This week, Leah and I welcome the wonderful Phil Jones. You may know him (and his charming wife Willie) from the "Call Me" billboards they put up after trying to reach their disconnected children, Mike and Emily. We cover a lot of ground in our talk, what happened that caused them to leave scientology, their efforts to reach their children, the LAPD, scientology's Fair Game intimidation tactics and the realities of family life in scientology. I will add the link as soon as it is available: This is one of the last shots they have of the family together: The billboard … [Read more...]
Episode 25: Valeska Guider Paris
It was a great pleasure to welcome our old friend Valeska Guider Paris to the podcast. She has one of the more harrowing tales of life raised as a scientologist, being held prisoner on the Freewinds and losing her family to disconnection. Valeska is married to Chris Guider, former professional rugby league star in Australia. He was also the former "Inspector General MAA" assigned the task of enforcing the orders of Miscavige. They escaped from the RPF in Australia where they had both been sent to get them out of sight and out of mind. I will include the link here as soon as it's … [Read more...]
Episode 23: Activist and Blogger Stefani Hutchison
Leah and I talk with Stefani Hutchison this week, and the conversation was a true delight. We cover a lot of topics. Stefani was never a scientologist, but she has become a very effective and vocal whistleblower on the abuses of scientology. She is an example of what anyone can do if they want to take an active role in ending the pain and suffering that scientology causes for so many. I will post the link here once available. Here is how Stefani describes herself on her blog. I am a stay at home mother of one wonderful son. Married over 25 years to a wonderful man who puts up with … [Read more...]
Episode 21: Listener Questions Part 3
Today's episode is Leah and I responding to questions from listeners. We cover a lot of things in more detail than we had time to do on The Aftermath, and in many cases even more details than I can find the time to write about on the blog. A few documents we mentioned would be made available here and at fairgamepodcast.com. Scientology's COVID response: Tony Ortega has extensively covered scientology's response to the pandemic. Here is the Miscavige's briefing document where he calls COVID 19 a "planetary bullbait." Here are … [Read more...]
Recent Podcasts with Jon Atack
I have done a couple of podcasts with the wonderfully informed Jon Atack. The second of them went live yesterday and Tony Ortega included it on his site. I am including it here also, as well as the earlier one, as I think the discussions are illuminating. Jon is such a wealth of information. And has such good takes on all things scientology. Leah and I are planning on talking with Jon on our fair Game Podcast soon. That should be a treat. This is the most recent episode of Jon's podcast. I recommend you subscribe to his YouTube channel too: This is the one we did about 6 … [Read more...]
Episode 19: Christie Collbran Rinder
This week Leah and I speak with my wife, Christie. I will add the link as soon as it is live. While there is always a lot of interest in me, Christie has her own story. She is much more than simply my other half. Her entire immediate family, just like mine, disconnected from her when she began to question things and tried to communicate this to them. When our son, Jack, was 6 months old we visited LA and tried to see Christie's parents to introduce them to their grandson. Her mother was sent away to the Freewinds. Her father, who I have never met, is a former pro-linebacker … [Read more...]
Episode 13: Listener Questions Part 1
Tonight we have the first "Listener Q & A" episode. I will post the link as soon as its available. We asked you for questions and you came through! Many more than we could possibly answer in a single episode. So, we will no doubt do more of these. Your question may have made the list this week. We covered a broad range of topics, from scientologists coming back after death, to the 411 on Leah's fingernails. A couple of things I mentioned that we would put up on the website (and here)... The reference concerning how pc folders are kept for future lifetimes. The … [Read more...]
Episode 7: Emmy and Oscar Winner Alex Gibney
This week's episode of Fair Game podcast features my old friend Alex Gibney. This is not an episode to miss. Alex is one of the greats in the world of documentary filmmakers. His credits include: The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (won 3 Emmy’s) Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (Oscar nom in 2005 for Best Doc) Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer Taxi to the Dark Side (winner of the 2007 Oscar for best Documentary) about the war in … [Read more...]
Episode 4: Scientology’s War on a Holocaust Survivor (with Paulette Cooper)
The newest episode of the Scientology Fair Game podcast features one of my favorite scientology survivors, Paulette Cooper. Her life story is amazing, and if you have not read Tony Ortega's excellent The Unbreakable Miss Lovely, I recommend you do so. The story of what scientology did to try to destroy her is unbelievable. Literally. And unless the FBI had recovered documents in the raid on scientology in 1977, what scientology had done to her was not believed by anyone -- it was so far-fetched it seemed it could only have been lifted from the pages of a cheap spy novel. Paulette … [Read more...]
Episode 3: Scientology’s War on the Media with Richard Behar
We were very fortunate to speak with Richard Behar on this week's episode of the Fair Game podcast. Rich, along with Pauletter Cooper (who will feature in an upcoming episode) is a poster child for scientology Fair Game against journalists. He is an award-winning investigative journalist who first wrote about scientology in 1986 for Forbes magazine in an article entitled The Prophet and Profits of Scientology. His most famous scientology piece was the 1991 Time magazine cover story, The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power. The subhead on his article pretty much sums up … [Read more...]