What the internet's done has changed the meaning of community entirely.

So now I don't have to go to that community centre and be with you lot and be slightly uncomfortable

but in our differences because I can go online and find a group of people who believe exactly the same thing to me as me to a T.

Now the problem with that is, in order for me to stay in that community and stay in that comfort, I have to agree entirely

with the notion of that community, otherwise I will then be ostracized.

My name is Mark Vesente. I'm a director, producer, writer, and troublemaker. I'm most known as

the director of the film What the Bleep Do We Know, and as one of the Nixiem whistleblowers featured in the HBO series, The VAL.

Let's just say, I know a thing or two about cults.

I don't consider myself a cult expert, but I'm definitely an expert in being screwed over,

waking up, and knowing how to spot them.

And let me tell you, they're everywhere.

My mission is to help people see patterns of abuse

across multiple contexts. From personal to family, to group to societal, it's all the same

pattern at every scale. As you'll hear, I have a pretty salty approach to most things.

So there might be some blasphemy. One or two sacred cows might get knocked over, and there'll

likely be some foul language. You never quite know what you're going to get, because it really

does depend on what the fuck is on my mind. Welcome back, everybody. Today I'm speaking with

Josh Connolly, a resilience coach, speaker, and now author, whose work is helping redefine what real

emotional strength looks like. Josh is a powerful voice in the world of inner child healing,

emotional sobriety, I want to talk about that, and breaking generational cycles. He's one of those

rare people who doesn't just talk about healing. He lives it. With disarming honesty and zero performative stuff,

he speaks openly about suicidal ideation, addiction, childhood trauma, and the long road back to

...