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A Little Bit Culty

Justice Denied: The JonBenét Ramsey Case and the Cult of Groupthink

A Little Bit Culty

Sarah Edmondson & Anthony “Nippy” Ames

True Crime, Society & Culture, Education

4.62.7K Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2024

⏱️ 59 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This episode is brought to you in part by Squarespace. Head to https://www.squarespace.com/CULTY to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code CULTY.

John Ramsey knows a lot about culty thinking within police investigations. He experienced it firsthand after his daughter, JonBenét Ramsey, was murdered in 1996. JonBenét was the six-year-old beauty queen found strangled and beaten to death in her Boulder, CO home. Despite DNA evidence pointing to an unknown male intruder, John and his family were the prime suspects for years, and they weren’t officially exonerated until 2008.

The inexperienced Boulder police department bungled this investigation from day one, but their tunnel-vision and group-think when it came to suspects might really be what thwarted justice. JonBenét’s case remains unsolved to this day. 

John Ramsey is here to discuss how culty mindsets and a lack of critical thinking can hamper police investigations. We get into the way his daughter’s case was mishandled, how the police turned a blind eye to evidence that didn’t fit the narrative, and how modern technology might finally solve this little girl’s murder. 

Please note that what happened to JonBenét is truly horrifying. Big trigger warning this week. 

 

Also… let it be known that:

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.

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Cult awareness and recovery resources

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CREDITS: 

Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames

Production Partner: Amphibian.Media

Writer & Co-Creator: Jess Tardy

Associate producers: Emma Diehl and Matt Stroud of Amphibian.Media  

Audio production: Red Caiman Studios

Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:29.7

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal, medical,

0:34.1

or mental health advice. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect

0:37.8

the official policy or position of the podcast and are not intended to malign any religion

0:41.8

group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone, or anything. I'm Sarah Edmondson. And I'm Anthony Nippy Ames. And this is A Little Bit Calti.

1:00.7

Cults are commonplace now. From fandums to fads, we're examining them all. We look at what happens

1:05.3

when things that seem like a great thing at first go bad. Every week we chat with survivors,

1:10.7

experts, and whistleblowers for real culty stories told

1:13.6

directly by the people who lived through them, because we want you to learn a few things

1:17.6

that we've had to learn the hard way.

1:19.6

For example, if you think you're too smart to get sucked into something culty, you might

1:23.9

be prime recruitment material, and who knows, you could already be in a cult.

1:28.3

If you're not aware of your programming, you're probably being programmed.

1:31.5

So keep listening to find out.

1:33.2

We'll talk about all sorts of topics on the show, but be aware.

1:36.7

This podcast might contain stories that could be alarming to some of our listeners.

1:40.5

So please check our show notes for more detailed descriptions and take care of yourself.

1:45.3

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