Fair Game podcast is back to normal this week after the holiday season schedule, and we welcome Geoff Levin. I will post the link here as soon as its available. Geoff often comments here at the blog, and some of you may know he wrote the theme music we use on the podcast. What you may not know is that he was around for, and played an integral role of the formation of Celebrity Centre. He was a member of the rock band People!. We talk to Geoff about the destruction of his successful band -- scientology "ethics" caused them to throw out the lead singer for … [Read more...]
Episode 20: Jonestown Survivor Capt. Yulanda Williams
This week we welcome Acting Captain of the SFO Police Department, and survivor of Jim Jones People's Temple, Yulanda Williams. Yulanda has an incredible story that was only touched upon briefly in her appearance in the final regular episode of The Aftermath Season 3 Episode 13 Church and State. I will post a link here as soon as it's available: Yulanda's parents joined Jim Jones's People's Temple when she was young, and she eventually ended up in Guyana, where Jones told his followers he was creating the utopian society. Her story of how her family became involved and … [Read more...]
Episode 18: Mary Kahn from The Aftermath
Leah and I were very happy to welcome Mary Kahn to the podcast this week. Hers was one of the most compelling episodes on The Aftermath - telling the story of her breaking away from scientology after completing OT VIII and the fallout with her family. The airing on Netflix has put her in the spotlight once again. We went into further detail about her story and covered some other topics I am sure everyone will find fascinating. I will include a link to the episode as soon as it is available. We mention a few items I am including here. First, the reporting about Hy … [Read more...]
Episode 17: Former Sea Org Executive Claire Headley
Leah and I were extremely happy to welcome our old friend Claire Headley to the Fair Game podcast. Claire of course appeared in 2 episodes of The Aftermath -- and she was recently featured on the Netflix home page: I have known Claire and her husband Marc since I first went to the Gold Base -- way back in the 80's. Claire worked closely with Miscavige as an executive in Religious Technology Center. She was the Deputy Inspector General Internal. Claire helped me many times, she is one of the few people I know -- especially at the international level, and even more specifically in … [Read more...]
Episode 16: Jehovah’s Witness Whistleblower Lloyd Evans
It's always a pleasure to speak with Lloyd Evans. He is so knowledgeable, articulate and even-keeled. He helped us put together the Jehovah's Witness special on The Aftermath, and is a valued supporter of our efforts to expose the abuses in scientology, while he carries out his work doing the same with the Jehovah's Witnesses. As always, we had a fascinating chat with him on the Fair Game Podcast this week, talking about the similarities between scientology and the JW's and how the JW's have grown more scientology-like in their Fair Game-style attacks on those who expose their … [Read more...]
Episode 15: Former President of Narconon Luke Catton
We welcome an old friend of mine, Lucas (Luke) Catton to the Fair Game podcast this week. Luke was a very prominent member of the Narconon team for a number of years, until he saw the light about scientology. He subsequently spoke out and was targeted by scientology in response. We discuss a wide range of things relating to Narconon, scientology's involvement, the effectiveness of the program and the Fair Gaming Luke has been subjected to. I will include the link as soon as it becomes available. A few of the things we mention during our talk. Here is a copy of the public image.doc … [Read more...]
Keith Raniere Sentenced to 120 Years
Keith Raniere, the former head of NXIVM, was sentenced to 120 years in prison yesterday. One of the main people who brought him to justice was Mark Vicente. A former leader in the NXIVM movement, he and his wife, Bonnie Piesse, along with Sarah Edmunson and her husband Nippy Ames and Catherine Oxenberg were chronicled in the excellent HBO Series The Vow about their awakening and subsequent efforts to bring the leaders of NXIVM to justice. We interviewed Mark on the Aftermath Podcast a few weeks ago. Victims in criminal cases have the opportunity to make a statement before the court … [Read more...]
Episode 14: Listener Questions Part 2
We have another episode of listener questions this week. I will add the link as soon as the episode is available. The topics this week include: Why is scientology popular with dentists? What happened to Pat and Annie Broeker? And much more. We mention a couple of items that I promise to include here and on the fairgamepodcast.com site. The first is the "LRH Departure event" where David Miscavige, Pat Broeker and lawyer Earle Cooley spin the tall tale about the final days of L. Ron Hubbard. The second is a list of recommended reading from Leah: Here is a partial list of … [Read more...]
Episode 12: Mark Bunker
This week, Leah and I have a conversation with Mark Bunker on the Fair Game podcast. Download at midnight tonight. I will add a link to the show here when it becomes available. We talk to Mark about his history with scientology, him becoming the newest Clearwater City Council member and what the future of the City of Clearwater holds. We cover the land grab by scientology so ably reported by Tracey McManus in the Tampa Bay Times "How Scientology doubled its downtown Clearwater footprint in 3 years" : Tracey updated her story a few days ago "Vacancies in Scientology-tied … [Read more...]
Episode 11: “The Vow’s” Mark Vicente
We have an amazing episode of Fair Game podcast this week, speaking to Mark Vicente. If you have not been watching The Vow on HBO I highly recommend it. It is the story of Keith Raniere and the NXIVM cult, told from the perspective of a number of former senior people in Raniere's organization, including Mark. We had a terrific conversation with him about the similarities between NXIVM and scientology -- and there are MANY. We also talked about patterns of high control organizations and the larger picture. I will post the link to the episode here when it becomes available. … [Read more...]