{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Heinous beliefs","title":"The Arm Never Lied: The Rulo Yahweh Cult","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1127,"description":"HEINOUS BELIEFS — SEASON 2, EPISODE 2\nThe Arm Never Lied: The Rulo Yahweh Cult\nTrigger warning: this episode covers child abuse, torture, and graphic violence.\nRulo, Nebraska. A farm town so small you could drive through it and miss it. In the summer of 1985, federal agents showed up looking for stolen equipment and walked away with one of the most disturbing cases of religious torture in American history.\nMichael Ryan was a broke, directionless farmhand who found a hate preacher, a warped reading of the Bible, and a party trick called the arm test, and turned it into total control over a farm full of desperate people. By the time it was over, a five year old boy and a twenty five year old man were dead, buried in unmarked graves by the very people who called them family.\nThis episode is about how economic desperation, isolation, and one unquestionable authority turned an ordinary Nebraska pig farm into a killing ground, and about making sure Luke Stice and James Thimm are remembered as people first.\nIN THIS EPISODE:\n- The 1980s farm crisis and how it opened the door for extremist recruitment\n- James Wickstrom, Posse Comitatus, and Christian Identity theology\n- The arm test and how Michael Ryan used it to control every decision on the farm\n- What happened to Luke Stice and James Thimm\n- The raid, the trial, and what happened to Michael Ryan and Dennis Ryan\n- The psychology of thought terminating devices and cult obedience\nSOURCES:\nState v. Ryan, Nebraska Supreme Court (1989); NBC News; CBS News; The Daily Beast; Oxygen, Deadly Cults; Associated Press trial coverage (1986); Wikipedia entry on Michael W. Ryan, cross referenced against court documents.\nRESOURCES:\nMental health and cult support:\n- International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) — icsahome.com\n- 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988 (US)\n- SAMHSA National Helpline — 1-800-662-4357 (24/7, mental health and substance use support)\nFood insecurity and financial assistance:\n- USDA National...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/ZjApH2K13_pM0Z0UyIWdDLBqxfcAYwKZRnvBM13-tHw/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS83ZWRk/YmIxNDg5MGYwMzcx/ZDVlOWIwNWM3YTdj/ZGExOC5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}