Anke Richter

Contributing writer

Anke Richter is a correspondent for the German media and the author of three books. Cults, groups and progressive movements have fascinated her all her life. She lives in Lyttelton and gets her guru-free communal group experience once a year at Convergence, an alternative festival in North Canterbury.

Society
Apr 21, 2021

How alternative festivals became platforms for conspiracy theorists

Covid denial and medical misinformation are rife at wellness festivals, but anti-conspiracy campaigners are fighting back.

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Society
Sep 19, 2020

Conspiracy cults and the mental health pandemic

The infodemic is spreading as fast as the pandemic. Anke Richter explains how cult-like behaviour can impact our mental health.

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Science
May 9, 2020

Watching the pandemic from a Covid-19-free continent

It's one of the most isolated places on the planet, but for those hunkering down in Antarctica for the winter, it feels like the tables have turned.

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Society
Aug 3, 2019

Meet guru hunter Be Scofield, scourge of cult leaders around the world

One woman's online mission to blow the cover of false prophets around the world is becoming more and more taxing. Anke Richter talks to guru hunter Be Scofield, who is determined to bring sexual abuse in spiritual disguise to light.

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Society
Apr 10, 2019

I’m German and I live in Christchurch. Let’s talk about swastikas

When we arrived to live in New Zealand we were shocked to discover how tolerant many people were of flagrant expression of neo-Nazism

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Society
Mar 13, 2019

A Christchurch library screened a doco on a cult – it turned out to be a promotional video

How did Conscious Light, a 'documentary' on cult leader Adi Da, end up getting shown at a public library? Anke Richter goes down the rabbit hole. 

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Society
Feb 14, 2019

K Road naked protester: ‘I was feeling the violence towards all women’

Protester and performance artist Jazmine Roze Phillips talks about the assault and police inaction which led to her naked protest on Karangahape Road.

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Television
Jan 6, 2019

Summer reissue: A return to Gloriavale in a Handmaid’s Tale world

Angel, Dove, Mercy and the rest of the flock are back, as happy as ever in blue. Writer Anke Richter, a cult observer, watches Gloriavale: The Return.

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Society
Jul 25, 2018

Disney on rice: at Gloriavale’s public variety show

It’s free, four hours long and promises 'A World of Adventure and Discovery'. But does the Gloriavale concert present a true reflection of the fundamentalist group?

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Media
May 21, 2018

Memes, dress-up parties and pranks: finding the funny in Gloriavale

If you have a Gloriavale fetish, you’re not alone. There’s a growing fan base out there.

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Television
May 14, 2018

Blessed be the fruit: A return to Gloriavale in a Handmaid’s Tale world

The heavenly flock of Angel, Dove, Mercy and others is back, happy as ever in blue, but this time in a documentary mini-series.

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Society
Dec 17, 2017

‘He’s the Al Capone of sexual abuse’: NZ model Zoë Brock on why she is suing Harvey Weinstein

Zoë Brock is one of six women suing Harvey Weinstein, arguing that the film mogul’s sexual misconduct is akin to organised crime. The New Zealander now speaks for the first time since the class-action lawsuit was filed last week.

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Society
Mar 30, 2017

Gloriavale report: Have we learned nothing from Centrepoint?

For an ex-member of New Zealand’s one and only 'sex cult', the parallels between Centrepoint and Gloriavale raise some serious questions about the government’s handling of sexual abuse accusations in religious communities, writes Anke Richter.

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