Writer, Harvard graduate, and former cult member Helen Zuman has given fascinating insights into life in a manipulative, polyamorous cult.

As a keen environmentalist, the lifestyle Zendik Farm offered on its surface was alluring to Ms Zuman.

“No one knowingly joins a cult. Ever,” she told Deborah Knight.

“They were sure they were starting a revolution, and I was at a place in my life where I had no idea what I was doing.”

After five years on the farm, Ms Zuman’s saving grace was that the leader kicked her out. She spent the years since chronicling the experience in a memoir and the Australian podcast “Let’s Talk About Sects”.

“The moment I realised I had been in a cult, and not a group that was going to save the planet, I felt like I had experienced two miracles.

“The first miracle was that I, along with a few dozen other people, has created a story that we were able to live inside.

“The second miracle, of course, was that I had gotten out.”

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview