00:00I do want to be a therapist, but I want to be like a PhD therapist.
00:03Like I want to be a very well-educated, very like knowledgeable, you know?
00:08Like I don't want to be haphazard with somebody's mental health.
00:11Former Smallville actress and convicted NXIVM member Allison Mack is once again in the public eye,
00:17this time for a surprising career change, a controversial new marriage,
00:21and explosive claims about her former co-star.
00:24Allison Mack, once a rising television star,
00:27became infamous for her role in the NXIVM sex cult,
00:30where she acted as what prosecutors described as a slave master.
00:34In 2021, Mack was sentenced to three years in federal prison
00:38for racketeering and conspiracy charges.
00:41She served 21 months and was released in June 2023.
00:45Now, two years later, the 43-year-old has re-emerged, this time as a graduate student.
00:50In a new CBC true crime podcast, Allison After NXIVM,
00:55Mack reveals she is pursuing a master's degree in social work,
00:58a dramatic shift for someone once convicted of recruiting women
01:02into a secretive and abusive organization.
01:05She's now pursuing a master's in social work.
01:08If that concerns you, I get it.
01:11Hearing that might make you think Allison could be using everything she learns
01:14about how the mind works to manipulate people once again.
01:19Allison is incredibly conscious of this.
01:21I'm looking at PhD programs in something called expressive arts therapy
01:25because there's one thing that I learned in all of this craziness
01:30is that the mental landscape is incredibly fragile.
01:34Just because you're like a good listener,
01:36it doesn't mean that you should be somebody's therapist.
01:38In the seven-part series, Mack opens up about her sentencing,
01:41her family's pain, and her attempts at rebuilding her life.
01:45She describes herself as both a victim and a perpetrator,
01:48echoing words used by the judge who sentenced her,
01:51who said she had been a slave as well as a master.
01:54The podcast also revealed details about Mack's personal life,
01:58including her marriage to Frank Mienk,
02:00a self-described former neo-Nazi.
02:02Mienk, now 50, once bore white supremacist tattoos
02:06and served time in prison for violent crimes.
02:09After renouncing extremism, he began working with non-profits
02:12and speaking publicly about rehabilitation and hate reform,
02:17even testifying before Congress in 2020.
02:20Mack and Mienk reportedly met at a Los Angeles dog park in 2024
02:23and married the following June.
02:26Their union, between two people with dark pasts seeking redemption,
02:30has drawn both fascination and skepticism online.
02:34But one of the biggest revelations comes from Mack's own claims
02:37about how she was introduced to NXIVM.
02:39In the first episode of her podcast, Mack says Smallville co-star Kristen Crook
02:44first encouraged her to attend NXIVM programs nearly two decades ago,
02:48describing them at the time as life-changing self-help courses.
02:52Crook has long denied any involvement in NXIVM's criminal activities,
02:56stating that while she attended a single course in her early 20s,
03:00she left years before the group's darker elements came to light.
03:03She said she was horrified and disgusted by what later exposed,
03:06and maintained she never participated in or witnessed illegal behavior.
03:11NXIVM founder Keith Reneer is serving a 120-year prison sentence
03:16for sex trafficking, racketeering, and conspiracy.
03:19Prosecutors said Mack played a key role in recruiting women
03:22for Reneer's secret subgroup, known as DOS,
03:26where members were branded and coerced into submission.
03:29In Allison after NXIVM, Mack calls her involvement
03:32The Biggest Mistake and Greatest Regret of My Life.
03:35Her new pursuit of social work raises difficult questions
03:38about accountability, rehabilitation,
03:40and whether someone who once helped lead a cult
03:42can truly rebuild a life dedicated to helping others.
03:46As her story continues to unfold,
03:48Allison Mack's next chapter may be one of redemption
03:50or renewed controversy.
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