On episode 3 and why doesn’t anyone realize that the pastor is lying to her and maybe her also her mother?

Janith the person telling the story is the victim

It was honestly boring. I feel like there’s a story there, but there were so many interviews and talking to this person about this memory and so many random characters that you can’t follow it. And they never come out and say that what happened.

I disagree with the reviewers that say it could be told in a couple episodes - I think it paced well and was fascinating. Well told story of a couple families’ worlds. Sincere, interesting, told as the facts were revealed to the writer. I enjoyed it!

And the narrator could use a lesson on when to use “me” and “I.” Where are proofreaders when you need them?

It just wasn’t a great story. The narrator comes off as self important instead of a victim of this terrible life.

This story is so gripping and engaging and so troubling. I’m so sad for what this family went through.

What a frustrating podcast! It had the potential to be so good. It could have been maybe a two episode podcast but it was made way longer and way more dramatic than it needed to be.

Here the story and save yourself from 3 droning episodes of the same. Go straight to conclusion. Interesting story but could have been told in 2 episodes.

I can’t even explain how meaningless this podcast is. I don’t know even know what to say, just smoke and mirrors, bizarre.

Amazing story told really well. A great listen.

A bit boring, although thoroughly told. I got all episodes for free. The end analysis (I don’t think this is a spoiler: obviously the premise of the story can’t be true. I agree with another reviewer- there’s no way this is delusional disorder. The man Stan wrote letters from the made-up people, so it seems more like sick psychopathy. The author doesn’t have good perspective. It reminds me of a documentary of another man who manipulated people to follow him around Europe (“The Puppet Master.”) The fact the author makes this excuse for the abuse of her family by choosing to believe Stan believed his own lies makes the whole story fall flat. It would be more interesting if she had a more accurate diagnosis for him.

I kept thinking that this story was just bonkers- how could people get swept up in the world that Sears created but they did. Very engaging tale. Well done

Incredible story, will be with me for a long time.

Mental illness, trauma and abuse are Difficult subjects to talk about, but you did a great job telling this story. I’m in disbelief though at Pagiepoo who thought the ending wasn’t enough. It’s someone’s true story not a movie. That’s just so heartless and a little ignorant to think someone’s tragedy didn’t have the climatic ending you were wanting. That’s not even the point!

This is a strange and difficult story. Some reviewers have called the author's mother "stupid". This is a story of deep trauma, mental illness and how we dig and process trauma shared through generations. There is a story buried here, about desperate, lonely and depressed single mothers in the big cultural wave of divorce and single motherhood -- a greater exploration of this would be interesting and give some context. P and T's was definitely a chaotic and psychologically abusive childhood. Therapy, anyone?

A very well told story about the ripple effects of abuse and mental illness within families.

Another example of a weak, stupid woman willing to sacrifice the health and well being of her children for a man. Unforgivable. Just like The Glass Castle and Educated. Two parents participating in child abuse.

It is a little scary and tI swears sometimes but other than that You should totally hear it good for 10 up

This story was so well told. Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences with us. This podcast is really well done. I was surprised to see how few reviews there are! Listen to this story! You won’t be able to stop once you start.

I really liked this pod! So interesting and unpredictable. I would love to know more about the effects of Pauline and Ted’s childhood on their adult lives, beliefs and mental health (maybe that’s too intrusive and personal). So many families have secrets though few as extensive as this family!

This podcast is a false flag and so disappointing.

This podcast is preposterous. To top that it is also boring.

this was a great listen! i loved learning about the situation and how it all played out for the years of their childhood and they did a great job with the attention grabbers - but the climax at the end in “saving mom” was kind of a let down. i feel like it could’ve been more captivating

I've enjoyed most of the CBC podcasts, but this is ridiculous. Can anyone in Canada really be this dumb aside from your version of the Q/Trump cult? Remove this pod for the sake of Canada please

I was enjoying this podcast until I got to episode 4 and was denied because I had to subscribe. Will update my rating if the last two episodes are released w/o subscription

I'm getting tired of getting invested into these podcast series that all of a sudden at the end require a subscription. Never going to start one like this again.

You get catfished on third or fourth ep

Episode three was my breaking point. Every aspect of the story because completely absurd and there’s clearly some serious issues with the people pushing the lie.

This story is so cringy and jacked up. The mother should just really be ashamed of herself. The fact that she claimed to be abused but the children and her close friends saw no signs of it. Then how she put a lying married psychopath before her own children. The entire story is sick and both of them should be in jail.

This is a truly fascinating story and I’m frankly quite shocked it was only 5 episodes. The host is a reporter but I don’t think she should’ve told her own story. I wanted more details from an outsider perspective that she just couldn’t provide. Plus it was unnerving to have her be so at peace with the subject. This man ruined her mothers life, and perhaps her and her brother could move on and get out but it’s devastating that she never could. Stan’s horrifying lie is hard to explain away with just a posthumous diagnosis. The fact that he was just living with his wife when he claimed to be at the place of hope chilled me to the bone. This story was deeply disturbing and perhaps the book gives more detail but this podcast glossed over a lot in favor of just saying “oh haha wasn’t that a wild time”. Deeply deeply traumatizing and I don’t think I could forgive the way she seems to have.

Shame on whichever editor at CBC greenlit this. I don’t fault the author for framing this this way. It’s clearly a trauma response, and how she’s learned to survive. CBC is irresponsible for giving this a platform without giving resources and explaining the majority of things happening to these children are crimes. If you or anyone you know are experiencing the treatment described in this podcast, CALL FOR HELP. I’m glad the author thinks it’s funny now, but there are events described that could have resulted in death. There’s no reason to make excuses for the adults in this story. Untreated mental illness isn’t a party trick. If you believe a child is suffering from abuse or neglect report it immediately to your local authorities. Nothing described in this podcast is a safe environment for a child.

This is an interesting story and I would think a third party could really do some digging and figure out what was going on. The narrator/journalist is too close to the story here. She clearly needed an answer that would be less painful than at least considering that Stan was a sociopath and her mother had Borderline Personality Disorder. In the end, it’s more a story of the lies we tell ourselves to avoid what we don’t want to hear.

It’s a fascinating story and the story is told well but the analysis is lacking. I’m confused as to why the narrator decided this was delusional disorder (that Stan believed these delusions) and not a complex way of manipulating those close to him. What did I miss? Why do we assume he believed these stories as opposed to being a charismatic manipulative actor?