'The Vow' Returns

The HBO series "The Vow" wrapped up its second season this week with a chronicling of events and players surrounding the sentencings of NXIVM leaders Keith Raniere and Nancy Salzman. Both are currently serving prison sentences for crimes that include sex trafficking, forced labor conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and racketeering.  On this episode of "NXIVM on Trial," we're joined by Moira Penza, the lead prosecutor in Raniere's trial, to discuss the final episode of "The Vow," and reflections on the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The testimony of a women shunned by the NXIVM community and confined to a room in a suburban townhouse for two years was the focus of an episode in the second season of HBO's "The Vow." The witness, identified only as Daniela, took the stand for several days during former NXIVM leader Keith Raniere's trial in 2019. She detailed a pattern of years of grooming and manipulation by Raniere, who ordered her confinement in 2010 after she admitted to kissing another man. On this episode of "NXIVM on Trial," Times Union Editor Casey Seiler, producer Jessica Marshall and reporter Robert Gavin discuss the episode, and many of the details left out of it that were revealed at trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lauren Salzman's gut-wrenching testimony in the trial of NXIVM founder Keith Raniere took center stage in the fourth episode of the new season of HBO's "The Vow." Salzman's account painted an emotionally disturbing and revealing picture of Raniere's pervasive pattern of physical and emotional abuse of women in the organization—including holding their fertility hostage, forcing them into group sex acts, and gaslighting.  On this episode of "NXIVM on Trial," Times Union Editor Casey Seiler, reporter Robert Gavin and producer Jessica Marshall discuss the new installment of the series and how it handles the testimony of the prosecution's lead witness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The third episode of the second season of HBO's "The Vow" explores NXIVM's unchecked claim to have used its programming to cure patients with Tourette Syndrome.  On this episode of "NXIVM on Trial," Times Union editor Casey Seiler, producer Jessica Marshall, and reporter Robert Gavin discuss the episode, and how the organization's experiment with Tourette Syndrome affected former members of the organization. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NXIVM co-founder and “Prefect” Nancy Salzman takes center stage in the second episode of the new season of HBO’s “The Vow.” We hear from her for the first time since the NXIVM organization fell. Salzman, who pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy charges connected to NXIVM, is currently serving a three and one half-year prison sentence. In this episode of “NXIVM on Trial,” Times Union Editor Casey Seiler, reporter Robert Gavin and producer Jessica Marshall discuss Salzman’s interview and other developments in the series’ second episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The six-part, second season of HBO’s documentary series “The Vow” continues to track the downfall of NXIVM, the purported self-help organization based in upstate New York. The new installment of the series follows the trial and sentencing of its leader, Keith Raniere, and features a first-time interview with NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman. Both are now serving prison sentences. On this episode of “NXIVM on Trial,” Times Union Editor Casey Seiler, reporter Robert Gavin and producer Jessica Marshall discuss the revelations made in the first episode, which premiered this week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A federal judge sentenced NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman to three and a half years in prison this week. She was the last of the major players charged in criminal court in the NXIVM saga to receive a sentence. In the courtroom, eight of Salzman's victims described her as a cold, calculating enabler and enforcer for cult leader Keith Raniere. Judge Nicholas Garaufis admonished the 67-year-old Halfmoon resident, saying her actions "left trauma and destruction in your wake.”  On this episode of NXIVM on Trial, Times Union Editor-in-Chief Casey Seiler and criminal justice reporter Rob Gavin discuss the sentence and its significance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last month a federal judge spared high-ranking NXIVM defector Lauren Salzman any prison time. Judge Nicholas Garaufis also sharply questioned why authorities in the Capital Region failed to bring a criminal case against Keith Raniere and what he termed the "NXVIM sex cult," despite abundant evidence of wrongdoing. On this episode of "NXIVM on Trial," Times Union Editor Casey Seiler and criminal justice reporter Robert Gavin discuss Salzman’s sentence, the judge's admonition, and her mother, NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman, who is expected to be sentenced in September. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A federal judge sentenced Allison Mack to three years in prison this week for her role supplying sex "slaves" to NXIVM leader Keith Raniere. During the sentence hearing in a Brooklyn courtroom, one of Mack's victims compared her to Ghislaine Maxwell, the alleged enabler of late sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein. Times Union justice reporter Rob Gavin and producer Jessica Marshall traveled to Brooklyn for the former "Smallville" actress' sentencing. On this episode of NXIVM on Trial, they discuss what when on inside—and outside—the courtroom.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former television actress and high-ranking NXIVM member Allison Mack awaits sentencing this week for crimes involving Keith Raniere's cult organization. Mack pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy charges in April 2019 and is scheduled to be sentenced June 30. In a sentencing memo last week, she distanced herself from Raniere, calling him "a twisted man." On this episode of NXIVM on Trial, former NXIVM coach Tabby Chapman shares her own experiences with Mack, with whom she worked closely with for a time. Chapman recalls Mack's infectious charisma and the "Smallville" star's unpredictable darker side. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices