Cult to Comedy: Shannon Payton on Turning Trauma into Humor
Explicit content warning
01/02/23 • 52 min
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Shannon Payton, perhaps better known online as “Shanny Pants,” is a hilarious mother of three whose Tiktoks (etc.) have turned her into a viral queen, with her videos even appearing on TVs across the nation via The Kelly Clarkson show. It’s crazy to think that, for the first 31 years of her life, Payton was actually living something more similar to The Culty Clarkson show (we’re so sorry, we had to try), having grown up in Northern California within a community that her grandparents originally joined as a non-denominational bible study club before it turned into a fear and shame-based cult, ruled by a wacky shithead who loved “marking” (ex-communicating) anyone who questioned him, and who also forbid women from wearing pants or basically being like, humans with any rights or autonomy whatsoever. Fun!
This is one of our lighter episodes for sure, so if you want to end your year with a laugh, don’t miss out!
Shanny Pants on Kelly Clarkson
Shanny Pants on everything else
Also...
Hear Ye, Hear Ye:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Other Links:
Check out our lovely sponsors
Join ‘A Little Bit Culty’ on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Cult awareness and recovery resources
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Producer: Will Retherford
Senior Producer: Jess Tardy
Writer: Mathias Rosenzweig
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Shannon Payton, perhaps better known online as “Shanny Pants,” is a hilarious mother of three whose Tiktoks (etc.) have turned her into a viral queen, with her videos even appearing on TVs across the nation via The Kelly Clarkson show. It’s crazy to think that, for the first 31 years of her life, Payton was actually living something more similar to The Culty Clarkson show (we’re so sorry, we had to try), having grown up in Northern California within a community that her grandparents originally joined as a non-denominational bible study club before it turned into a fear and shame-based cult, ruled by a wacky shithead who loved “marking” (ex-communicating) anyone who questioned him, and who also forbid women from wearing pants or basically being like, humans with any rights or autonomy whatsoever. Fun!
This is one of our lighter episodes for sure, so if you want to end your year with a laugh, don’t miss out!
Shanny Pants on Kelly Clarkson
Shanny Pants on everything else
Also...
Hear Ye, Hear Ye:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Other Links:
Check out our lovely sponsors
Join ‘A Little Bit Culty’ on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Cult awareness and recovery resources
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Producer: Will Retherford
Senior Producer: Jess Tardy
Writer: Mathias Rosenzweig
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Previous Episode
Hot Mess Express: Karen Unterreiner on Dating Keith Raniere
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. We all have exes we wish we could forget—the narcissists, the psychopaths, the ruthless, small-handed cult leader currently serving #120years in prison. It’s a tale as old as time! But few people have lived that story quite like Karen Unterreiner did when, at only 18-years-old, she became romantically intertwined with Keith Raniere. Over the next 40 years, she’d go on to become a top level NXIVM trainer, a key figure of the Executive Success Programs’ leadership committee, and an overseer of administration (bookkeeping) and IT.
Now free of Raniere’s coercive control (read: fuckery), Unterreiner has spent the last five years recovering and discovering her true self. For today’s episode, we spoke with her about dating an actual monster, how NXIVM functioned as a company, (and why it was messy), and whether or not the technology they used was actually any good, or more like rubbing two sticks together.
Also...
Hear Ye, Hear Ye:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Other Links:
Check out our lovely sponsors
Join ‘A Little Bit Culty’ on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Cult awareness and recovery resources
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Producer: Will Retherford
Senior Producer: Jess Tardy
Writer: Mathias Rosenzweig
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Next Episode
The Kids Are Alright: Sarah & Nippy on Zen Parenting
This episode is sponsored by Better Help and was originally released on Zen Parenting Radio. Here’s a scary thought: fully-grown adults are susceptible to cults, or cult-adjacent behavior (there is truly cultish influence all around us in politics, wellness communities, and so on). So imagine how dangerous this whole world is for children, who are far less likely to have the wherewithal to identify and refute coercive persuasion. If you’re one of our regular listeners, you already know how ubiquitous this shit is (unfortunately); so what can we do to protect our youth?
Well, that’s exactly what we got into with our friends over at Zen Parenting Radio, where Cathy Cassani Adams (a self proclaimed “spiritual and emotional mom”) and Todd Adams (“a logical and practical dad'') get into all things parenting. On their show, we not only recount our own story with NXIVM (perhaps you’ve heard about, read about, or seen it by now?), but also the importance of talking to kids about how relationships that might initially feel exciting or just “good” in some way—friends, coaches, teachers, bosses, etc.—can quickly pivot into something abusive. How can we teach kids to identify culty behavior and help them feel safe enough to ask for help?
This one’s for anyone who believes we need to keep our kids safe from evil, shitty shitheads.
Also...
Hear Ye, Hear Ye:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
Other Links:
Check out our lovely sponsors
Join ‘A Little Bit Culty’ on Patreon
Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag
Support the pod and smash this link
Cult awareness and recovery resources
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Producer: Will Retherford
Senior Producer: Jess Tardy
Writer: Mathias Rosenzweig
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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