PERSONAL ACCOUNTS01
Looking for understanding: two anonymous messages
Two reader messages, shared with permission and identifying details removed, about seeking understanding and concerns about harm.
STORIES & READING NOTES
Experiences shared.
Perspectives opened.
New reading notes alongside the original stories and educational excerpts.
PERSONAL ACCOUNTS02
When leaving means starting over: @mandiptalkspredators on Midtown
A reading note on her account of entering Midtown as a teenager and the barriers to leaving, with timestamped YouTube links.
PERSONAL ACCOUNTS03
Seven years in Midtown: @alabamaamanda’s account
A personal account of Midtown, drawn from @alabamaamanda’s Instagram caption, with a link to her original reel.
PERSONAL ACCOUNTS04
Eight years in an AA group she calls a cult: @complexis’s account
A look at the captions and on-screen text in three posts by @complexis, with direct links to her videos.
READING NOTE05
Reading the Guardian’s Midtown investigation
A link to the Guardian investigation, with a note on reading at your own pace.
FROM THE ARCHIVE06
Many AA Members Upset with Revealing Coercive AA Group
Reflections on the response to sharing stories about Midtown in an online AA community.
FROM THE ARCHIVE07
What is Midtown and Who is "Mike" Q.?
Background on the Midtown group and the reporting referenced in the original story.
FROM THE ARCHIVE08
Criteria for Mind Control
An excerpt exploring Robert Jay Lifton’s eight criteria for ideological totalism.
The three original articles were published in September 2023. Their original text and source links are preserved; new reading notes are dated separately.