started working with the community to help with spiritual healing and lifestyle... still considered it to be a friendly enough chat until... I was invite to an event in Surry Hills 26th August where a lady Jan talks about all these inspirational guidances etc. They offered to help get me a ticket if I was interested. I politely declined but asked the ladies name (Jan Dyer) and they accepted my decline and eventua
A picture of a woman with auburn hair, a white scarf and a green top next to the quote: “Their cult has probably prepared them for someone swooping in and wanting to take control and taking them away, and that’s not at all what I want to do. I really want there to be this sense that I am interested and I am curious – and I am.” – Rachel Bernstein, IndoctriNation podcast host & therapist, Let’s Talk About Sects interview episode out now
Graphic with the words: Four days to new episode! October 18, 2023, Xenos/Dwell