In this episode of Pod Candy: Cults, Crimes and Killers, Stacey and Dori unpack Maternal Instinct on Netflix; the shocking documentary about a Texas woman named Taylor Parker, who in 2020 murdered 21-year-old Regan Simmons Hancock and cut her unborn child out of Regan's body to claim it as her own.

The team examines the elaborate web of lies Parker created, the warning signs noticed by friends and family, and the devastating consequences of ignoring the feeling that something was terribly wrong. Forensic psychologist Dr. John Mayer joins the conversation to discuss manipulation, factitious disorder, borderline personality traits, delusional thinking, and how Parker was able to deceive so many people for so long.

The episode also explores the unimaginable trauma suffered by Raegan’s family and asks an unsettling question: Could this tragedy have been prevented if more people had trusted their instincts and acted on the red flags?

Six cults. One episode. And for the first time ever, we let Dr. John skip the green room and join us right at the top — no donuts, no punchki, no waiting his turn.

In this special Best Of, we're revisiting the cult stories you loved most: the Duggars and IBLP in Shiny Happy People, Warren Jeffs and the FLDS in Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey, spiritual influencer Teal Swan in The Deep End, Harvey Weisberger's journey out of an ultra-Orthodox sect, the tantric nightmare of Twisted Yoga, and the one that started it all — Gwen Shamblin and The Way Down. From weight-loss churches to sex cults to prophets running the show from prison, Stacey and Dori bring the outrage and the laughs while Dr. John Mayer brings the diagnosis — psychological murder, sublimation, grooming, narcissism, and why any of us could get pulled in.

Content warning: this episode includes discussion of sexual abuse, child abuse, and other sensitive topics. Please listen with care.

New here? This is the perfect place to start. Longtime Candy? Consider it your greatest-hits reel.

In this episode of Pod Candy, Stacey, Dori, and Dr. John Mayer dive into the bizarre and unsettling story behind Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult, the HBO docuseries about Frederick von Mierers and his doomsday cult, Eternal Values.

The hosts unpack how charisma, confidence, vulnerability, beauty, fame, and manipulation created the perfect conditions for people to follow a man whose beliefs became increasingly extreme. Dr. John Mayer breaks down the psychology of cult leaders, the power of control, why interventions often fail, and how people can become trapped in belief systems that seem impossible to understand from the outside.

Our hosts explore the role of Jackie and Fabio in helping expose and escape the group, the impact of AIDS on von Mierers’ final years, and how Hoyt Richards, one of the first male supermodels of the 1980s, spent nearly 15 years under Von Mieres' control inside Eternal Values.