Dhyana Levey produces and hosts the podcast Generation Cult, an interview show about people who grew up in high-demand groups and how they adjusted to mainstream society after they left. In 2022, she received her MSc in the Psychology of Coercive Control from the University of Salford (UK) and has focused her research on the media’s relationship with people who have been in cults.

Dhyana is a former newspaper reporter with a bachelor's degree in journalism and worked in California for Bay Area News Group, McClatchy Newspapers and the San Francisco Daily Journal, as well in Southeast Asia for The Cambodia Daily. She’s been a freelance writer, editor, and copywriter for the past few decades at a range of publications and websites in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Her interest in cults stems from childhood experiences: She grew up on a commune connected to the United Lodge of Theosophists, an offshoot of the Theosophical Society that was founded in 1875 by controversial esoteric medium H.P. Blavatsky. A research project led Dhyana through a series of interviews and historical documents to understand the story of her commune, its charismatic leader, and the group’s implosion. She subsequently took a deep dive into the psychology of such organizations and how they affect their members.

Dhyana is now active in the cult recovery community, with a particular focus on second and multi generational adults (SGAs and MGAs). She’s educated in the impacts of coercive control and can recommend resources but does not provide therapy or emergency mental health services.