We earlier had Jon Atack join us for two episodes taking a deeper look into the life of L. Ron Hubbard. This week, our old friend Bruce Hines joins us for Part 1 (of 3) where we take a look at the scientology "Bridge to Total Freedom" in more detail. In this episode we address the lower levels of the Bridge. Bruce was a highly trained scientology "Auditor" (counselor) and "Case Supervisor" (one who oversees auditors to ensure they are following the words of Hubbard exactly). Bruce appeared on an episode of The Aftermath and did a series of articles for Tony Ortega with Claire Headley on the … [Read more...]
Episode 49: Katherine and Julian Wain
This week we talk to a couple who experienced scientology ethics and disconnection policies up close and personal. Katherine is the sister of William Kilmartin. William was previously married to Leah's sister Shannon. When Leah and her family left scientology, William refused to disconnect, as a result his scientology family members all disconnected from him, including his sisters and parents. William was then officially adopted into Leah's family and is now Leah's adopted brother. It's a bit unusual and sort of complicated so I wanted to make sure it was clear up front here. After … [Read more...]
Episode 48: Listener Questions 6
The next episode of Listener Questions. As always, we cover a lot of ground, though not nearly all the questions you have submitted. This time we try our best to answer questions about how many scientologists are left, why scientology is so "white," should scientology celebrities be boycotted, the front groups of scientology, Applied Scholastics schools, Degraded Beings, Dilettantes and more. It's a lot of stuff! And here are some documents and resources to go alo0ng with the answers. The number of scientologists today -- this is a great visual done by … [Read more...]
Episode 47: The Life and Lies of L. Ron Hubbard Part 2
We continue with our deep dive into the life and lies of Hubbard with Jon Atack. Once again, we have quite a lot of documents to include -- but always at the top of the list are Jon's Let's Sell These People A Piece of Blue Sky and Barefaced Messiah by Russell Miller. I should also note that though we didnt mention it, for those of you interested in what Hubbard did or didnt do in the war, Chris Owen's excellent and thoroughly researched Ron The War Hero: The True Story of L Ron Hubbard's Calamitous Military Career is essential reading. Hubbard told so many lies about his naval … [Read more...]
Episode 46: The Life and Lies of L. Ron Hubbard Part 1
Tonight we begin a new series of episodes we are calling "Deep Dives," where we take a detailed look at specific areas of scientology. It seemed only appropriate to begin with L. Ron Hubbard -- the "Source" of scientology and "Founder" from which everything flows. There is no way to cover his entire life in a single episode. Or even 5 episodes. We broke this into 2 parts, the first focused on his life and claims up to Dianetics. Even in two episodes we can only touch upon some of the highlights (lowlights?) as there is a great deal to know. If you have not already done so, I … [Read more...]
Episode 45: Activist and Author Dr. Brian Sheen
I Leah and I welcomed Dr. Brian Sheen onto the Fair Game Podcast this week. I have known Brian since the days of the Apollo, when he was training to be the senior Case Supervisor for the Advanced Org in the UK. He led an interesting life in the scientology world outside the Sea Org, including in a mission and as a WISE business consultant. He had an experience with Flag that ended his involvement in scientology and went on to get a PhD, but because his former wife and daughter were still in scientology, never spoke out about Scientology. The story of how he came to be declared … [Read more...]
Episode 44: Tom Green County Sheriff Nick Hanna
What an enormous pleasure it was to speak to the Sheriff of Tom Green County, Texas, Nick Hanna. He recounted the incredible story of his work (and that of many others) in discovering, investigating and prosecuting the criminal activities and abuses in a compound of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints on a ranch (the YFZ Ranch "Yearning For Zion") in the small town of Eldorado Texas in 2003. It is a perfect example of how law enforcement and the court system got it right with a religious organization abusing its members, especially children. A bit of background: Tom Green … [Read more...]
Episode 43: Investigator and Whistleblower Jeffrey Augustine
This week we have the pleasure of speaking with whistleblower, investigator, researcher and friend Jeffrey Augustine. Jeff does great work tracking and exposing scientology, especially in the realm of financial crimes. This episode contains a rundown of scientologist criminals and their legal troubles and the juxtaposition with the public claims of scientology being the most ethical group on earth. Jeffrey has a website where he documents his investigations, it is an incredible resource: The Scientology Money Project He also does the Surviving Scientology Radio … [Read more...]
Episode 42: Listener Questions Part 5
We answered more "Listener Questions" this week. These are some of our favorite episodes and we really appreciate the questions people send in. This one was especially fun and I think you all will enjoy it. We talk about the last chapter of Hubbard's life which is documented in the Epilogue of Lawrence Wright's brilliant Going Clear. This is an excerpt detailing what Steve Pfauth, one of the handful of people with Hubbard at the end of his life had to say. We talk about Hubbard's succession and mention the issue appointing Pat and Annie Broeker which Miscavige had … [Read more...]
Episode 41: Law Review Author Taylor Holley
Leah and I had the great pleasure of speaking to Taylor Holley this week. Taylor is a law student at Texas Tech University who published a legal analysis of scientology's tax exempt status in the Law Review. Taylor has never been involved in scientology, but grew up in Tampa which sparked her interest in scientology. Her paper is a wonderful summation and careful analysis of the law and makes a compelling argument that the IRS should revisit the exempt status of scientology. I wrote about this earlier. I am including her full paper below, as well as a link to it for downloading. I … [Read more...]