When journalist Anke Richter moved to New Zealand, she wanted to explore more of life. So she joined an organisation that promised to help her explore sexuality. But it was a chance encounter with a cult survivor that she was writing a journalistic piece on that she realised that she was also in a cult.

Anke is now one of the worlds most respected 'cult journalists' and advocates and she's here today to tell her story.

This is REAL LIVES.

If you'd like to join me over on Patreon, you can here, thank you so much:

https://patreon.com/REALtruecrimepodcast

Anke's website with links to her book 'Cult Trip' is here, where you can find the best place to buy it in your country:

https://ankerichter.net/

To connect with Anke, please see here:

https://www.facebook.com/ankerichterwriter

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anke-richter-748a3243/

https://www.instagram.com/ankerichterwriter/

For information on Decult - see here:

https://decult.net

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this podcast, please see the organisations below who can help and support you:

https://www.mind.org.uk/ - Mental health support

https://www.spuk.org.uk/ - Suicide Prevention UK

https://www.samaritans.org/ - The Samaritans

https://www.thesurvivorstrust.org/ - For people who have been the victim of sexual abuse (UK)

https://www.rainn.org/ - Sexual Abuse Support USA

https://988lifeline.org/ - Suicide Prevention USA

https://www.nasasv.org.au/support-directory - Sexual Abuse Support Australia

https://www.suicidepreventionaust.org/ - Suicide Prevention Australia

https://www.rcni.ie/useful-links/ - Sexual Abuse Support Ireland

https://www.pieta.ie/ - Suicide Prevention Ireland

https://www.thefamilysurvivaltrust.org/ - Support for cult survivors (UK)

https://www.peopleleavecults.com/services/support-groups - Support for cult survivors & Intervention (global)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of REAL LIVES, Jay Flynn MBE tells the extraordinary story of the two years he spent homeless, sleeping rough and living without certainty. It was a deliberate decision that would go on to shape his life, his career, and his sense of purpose.

But then something changed... Jay was offered help from The Connection at St Martin's charity and now he's the Nation's Favourite Quizmaster, homeless advocate and.... he has an MBE.

This is REAL LIVES.

If you'd like to support the show, you can do so here:

https://patreon.com/REALtruecrimepodcast

To have a go at Jay's Quizzes, please see here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLcSqjJWHJeDWD_SbdorBRw

For his books and social media, please see here:

https://linktr.ee/jayflynn?utm_source=linktree_profile_share

For support with homelessness please see here:

https://www.crisis.org.uk/

https://www.mungos.org/

https://thestreetlink.org.uk/

For the charity that helped Jay, see Connections St Martins:

https://www.connection-at-stmartins.org.uk/

For mental health support, please see here:

https://www.mind.org.uk/ - Mental health & Identity support

https://www.spuk.org.uk/ - Suicide Prevention UK

https://www.samaritans.org/ - The Samaritans

https://988lifeline.org/ - Suicide Prevention USA

https://www.suicidepreventionaust.org/ - Suicide Prevention Australia

https://www.pieta.ie/ - Suicide Prevention Ireland

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tad Nelson is one of Texas' most successful criminal defence attorneys. With Texas being a death penalty state, Tad has saved lives but also defended some of America's most dangerous criminals. He's worked on over 500 jury trials and has a plethora of qualifications under his belt, including certificates in forensic science.

In this episode, Tad tells us what being a criminal defence attorney is really like, how he defends people who have committed the most depraved acts imaginable and why he has spent over 30 years working in the criminal justice system.

This is REAL LIVES.

If you'd like to support the show, you can do so here:

https://patreon.com/REALtruecrimepodcast

To find out more about the work Tad does, please see here:

https://tadlaw.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains references to domestic violence and suicide. Whilst the descriptions are not explicit, please take extra care whilst listening.

In March 2023, Danielle Haggarty was found unresponsive in the flat of a man she was dating on and off for eight years. The circumstance's in this case revealed a disturbing fact - it's not a crime to witness someone dying and not call for help.

Today we're joined by Danielle's brother Jonathan, whose life has been shaped by a series of unimaginable losses, and he is now on a mission to change the law in his sisters name.

This is REAL LIVES.

If you'd like to support the show, you can do so here:

https://patreon.com/REALtruecrimepodcast

To sign Jonathan's petition please see here:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/750545

Justice for Danielle Facebook Group:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584415784649&locale=en_GB

If you need support with mental health and suicidal thoughts, please see the links below to organisations that can help:

https://www.mind.org.uk/ - Mental health & Identity support

https://www.spuk.org.uk/ - Suicide Prevention UK

https://www.samaritans.org/ - The Samaritans

https://988lifeline.org/ - Suicide Prevention USA

https://www.suicidepreventionaust.org/ - Suicide Prevention Australia

https://www.pieta.ie/ - Suicide Prevention Ireland

If you need help or support with domestic abuse please get in touch with the following organisations:

https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk/ - UK

https://mankind.org.uk/ - Support for male victims

https://safelives.org.uk/ - UK

https://www.victimsupportni.com/help-for-victims/domestic-violence/ - Northern Ireland

https://mapni.co.uk/ - Northern Ireland for men

https://sdvs.ie/ - Ireland

https://www.mensaid.ie/ - Ireland for men

https://www.lifewire.org/ - USA

https://www.thehotline.org/resources/men-can-be-victims-of-abuse-too/ - USA for men

https://www.rizeup.com.au/ - Australia

https://mensline.org.au/family-violence/ - Australia

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Ellen De Meyer delivered her baby girl, she was over the moon to give her son a baby sister. But when her daughter Pia was just 3 months old, Ellen noticed that something was wrong with Pia's movement and strength.

Pia was diagnosed with SMA Type 1, which can be life-limiting. There was a medicine that could save her, but it cost over £1.5m.

And what happened next, is enough to restore anyone's faith in humanity.

This is REAL LIVES.

To join the show's Patreon, please see here:

https://patreon.com/REALtruecrimepodcast

To follow Pia's journey, here Instagram page is here:

www.instagram.com/@teampia2018

or to connect with Ellen please see here:

https://www.instagram.com/ellendm1986

Ellen wrote a book on her experiences, it is currently only available in Dutch:

https://share.google/Vw1sPTuyHt6ffjUoH

To find out more about the signs and symptoms of SMA Type 1, please see here:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/spinal-muscular-atrophy-sma/

'Welcome to Holland' is written by Emily Perl Kingsley and you can find out more about her work here:

https://www.emilyperlkingsley.com/welcome-to-holland

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If someone we loved is killed by someone else, we rely on detectives in the major crime teams to catch the killer.

In this episode, murder detective Steve Keogh talks us through his career, how he has foiled terrorism plots, caught killers and got justice for than 100 murder victims.

This is REAL LIVES.

To join me on Patreon, please see here:

https://www.patreon.com/c/REALtruecrimepodcast

To buy Steve's book, see here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Murder-Investigation-Team-Steven-Keogh/dp/1789466423

Or check out Steve's website:

https://stevekeogh.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many of us have different points of view from our spouse, but what happens when your partner becomes a full time conspiracy theorist?

This is exactly what happened to Louise Williamson. And she's here to tell us about her experience.

This is REAL LIVES.

To find out more about Louise's experience and how she started to heal, you can find her wonderful book 'My Husband, The Rabbit Hole and Me - When Marriage Becomes a Cult', here:

https://amzn.eu/d/fGJmc0F

And Louise's website is here:

https://www.louisewilliamsonwriter.com/

If you'd like to support the show, you can do so here, thank you:

https://patreon.com/REALtruecrimepodcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.