A Little Bit Culty: Navigating Cults, Control and Coercion Paperback – March 12, 2026

Culty shit is everywhere—and this book shows you how to spot it, escape it, and heal from it.From former NXIVM insiders turned whistleblowers and hosts of the hit podcast A Little Bit Culty comes a gripping, practical, and surprisingly hopeful guide to understanding how manipulative people and systems get their hooks into us—and how to get your life back when they do.Drawing from their harrowing experiences inside NXIVM, their roles in HBO’s The Vow, and hundreds of conversations with survivors and experts, Sarah Edmondson and Anthony “Nippy” Ames pull back the curtain on the tactics of coercive control: love bombing, gaslighting, identity erosion, charismatic leadership, toxic spirituality, trauma bonding, and more.Blending memoir, survivor wisdom, cultural commentary, and hard-won humor, A Little Bit Culty decodes the red flags hiding in plain sight—in relationships, workplaces, wellness communities, social media movements, churches, and anywhere someone claims to have all the answers.Whether you’re untangling your own experience, worried about someone you love, or simply curious how smart, capable people get drawn into high-control groups, this book is the compassionate, no-BS field guide you’ve been waiting for.Part cautionary tale, part survival manual, and part rallying cry, A Little Bit Culty will leave you wiser, stronger, and far less likely to fall for anyone promising “transformation” at the cost of your autonomy.Welcome to the club—the one that helps you stay out of cults. Read more