Emily Paulson spent seven years inside a multilevel marketing company — indoctrinated, risen to the top, then escaped. Her exit kicked off research into coercive control (behavioral, informational, thought, and emotional), and this is the reading list that came out of it. The throughline: nobody joins a cult, they join what they think is a good thing.
- Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism — Amanda Montell. How cultism is a spectrum and language is the key to undue influence — from Jonestown and Scientology to SoulCycle, startups, and skincare. Makes you question your strongest affiliations.
- Scarred — Sarah Edmondson & Kristine Gasbarre. The NXIVM whistleblower’s memoir (of The Vow fame): 12 years inside, 2,000 people enrolled, and the harrowing break with Keith Raniere. “Anyone can fall victim to these scams.”
- Tears of the Silenced — Misty Griffin. Amish true-crime memoir of childhood abuse and leaving the church — questions “religious freedom” that shields those exploiting women and children.
- Slonim Woods 9 — Daniel Barban Levin. The Larry Ray / Sarah Lawrence College story (Hulu’s Stolen Youth): how a fragile young mind gets captured by a manipulative cult leader — “disturbingly shows us just how easily something like this could’ve happened to us.”
- A Billion Years — Mike Rinder. The highest-ranking Scientology defector’s account — signed a billion-year contract, joined the Sea Organization — and the fear that keeps people inside. “A flamethrower of a read.”
- Hey, Hun — Emily Paulson. Her own memoir of rising to the top of the MLM pyramid, and the argument that MLM culture runs on the same isolation and cult-like ideology as organized scams — into the heart of white supremacy in America, as she puts it.
For anyone who’s ever gotten the “Hey Hun” DM: this list is the map of how those systems work, told by people who got out.