Alcoholics Anonymous
Organization in Mental Health
Alcoholics Anonymous has come up in 2 episodes across 2 podcasts in TMT, including Mayim Bialik's Breakdown, This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von. 2 people have made recorded remarks about it.
What people said
Rick Alan RossAmerican cult intervention specialist, founder of the Cult Education Institute and author of Cults Inside Out
Ross says a number of cults have covertly recruited vulnerable people at AA meetings.
“there have been a number of cults that have insinuated themselves surreptitiously within AA meetings to recruit people who are vulnerable”
Mayim Bialik's Breakdown: Cult Leaders Target You At Your Weakest. Never Confess This To Them | Rick Alan Ross (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 39:56
Ross says AA and NA are not destructive cults by his criteria, though he questions AA's effectiveness.
“Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous in and of themselves are not what I would describe as a destructive cult”
Mayim Bialik's Breakdown: Cult Leaders Target You At Your Weakest. Never Confess This To Them | Rick Alan Ross (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 38:52
Theo VonAmerican stand-up comedian and host of the podcast This Past Weekend
Von attributes his difficulty staying sober to not working the program, lacking a sponsor, and dishonesty with his higher power.
“it's just, I wasn't working a program and I wasn't working with a sponsor. And I wasn't being honest with my higher power”
This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von: #684 - Bad Haircut (Sep 19, 2026) · Listen from 40:50
Podcasts
- Mayim Bialik's Breakdown · 1 episode
- This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von · 1 episode
Episodes
Cult Leaders Target You At Your Weakest. Never Confess This To Them | Rick Alan RossMayim Bialik's Breakdown · Sep 22, 2026 · 51 min
Mayim Bialik talks with cult expert Rick Alan Ross about how cults recruit and break people down, deprogramming, Scientology, AA, religion and Lev Tahor.
#684 - Bad HaircutThis Past Weekend w/ Theo Von · Sep 19, 2026 · 1 h 14 min
In a solo episode, Theo Von discusses a bad haircut, a Midwest camper trip, Macklemore's removal from Ed Sheeran's tour over Gaza, his sobriety, and listener calls.