Inside the Yellow Deli Cult: Tamara Mathieu on Life in Twelve Tribes (Part 1)

This episode is sponsored in part by Betterhelp.

Twelve Tribes started as a Bible study in the 1970s. Today, it’s a nationwide network of high-control communities, often hiding in plain sight behind the homespun charm of Yellow Deli cafés. The group claims to offer a simpler, more spiritual life. But behind the braided bread and “family values” lies a world of control, corporal punishment, and deep-rooted misogyny.

In Part 1 of our conversation with Tamara Mathieu, we hear what it’s like to live inside. Tammy spent 14 years in the Twelve Tribes, lured in by the promise of community and stability at a vulnerable time in her life. But what began as a warm welcome quickly turned into an authoritarian nightmare, especially for women and children. She shares how the group isolates members, enforces biblical patriarchy, and punishes dissent, and what it took to finally break free.

To learn more about Tammy’s journey, check out her memoir All Who Believed, a raw and powerful account of survival and escape.

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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CREDITS: 

Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames

Production Partner: Amphibian.Media

Co-Creator: Jess Tardy

Writer: Kristen Reiter

Associate producers: Amanda Zaremba and Matt Stroud of Amphibian.Media  

Audio production: Red Caiman Studios

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