David Zvi Kalman is scholar-in-residence and director of new media at Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, where he was also a member of the inaugural cohort of North American David Hartman Center Fellows. He leads the Kogod Research Center’s research seminar on Judaism and the natural world.

David A. Hollinger is the Preston Hotchkis Professor Emeritus at UC Berkeley’s Department of History. He is the author of Christianity’s American Fate: How Religion Became More Conservative and Society More Secular (Princeton University Press, 2022).

Allison Moder is a survivor of domestic violence and adjunct professor in practical theology at Azusa Pacific University in Los Angeles. She is also a Ph.D. student at Claremont School of Theology, where she researches in the fields of theology, neuroscience, psychology and women’s studies to create resources for women to heal from relationship abuse.

Freely in Hope is an international, Christian nonprofit dedicated to equipping survivors and advocates to lead in ending the cycle of sexual violence. Nikole Lim founded the nonprofit and serves as international director.

This edition of ReligionLink explores reporting, analysis and commentary around the term “cult,” helping you better understand the word, its uses, and how to report thoughtfully, carefully and sensitively on the subject.

Amanda Montell is a a writer, linguist, and podcast host living in Los Angeles. She is the author of the book Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism and co-host of the Spotify Top 20 podcast, “Sounds like a cult.”

Lindsay Hansen Park is host of the “Year of Polygamy” podcast and executive director of the Sunstone Education Foundation, which is a platform to discuss the diverse range of Mormon belief and practice through scholarship, art, short fiction and poetry.

David G. Bromley is a professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. He specializes in sociology of religion, with a particular emphasis on the study of New Religious Movements and the anti-cult movement. He is co-editor of Cults, Religion, and Violence.    

Angela Denker, a veteran journalist and Lutheran pastor, is author of Red State Christians: A Journey Into White Christian Nationalism and the Wreckage It Leaves Behind.